Alberto Gonzales Files -goa nl 11-4-04 gunowners org-n121405

8/14/2019 Alberto Gonzales Files -goa nl 11-4-04 gunowners org-n121405

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Gun OwnersTHE

30 YEARS OF NO COMPROMISE 1975-2005

by Erich PrattWho would have thought that it would

happen in 2005?Law-abiding citizens having their guns

stolen ... not by looters or hoodlums, butby officials acting under color of law.

The video was shocking. Americantroops were going house-to-house, smashing through doors andconfiscating firearms. One would have thought it was videotape from Cuba or Cambodia, not from the state of Louisiana.

Many heard about it or saw it here first. GOA posted sever-al videos on its website to document the illegal taking that wasoccurring in New Orleans this past September.

Our website traffic spiked tremendously. For two months ina row, the GOA site set an all-time record for informationdownloaded in a 30-day period.

For many gun owners, the GOA website became the place toview the outrageous events that were occurring. Most peopledid not see guns being confiscated on their own TV sets,because the mainstream media dropped the issue rather quicklyafter the initial reports.

Thats where the Internet made such a difference. GunOwners of America was able to sound the alarm at a rate thatSamuel Adams and Paul Revere could have only dreamed

about doing in their day.So thanks to the worldwide web and thanks to the gener-ous support from GOA members across the country theGOA website was in operation, allowing many Americans tosee gun confiscation occurring on their computer screens atwork or home.

GOA petitions Attorney Generalto prosecute crooked cops

In addition to educating the world on what has happeningbehind the scenes in Louisiana, GOA has also tried to hold the

guilty parties accountable.GOA has petitioned both the Inspector General in the U.S.

Justice Department and the Attorney General of Louisiana tothis end.

The letters cite newspaper articles and TV news broadcaststo demonstrate that National Guard troops, police and U.S.marshals were confiscating firearms in the aftermath of Hurri-cane Katrina.

The letters also reminded both Generals that the U.S. Dis-trict Court of the Eastern District in Louisiana had issued arestraining order to stop authorities from confiscating firearmson September 23.

In light of this overwhelming evidence, GOA urgedLouisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr. to bring legalcharges against the guilty parties who authorized and perpetrat-ed these harmful acts against innocent Americans.

2005: The Yearin Review

GOA PerformsValuableWatchdog

Role forGun Owners

Continued on page 2

Inside: See how GOA helped kill the

semi-auto reauthorization thisyear (page 4)

How to give to the Gun OwnersFoundation through the UnitedWay (page 6)

Volume XXV, Number 5 December 14, 2005

Gun Owners of America has petitioned Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti (left)to investigate and prosecute officials who confiscated firearms from law-abiding citizensin New Orleans this past September. On the right, police in the Big Easy evict a womanfrom her home after tackling her and confiscating her weapon. See the entire scuffle onthe GOA site at http://www.gunowners.org/notb.htm.

GOA Pressing to Punish Crooked Cops


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December 14, 2005 The Gun Owners/Page 2

While U.S. InspectorGeneral Glenn Fine doesnot have authority to prose-cute, he can investigate civil

rights abuses and refer suchcases for prosecution toU.S. Attorney GeneralAlberto Gonzalez.

Not surprisingly, bothGenerals Foti and Fine havebeen dragging their feet onthis request which iswhy GOA has asked mem-bers and activists to contactboth of these men.

GOA is hopeful that Foti,who is elected by the peo-ple of Louisiana, will feelthe heat and, thus, see thelight especially as hisnext campaign for reelection approaches.

Readers can review GOAs letters to Generals Foti and Fine,and see the videos of illegal confiscation, by going tohttp://www.gunowners.org/notb.htm.

This will be a continuing story. So be ready to hear more onthis next year.

GOA helps nix Feinstein gun banPerhaps one of the most significant victories this year was

making sure that the ban on semi-automatic firearms was notreauthorized.

