Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 20:46:56 -0500 From: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org (NRA Alerts) To: firearms-alert@shell.portal.com Subject: INFO: Letter from NRA to Congress re HR 666 and Exclusionary Rule National Rifle Association of America Institute for Legislative Action 11250 Waples Mill Road Fairfax, VA 22030-7400 February 16, 1995 Dear Member of Congress: Thank you for your support last week of Representative Harold Volkmer's amendment to H.R. 666, the exclusionary rule reform bill. As you know, the Volkmer amendment provides that searches and seizures conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) would not be eligible for the "good faith" exception expanded by that bill. I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss the NRA's reasons for supporting that amendment. The NRA did not draft nor seek the passage of H.R. 666; however, when we were asked for our opinion on an amendment that would exclude BATF from using a weakened exclusionary rule, we readily agreed to support it. Simply put, individuals and units of the BATF have demonstrated for over twenty five years that they will flagrantly disregard the constitutional rights of law abiding citizens in this country. Therefore, we strongly believe, based on the agency's overall history, that it should not be granted broader discretion to conduct searches and seizures. BATF's enforcement abuses are real, they are not isolated to one or two incidents, and they are very serious. After discussions with several committee chairman in the House and Senate, as well as with the Speaker of the House, we believe that both chambers are now very interested in examining BATF actions that have unjustly disrupted the lives of innocent and law abiding citizens, in some cases leading to financial ruin and even physical injury. There are those who would like to label such an examination of enforcement practices as an indirect attack on federal gun control laws. Quite apart from whether those laws themselves are justified -- and as you know, we believe that many of them are not -- these practices must be examined as a matter of appropriate Congressional oversight to ensure that citizens receive good police work, instead of being subjected to misdirected overzealousness and politically influenced enforcement initiatives. I appreciate your support of this amendment, and I look forward to working with you in the coming months to take further steps to address the concerns that we and others have about federal law enforcement efforts, our civil liberties, and our firearms freedoms. If there is any further information I can provide to you on our views, or if I can be of assistance to you in any other way, please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, Tanya K. Metaksa Executive Director -- This information is presented as a service to the Internet community by the NRA/ILA. Many files are available via anonymous ftp from ftp.nra.org, via WWW at http://www.nra.org, via gopher at gopher.nra.org, and via WAIS at wais.nra.org Be sure to subscribe to the NRA mailing lists. Send the word help as the body of a message to listproc@NRA.org Information can also be obtained by connecting to the NRA-ILA GUN-TALK BBS at (703) 934-2121.