[ftp.shell.portal.com:/pub/chan/federal/conference-committee.26may94] Date: Thu, 26 May 1994 00:45:17 -0700 From: Jeff Chan To: firearms-alert Subject: FEDERAL: Crime Bill update; my letter too I spoke with a House Judiciary Committee staffer today who said that the Crime Bill will NOT be out of the joint conference committee by Memorial Day as previously thought. Committee staffers are scheduled to meet next week. She had no good guess about the status of the gun bans, but predicted that Clinton would have a Crime Bill to sign by July 4 (mutual interdependence day, right.... :-()) If you think we should keep the 2nd Amendment, it's CRITICAL that you contact the joint committee members!!! Attached is a copy of the letter I'm faxing, and the list of committee members again. If you copy my letter, please rewrite it enough so it doesn't look like mine. Also, if you know how to make the court case citations look the same or have any other recommended changes, please email me directly. (Do NOT reply to the list unless you have significant new information to add.) Jeff Chan chan@shell.portal.com __ [Hyde fax number updated 5/26; All committee fax numbers tested and functional as of then.] Here are the members of the Crime Bill conference committee as of May 20, 1994. I got these by calling the House and Senate Judiciary committees. The two differences between the versions posted earlier are that Meztenbaum is the 5th ranking majority Senator NOT Heflin and the FAX number for Hughes was incorrect. (The correct number is below.) You should be able to read this directly into most spreadsheets, word processors, databases and fax programs. Please focus letters on these guys ASAP. It's not too late to stop the semi-auto and 10-round-magazine bans, but your action is needed immediately. Call and fax today to save your own rights! Get others involved before it's too late! __ Jeff Chan Internet: chan@shell.portal.com UUCP: {apple,claris,pyramid,uunet}!shell.portal.com!chan (Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are mine unless otherwise noted.) +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Constitution may not be perfect, ;-) | | but it's better than what we have now. :-( | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ ftp: ftp.shell.portal.com:/pub/chan firearms, liberty mailing lists: majordomo@shell.portal.com: help __ st=state abbr d=district # (--=statewide office) c=chamber (H=House, S=Senate) first_name,last_name,st,d,c,voice,fax,local Jack,Brooks,TX,9,H,(202)225-6565,(202)225-1584, Don,Edwards,CA,16,H,(202)225-3072,(202)225-9460, William,Hughes,NJ,2,H,(202)225-6572,(202)225-8530, Charles E.,Schumer,NY,9,H,(202)225-6616,(202)225-4183, John,Conyers,MI,14,H,(202)225-5126,(202)225-0072, Michael L.,Synar,OK,2,H,(202)225-2701,(202)225-2796, Carlos J.,Moorhead,CA,27,H,(202)225-4176,(202)226-1279, Henry,Hyde,IL,6,H,(202)225-4561,(202)225-1166,(708)832-5950 F. James,Sensenbrenner,WI,9,H,(202)225-5101,(202)225-3190, Bill,McCollum,FL,8,H,(202)225-2176,(202)225-0999,(407)645-3100 Joseph,Biden,DE,--,S,(202)224-5042,(202)224-0139,(302)573-6345 Edward M.,Kennedy,MA,--,S,(202)224-4543,(202)224-2417,(617)565-3170 Dennis,DeConcini,AZ,--,S,(202)224-4521,(202)224-2302,(602)670-6831 Patrick,Leahy,VT,--,S,(202)224-4242,(202)224-3595,(802)863-2525 Howard M.,Metzenbaum,OH,--,S,(202)224-2315,(202)224-6519,(216)522-7272 Strom,Thurmond,SC,--,S,(202)224-5972,(202)224-1300,(803)765-5496 Orrin G.,Hatch,UT,--,S,(202)224-5251,(202)224-6331,(801)524-4380 Alan K.,Simpson,WY,--,S,(202)224-3424,(202)224-1315,(307)527-7121 Charles,Grassley,IA,--,S,(202)224-3744,(202)224-6020,(515)284-4890 __ [Note: If you use my letter, please re-write it enough to look different from mine. Thanks. -- Jeff C.] Jeff Chan xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx REPLY REQUESTED May 25 1994 Hon. Henry Hyde United States House of Representatives Fax: (202) 225-1166 Dear Congressman Hyde: I urge you to STRIKE from the Crime Bill the firearm and magazine bans of Senator Feinstein and Congressman Schumer. These extreme proposals attack directly the core purpose of the Second Amendment, namely that arms in the hands of the people are a vital deterrent to tyranny. This is a Constitutional issue: significant historical, legal, and cultural precedents exist to support this view. There is plenty of commonly known and obvious historical support for this position. "The right of the people to keep and bear arms" in the Second Amendment refers to the militia. "I ask, sir, what is the militia?" queries George Mason during the Debates about ratification of the Constitution. He acknowledges: "It is the whole people, except for a few public officials." Alexander Hamilton in Federalist Paper No. 29 and James Madison in Federalist No. 46 echo this view of the popular militia, as does current federal statute in 10 USC 311. Thomas Jefferson wrote in a June 1776 draft of the Virginia Constitution "No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms." The obvious implication is that disarmed people can be enslaved. Please consider recent, well-researched evidence showing that the Second Amendment recognizes a broad, individual right. Read the scholarship of historian Joyce Lee Malcom's just published To Keep and Bear Arms (Harvard University Press), Prof. William Van Alstyne's recent Duke Law Journal article, Stephen Halbrook's That Every Man Be Armed (LibertyTree Press, 800-927-8733), and Prof. Sanford Levinson's The Embarrassing Second Amendment (Yale Law Journal, Volume 99), among many others. Read the full text of United States v Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939), in which the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this century affirmed a broad individual right to ownership of militia arms. More recent court cases also affirm private gun ownership and the Second Amendment: US v Lopez (5th Circuit Court of Appeals, September 15, 1993), US v Thompson/Center Arms Co. (Supreme Court, 91-164), US v Rock Island Armory (S. Ct. Feb. 1992). In Verdugo-Urquidez (110 S. Ct. 3039 (1990)), Chief Justice Rhenquist likened "the right of the people" in the 1st, 2nd and 4th amendments. This Monday, May 23rd, 1994 the U.S Supreme Court supported broad firearms ownership in Staples v US, striking down one of many frequent abuses by the BATF. Last week a U.S. District Court in Montana struck down as unconstitutional part of the Brady Bill. When the next firearms ban goes before the Supreme Court, don't be surprised to find gun prohibitionists as wrong as segregationists and slave traders. Will you work to support human freedom or crush it? I read highly-biased press accounts of Representatives "voting their conscience" in supporting Chuck Schumer's HR 4296 ban. I hope your conscience includes the Bill of Rights and your oath of office. May you have the courage to defend the Constitution and OPPOSE the gun and magazine bans. Sincerely, Jeff Chan