Gun owners will remember that this ban sunset in Septem-ber 2004, but its renewal has remained one of the anti-gunnerstop priorities.

When Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) wanted to offer thesemi-auto ban renewal as an amendment to the gun makers lia-bility bill (S. 397), GOA jumped feet first into the fray.

GOA asked Majority Leader Bill Frist to use parliamentaryprocedures to block her amendment. At first, Sen. Frist wasreluctant. He didnt want to be seen as obstructionist. Hedragged his feet. His staff even claimed it couldnt be done.

But after the Senator received several thousand emails, faxesand phone calls from GOA members, Frist changed his mind.He used the parliamentary procedure GOA had recommended a strategy known as treeing the bill to block Sen. Fein-

stein from offering her semi-auto gun ban to S. 397 in July.Democrats were outraged. They protested on the floor ofthe Senate. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) complainedabout the GOA-induced strategy Frist had employed:

I have nothing in my memory that [Sen. Frist] has everdone this before; that is, immediately going to a bill andfilling the tree so no other amendments can be offered. Ihave never, ever known him to do this. It is so unusual. It isnot in keeping with how he has done business here duringhis tenure as majority leader. While filling the tree is withinthe rules, it is done very rarely. And again, I am surprised

that Senator Frist did this.(Congressional Record, July27, 2005, pp. S9104-5)

Sen. Reid may have beensurprised, but GOA mem-bers and activists were not.It was a tremendous victorythat was achieved throughgrassroots lobbying. GOAhas frequently seen that thehard work its membersexert in contacting electedrepresentatives carries hugeweight on Capitol Hill.

One can expect Sen.Feinstein to continue press-ing to get her semi-auto banreinstated. However, GOAwill continue to monitor herefforts. Please stay tuned.

Gun OwnersFoundation wins keySupreme Court battle

In April, GOF won a key victory when the U.S. SupremeCourt ruled that a foreign conviction in a foreign court doesnot ban an American from owning a gun.

The decision in Small v. United States was a tremendousvictory for GOF, since the foundation had made a substantialcontribution to the legal defense work that helped secure thewinning result.

Gary Small had been convicted under Japans draconianlaws for illegally importing firearms and ammunition into the

anti-gun country. Small was sentenced to three years in aJapanese prison, as a result.

This case is especially significant because, for years, Con-gress has prohibited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearmsand Explosives from restoring the rights of persons who havebeen unreasonably or illegitimately denied their rights.

The Small decision will protect gun owners like Gary Smallfrom losing their rights due to convictions under oppressivelaws found in other countries.

Readers ofThe Gun Owners will remember the story ofThomas Bean, who was deprived of his Second Amendmentrights in this country because of what Mexican authorities didto him. Bean, a federally licensed firearms dealer, was con-victed in the Mexican courts in 1998 for inadvertently having abox of ammunition in his pick up truck.

The Small decision will now protect gun owners such as

2005: The Yearin ReviewContinued from page 1

Continued on page 3

The Gun Owners is published by Gun Owners of America, Inc. 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 (703) 321-8585

Holding a letter from Gun Owners of America in her hand, Sen. Bar-bara Boxer (D-CA) attacks GOA on the floor of the Senate after thisorganization refused to support her gun control compromise.

Boxers anti-gun amendment subsequently failed by one vote.

GOA Flashback: Five Years Ago...

The Internet has made such a difference.Gun Owners of America was able to soundthe alarm at a rate that Samuel Adams andPaul Revere could have only dreamed aboutdoing in their day.


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Bean and Small from loosing their constitutional rights in thiscountry because they violated one of the egregious laws foundin another country.

GOA fights for key appointmentsThanks to your support, GOA has been involved in several

other battles in 2005. GOA pushed hard for John Boltonsnomination as ambassador to the United Nations.

Without a doubt, Bolton is the most pro-gun ambassador tothe United Nations that we have had in years. Yes, GOA sup-

ports the Ron Paul legislation (H.R. 1146) that would removethis country from the anti-gun U.N.

