HR 10 - LEGISLATURE PASSES BILL TO ASSESS, DATABASE ALL PEOPLE - NATIONAL ID CARD - SAY NO - GO TO JAIL

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Monday, October 4, 2004

What part of "Constitution" don't they understand?

In a frightening move, House Republicans -- members of the party that
supposedly favors "limited government" -- are pushing an Orwellian
nightmare in Congress in the name of "national security."

In the wake of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations, the Senate --
unlike the House -- has prepared legislation which would closely
track that Commission's findings by reorganizing the intelligence
services in the federal government. The Senate bill is relatively
innocuous compared to the House version, HR 10.

Unfortunately, many of the so-called Republicans in the House are
pushing this nightmarish legislation which would:

* Create a massive government database containing personal
information on every American man, woman and child;

* Standardize (i.e., nationalize) the process of issuing driver's
licenses -- thereby taking the final step toward creating a national
ID card; and

* Set up a system whereby any employer or industry identified by the
Attorney General would have to submit employment applicants to the
government for approval -- complete with fingerprints or other
"biometric identifiers."

Now, let's look at how each of these problems could affect your
rights -- gun rights in particular:

(1) The government database is created by section 2173 of HR 10, a
bill introduced by House Speaker Dennis Hastert. It would allow
airline passengers to be screened against lists containing "all
appropriate records." What would be "appropriate" would
be within
the exclusive discretion of the bureaucrats, but could include
medical records, confidential financial records, library records, and
gun records.

(2) The driver's license standards are in section 3052. They would
allow the federal government to set standards as high as desired to
determine who may or may not obtain a driver's license. Please note
that you need a driver's license (or similarly regulated state-issued
photo ID) to purchase a gun from a dealer. But, increasingly, you
also need it to travel on any form of transportation (airplane, bus,
train, car), to get a job, to open a checking account, to cash a
check, to check into a hotel, to rent a car, or to purchase
cigarettes or alcohol. If the federal government can set standards
so high as to deny you a driver's license or photo ID, it has
effectively turned you into a non-person.

(3) Section 2142 would allow the U.S. attorney general to promulgate
any regulations he desires concerning (a) what employers must submit
the names and fingerprints of all employment applicants to the FBI,
(b) what standards the government will use in approving or
disapproving the employment applicants, and (c) whether or not the
government's "disapproval" will prevent the applicant from being
hired.

There is nothing in section 2142 which would prohibit an anti-gun
attorney general from (a) requiring the resumes and fingerprints of
every employment applicant in the country, (b) disapproving them on
the basis of gun ownership or, for that matter, any factor he viewed
as not being politically correct, and (c) prohibiting any employer
from hiring an applicant thus blacklisted.

ACTION: Write your representative. Ask him, in the strongest terms,
to vote against any "9/11 legislation" that (1) creates a
government database of personal information on law-abiding Americans, (2) moves
toward the use of a driver's license as a National ID Card, or (3)
sets up a system for fingerprinting and approving job applicants in
the private sector.

You can use the pre-written message below and send it as an e-mail by
visiting the GOA Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm (where phone and fax numbers
are also available).

Dear Representative:

Movement toward an oppressive government does not make me feel more
"secure."

Therefore, I would urge you, in the strongest terms, to please vote
against HR 10, The 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act, if it:

* Creates a massive government database containing personal
information on every American man, woman and child [section 2173];

* Standardizes (i.e., nationalizes) the process of issuing driver's
licenses -- thereby taking the final step toward creating a national
ID card [section 3052];

* Sets up a system whereby any employer or industry identified by the
Attorney General would have to submit employment applicants to the
government for approval -- complete with fingerprints or other
"biometric identifiers" [section 2142].

Frankly, the ideas which are being floated with respect to this
legislation are simply horrible, and are surely unworthy of those who
have sworn to protect the Constitution.

Sincerely,

***************************

GOA Candidate Ratings Now Online

The 2004 version of GOA's famous Candidate Ratings Guide has now been
posted at http://www.gunowners.org/votetb04.htm on the web.

A survey was mailed to every identifiable candidate nationwide for
this year's Congressional elections. And every incumbent was rated
based on his or her gun rights voting record while in office. The
result is a truly comprehensive voter's guide that will prove
invaluable to gun owners this November. Be sure to take note of
where your candidates stand on the Second Amendment!