You’ve all probably heard about SB 2099:

Handgun Safety and Registration Act of 2000 – Amends chapter 53 (Machine Guns, Destructive Devices, and Certain Other Firearms) of the Internal Revenue Code to, among other things: (1) require the registration of handguns in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record; (2) provide for the sharing of registration information with Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies; and (3) provide for the imposition of the five dollar transfer tax on handguns and a $50 tax upon the making of each handgun.

I went to the Senate web page (www.senate.gov) and did some research with the help of a savvy friend.

Here’s the good news:
The bill was sent to the Finance Committee on 2/24/00 and there it sits. The odds are good that it will die there.

Some other points of interest:
This bill was introduced by Sen. Jack Reed from Rhode Island. It was Co-Sponsored by (no surprise) Lautenberg and Schumer on 5/22/00. THe Senate is not in session at the moment.

Here’s what we can do:
Send an e-mail to the Chairman of the Finance Committee William Roth of Deleware ([email protected]) letting him know that the bill before him (SB 2099) is a “back door” policy which should never see the light of the senate floor again.

Other members of the finance committee can be found at:
http://www.senate.gov/committees/committee_detail.cfm?COMMITTEE_ID=430