But until that happens, we want to have a pro-gun stalwartwho will keep the United States from signing onto an anti-guntreaty.

GOA also spent a good part of the year fighting the battle toget good judges nominated to the courts and to make sure thatSenators had all the ammunition they needed to defeat badnominations.

GOA opposition to anti-gunSupreme Court pick pays off

One of the most troubling candidates, who spent most of theyear on President Bushs short list of potential nominees,was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He is a good friendof the Presidents and has been considered a likely pick for theSupreme Court.

But Gonzales is also an avid supporter of gun control. SoGOA issued several alerts to the grassroots and was able toinform Senators and their staffs of the abysmal gun record ofGonzales.

Lighting the fire in the grassroots paid off handsomely.GOA was happy to see the Associated Press report in Octoberwhich stated that Gonzales was no longer a potential nomineeto the court.

Nominating Gonzales also would re-ignite the very opposi-tion Bush is trying to dampen on the Republican right, whichdoesnt think Gonzales is a reliable conservative vote, theAPstory said.

In addition to opposing bad nominees, GOA also lobbied for and was pleased to see the nomination of Judge SamuelAlito, Jr. to the Supreme Court.

Judge Alito, who has worked in the Third Circuit, has astrong record in support of the Constitution. Gun OwnersFoundation was involved in theRybarmachine gun case in

1996 which we ultimately lost in the courts. But Judge Alitooffered a strong dissenting opinion to the majority report andargued that Congress has no right to regulate the private pos-session of machine guns.

GOA hammers anti-gun legislationThanks to your support, GOA also marshaled its tremendous

grassroots forces against legislation that would grant the FBI

unlimited access to gun sales records, thus allowing the agencyto compile a gun registry. As this issue ofThe Gun Ownersgoes to press, S. 1266 is still pending.

Another bill that GOA strongly opposed would imposeextreme penalties for some who use guns in self-defense. H.R.1279 came up rather quickly and passed the House. But GOAflew into action at that point and generated thousands of com-plaints, all directed to the U.S. Senate.

Thousands of postcards and letters poured into Senate

2004: The Year in ReviewContinued from page 2


Continued on page 6

The anti-gun provisions in S. 397 wouldprobably be stripped out in the House if allthe gun groups were working together withGOA.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Sept. 15, 2005

Actually, the organization that does a bet-ter job of [keeping me informed] is GunOwners of America. Im on their mailinglist, and we know when something pops upand were informed as to whats going on sowe can write our emails and make phonecalls to our respective representatives. C-Span caller from Pensacola, Florida(October 20, 2005)

GOA is a very effective national grass-roots lobbying organization that can mobi-lize gun owners from all across America,uniting them into a single powerful voice

that politicians in Washington dare notignore. Senator David Vitter, October 2005

Gun Owners of America is considered themost aggressive pro-gun lobbying organi-zation.Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspapercovering Congress and politics

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)

What Theyre Saying About GOA

In April, the Gun Owners Foundation wona key victory when the U.S. Supreme Courtruled that a foreign conviction in a foreigncourt does not ban an American from own-ing a gun.


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GOAHelpsNix Semi-

Auto Ban

GOA puts the heat on Sen. Frist. After saying it couldntbe done, Majority Leader Bill Frist listened to GOA membersand moved to block Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) fromoffering an amendment to renew the semi-auto ban. AtGOAs request, Sen. Frist used a parliamentary move knownas filling the tree to block Sen. Feinstein, who wanted toattach her gun ban to the gun makers liability bill this pastsummer. (See page 2 for a fuller explanation as to how this

Democrats Protest. On the floor of the Senate, MinorityLeader Harry Reid (D-NV) complained about the GOA-induced strategy Frist had employed: I have nothing in mymemory that [Sen. Frist] has ever done this before; that is,immediately going to a bill andfilling the tree so no otheramendments can be offered. I have never, ever known him todo this. It is so unusual. It is not in keeping with how he hasdone business here during his tenure as majority leader. Whilefilling the tree is within the rules, it is done very rarely. Andagain, I am surprised that Senator Frist did this. (Congres-sional Record, July 27, 2005, pp. S9104-5)

Coast-to-Coast. GOPratt defends 50 calibbroadcast in Februaryyear appeared in hunnewspaper articles, e

FOX Cable News. GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt(top right) debated the Brady Campaign in March over pro-posals to allow the FBI to unilaterally deny law-abidinggun owners their right to purchase firearms.

GOAin theNews


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OA onapitol

ill

Supreme victory. The Gun Owners Foun-dation won a major battle in April when theU.S. Supreme Court held that a convictionin a foreign court does not permanently bar

an American from owning a gun. This deci-sion was a major victory for gun owners some of whom have found their right tokeep and bear arms in this country eviscerat-ed after being convicted under severely dra-conian firearms restrictions in foreign coun-tries. GOF made a substantial contributionto the legal defense work that produced thesuccessful outcome.

Freedom to purchase handguns. GOAsErich Pratt met with Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) earlier this year. Renzi will soon beintroducing legislation repealing the federalban on the interstate sales of handguns, thusallowing private individuals to purchasehandguns from out-of-state gun dealers.

Concealed carry rights. GOA lobbyist John Vellecomeets with pro-gun Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who is one

of the cosponsors of H.R. 1243, a bill that would requireevery state to honor the concealed carry permits issued inother states.

Free speech for gun owners.In February, GOAs LarryPratt testified on Capitol Hillin support of legislation introduced by Rep. RoscoeBartlett (right) that wouldexempt organizations likeGun Owners of America from

the draconian restrictions onfree speech that were signedinto law by President Bush in2002. Should H.R. 689become law, GOA would nolonger be restricted fromusing TV or radio to criticizepublic officials in the daysleading up to an election.

Meet the Press. GOAs Larry Pratt and former Con-gressman Bob Barr get ready to speak to the mediaduring an October press conference. Pratt focused hisremarks against legislation that would grant the FBIunheralded powers to access business records, thusforcing gun stores to surrender their gun records forbuilding a national gun registry.

ons Director Erichng a TV-newsepresentatives thisradio broadcasts,b-related stories.


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offices, putting legislators on noticethat there were serious SecondAmendment concerns in the bill.

GOA is pleased to report that H.R.

1279 has now stalled in the Senate.

Gun Owners plugs pro-gunlegislation in the states

One of the most tremendous newlaws this year was enacted in the Sun-shine State. Florida strengthened itsself-defense laws in two significantways:

Citizens are no longer required toretreat when assaulted outside oftheir home. Their first option can now be to use deadlyforce if their lives are threatened.

In their homes, residents now have a stronger presumptionof innocence if they shoot someone who has unlawfullyand forcibly entered the home.

GOA hit the airwaves andplugged this law on radio talkshows all over the country.This is an important first step,because GOA plans to pushsimilar legislation in otherstates next year.

In Arizona, a GOA member

in the state senate introduced and successfully pushedinto law a bill to allow stu-dents to take gun safety andhandling classes.

Senator Karen Johnson (R)sponsored the legislation,which was originally draftedby gun author Alan Korwin,and successfully guided it toGovernor Janet Napolitanos

desk. Gov. Napolitano (D) signed the bill in April.GOA is now working to export this idea to other state legis-

latures. Already, Ohio state representative Ron Hood (R) is

working with Gun Owners to bring this legislation to the Buck-


GOA pushed the Senate Majority Leader to use parliamen-tary rules that blocked Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) fromoffering a semi-auto gun ban amendment to the gun makersprotection bill this summer.

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Continued on page 8


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By John Velleco

(Washington, D.C.) - Legislationaimed at protecting the firearmsindustry from frivolous lawsuitsbrought by cities, municipalities, andradical anti-gun interest groupspassed both the U.S. House and Sen-ate this year.

Unfortunately, the bill was amend-ed on the Senate floor in July by anti-gun Democrat Senator Herb Kohl(WI), who added language requiringlicensed gun dealers to supply a trig-ger lock device with every handgunsold.

The Kohl amendment would effec-tively impose a gun tax on all hand-gun purchases.

Worse, the amendment leads gunowners to the verge of mandatorytrigger lock usage, which would actual-ly endanger lives by rendering self-defense firearms useless.

While the amendment does notrequire that gun owners use triggerlocks at this point, it does provideimmunity from lawsuits for those whouse a trigger and have their gun stolenand misused. Gun owners who choosenot to use a locking device are offeredno such protection.

Congress has, in contradiction to itsConstitutional authority, carved out aclass of individuals for special protec-tion. It is easy to see how trigger locks,like automobile seatbelts or motorcyclehelmets, can quickly become compulso-ry.

Pro-gun Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY)spoke out against the trigger lockamendment on the House floor.

I regret the legislation we are voting

on today contains the [mandatory trig-ger lock] amendment. We need to pro-tect the firearms industry ... [b]utresponsible gun owners should not havefurther limits placed on their secondamendment rights, Davis told his col-leagues.

A mandatory trigger lock law haslong been part of the agenda of anti-gunzealots. Though masquerading as amodest step, the amendment willinevitably serve as a stepping-stone tomore onerous legislation.

The Senate also passed an amend-ment that could give impetus to adopt-ing a penetration standard for armorpiercing bullets by commissioning aJustice Department study of the issue. Ifa penetration standard were adopted,a gun-adverse administration couldprobably use it to ban many commontypes of ammunition.

After the Senate passed its version of

the bill, which then contained gun con-

trol, the bill moved to the U.S. House,where the leadership was pressured bymany within the pro-gun community toquickly adopt the Senate version of thebill instead of taking up its own bill,which contained no gun control.

Gun Owners of America was theonly national pro-gun group urgingpassage of the clean House bill. Afterall, the House bill garnered over 250cosponsors and would have passed theHouse easily if the leadership decidedto bring up this bill rather than its Sen-ate counterpart.

In that case, the bill would eitherhave gone to a joint House-Senate con-ference, where the different bills wouldbe reconciled, or back to the Senate,forcing that chamber either pass a cleanbill or explain to voters their refusal toprotect the beleaguered gun industry.

But instead of fighting for a cleanbill, the House leadership (after pro-gunMajority Leader Tom DeLay steppeddown from his position) decided to takethe easy road and adopt the Senategun control-laden bill.

While it has long been imperativethat the Congress pass legislation toprotect the firearms industry from beingbankrupted by politically motivatedlawsuits, this bill should never havebeen used as a vehicle for a misguidedgun control proposal.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) echoed a frus-tration of many congressmen, statingthat, the anti-gun provisions in S. 397would probably be stripped out in theHouse if all the gun groups were work-ing together with GOA.!

Congress Passes Gun Control AmidstGun Industry Protect ActTrigger Lock Requirement Added as Amendment

The anti-gun provisions in S. 397 would probablybe stripped out in the House if all the gun groupswere working together with GOA.

Rep. Ron Paul, Sept. 15, 2005

Sen. H.L. Richardson (Ret.)Founder and Chairman

Larry PrattExecutive Director

Gun OwnersTHE GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA

8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102Springfield, Virginia 22151

Erich PrattDirector of Communications

John VellecoDirector of Federal Affairs

The Gun Owners publication is not copyright-ed. Copies may be made freely, but it isrequested that attribution be made together withGOAs address, phone number and web sitelocation.

703-321-8585Web Site:http://www.gunowners.org


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by Larry PrattBrazilians voted on Octo-

ber 23, 2005 against a gov-ernment-endorsed gun ban. Itwas not even close; the finalvote was about two to oneagainst the ban.

At one time, with themedia and the government allpushing for the ban, the refer-

endum had 80 percent of the voters in favor of it. But inthe end, defeat for the gun banners was everywhere inall 26 of Brazils states plus its federal district of Brasilia.

The proposal would have banned all gun and ammosales except to security firms, sport clubs, and of course,the government.

Then a law requiring free air time for both sides of areferendum kicked in and the 80 percent support in thepolls became 34 percent of the voters on election day. Thisswing occurred during a mere thirty days prior to the elec-tion.

A political scientist, David Fleischer of the Universityof Brasilia, commented on the opposition campaign:They ask the question: Do you feel protected and do youthink the government is protecting you? and the answer isa violent no.

The anti-ban campaign used images of TianamenSquare and the Berlin Wall to link owning a gun with free-dom. One unhappy wannabe banner, a carpetbagger fromCalifornia, Jessica Galeria, had this complaint: Now, a lot

of Brazilians are insisting on their right to bear arms. Theydont even have a pseudo right to bear arms. Its not intheir Constitution.

Notice what Ms. Galeria is saying about our own Sec-

ond Amendment right to keep and bear arms. By calling ita pseudo right, she believes that the amendment does not

apply to individuals. And to the extent that folks like herconcede there is some sort of right that is being protected,they believe it is one established by the Constitution (read:the government) which means that it could be withdrawnby government.

A Brazilian proponent of the ban, Denis Mizne, of theanti-self defense group, Sou da Paz, was more honestabout what happened. We didnt lose because Brazilianslike guns. We lost because people dont have confidence inthe government or the police. This distrust was all themore intense because the socialist President of Brazil, LuizInancio Lula, is up to his eyeballs in scandal. Interesting,no? Corrupt, socialist politicians such as Chicago MayorRichard Daley and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin in the

United States are some of our most vocal proponents ofdomestic disarmament.It turns out that some two thirds of the folks in Brazil

understand why the U.S. has a Second Amendment theAmerican colonists did not have confidence in the gov-ernment or the police. Seems like the average guy inBrazil has a lot more on the ball than most of the U.S.Congress and nearly all of the politically correct types ofacademe.

One development in Brazil points to an important simi-larity with the United States. President Lula marshaledmany of the stars of the entertainment industry on behalfof disarming the people. Looks like these stars better notgive up their day jobs. Hopefully their U.S. counterparts

will learn from the experience of Brazil.Moral of the story? Buy a gun. Enrage a corrupt, social-

ist politician who rightfully does not trust the people withguns. !

Brazilians Say No to Gun Ban

eye State.

GOA is working for you

For 30 years, GOA has been yourno compromise voice in Washington,DC. And your activism makes a differ-ence, for without it our rights would bein greater jeopardy.

GOA plans to keep delivering thesame no-compromise message to theCongress and across the nation.

But we need your help to stay here inWashington, DC on the front lines.

Because of your support, GOA staffappeared on hundreds of media outletsthis year, and in 2006, we will continueto educate the public in hopes of chang-ing hearts and minds.

Because of your support, our websitehas provided helpful information not

just for activists who want to lobbytheir congressmen, but for students andinterested readers who have been indoc-trinated to the anti-gun view.

With your support, GOA will remaincommitted to fighting for the hearts andminds of the next generation.

We saw many good things happen in2005. And with your help, we will con-tinue to push for the Hostettler con-cealed carry bill, the Bartlett self-

defense bill, and some surprises that wewill tell you about next year. We knowthat youre going to be excited aboutsome of the new legislation that hasbeen offered in the Congress, and youllbe hearing about here first from GunOwners of America.

Finally, next years elections will bevery important. You can count on GunOwners of America to provide you witha Congressional scorecard before theelection so that you can hold your legis-lators accountable.

Thanks to you, GOA will continue tobe here in Washington, D.C., fightingfor your right to keep and bear arms in2006.!


Alberto Gonzales Files -goa nl 11-4-04 gunowners org-n121405

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