PENNSYLVANIA RED ALERT: Lock Up Your Safety (part 1) may become law

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

http://www.gunowners.org

November 29, 1999

Dear Pennsylvania gun rights supporter:

I’ve got bad news: Your self-defense gun rights are in grave danger.

PLEASE– RIGHT AWAY– CONTACT YOUR STATE SENATOR BY EITHER E-MAILING
THE ATTACHED PRE-PRINTED MESSAGE OR BY CALLING 717-787-5920.

In days anti-gun fanatics may pass SB 167– a Lock Up Your Safety
(part 1) bill– unless you and other gun rights activists flood the
capitol with protests.

As a whole SB 167 is a horrible bill, overflowing with gun control
and other provisions that are probably anti-gun (but the bill is so
complicated only the best of lawyers could know for sure).

HERE IS THE MOST BLATANT PROBLEM WITH SB 167: ANTI-GUNNERS IN THE
STATE CAPITOL WANT TO MAKE YOU DEFENSELESS IN YOUR OWN HOME.
Anti-gunners want an intruder breaking into your home or threatening
your family to find you fumbling with your gun– your safety–
because it is locked up and useless.

Anti-gunners have a two-step plan to force you to Lock Up Your
Safety.

STEP 1: MANDATE THAT EVERYONE SELLING A GUN OR “TRANSFERRING” A GUN
MUST PROVIDE A BIG BROTHER APPROVED LOCK UP YOUR SAFETY DEVICE.

STEP 2: “CLOSE THE ENFORCEMENT LOOPHOLE” BY PASSING STIFF PENALTIES
(INCLUDING HEAVY FINES AND JAIL TIME) IF YOU DON’T LOCK UP YOUR
SAFETY.

That’s why experts call SB 167 the Lock Up Your Safety (Part 1)
bill.

And unless you contact your State Senator right away, I’m afraid the
Lock Up Your Safety Part 1 will pass the Senate during its Concur
with House Amendments and Final Passage vote.

Here’s what is going on…

Liberals like Sarah Brady hate the fact that firearms are used to
prevent tens of thousands of murders, rapes, thefts and assaults
every year.

Liberals hate the fact that most of the time, the mere possession of
a gun by a citizen scares off most attackers. And Sarah Brady and
the anti-gunners hate the fact that accidental injuries by firearms
have been going down for years, even as gun ownership rises.

You see, anti-gunners know they can never take our guns as long as
the facts show that GUNS SAVE LIVES!

In fact, guns are used by law abiding citizens more than two million
times per year in successful self-defense cases.

THAT’S WHY ANTI-GUNNERS DESPERATELY WANT TO STOP YOU FROM BEING ABLE
TO DEFEND YOURSELF OR YOUR FAMILY.

And of course, that’s what SB 167 is all about: To one day force you
to Lock Up Your Safety with “trigger locks” or other such ways.

Anti-gun spinmeisters claim SB 167 will protect children from very
rare accidental shootings (Of course, many of the shootings they
cite are not accidents, but crimes, and are not committed by
children, but by 17, 18 and even 19 year olds!).

IF PASSED, LOCK UP YOUR SAFETY GUN CONTROL WOULD MAKE YOUR GUN
VIRTUALLY USELESS WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST– to use deadly force to
protect yourself, your family or your property.

No murderer, burglar or rapist will wait for you to get a gun out of
“storage” or get a “trigger lock” off.

And you and I both know police may not get there until it’s too
late– even if you can call the police.

Americans overwhelming reject this kind of Big Brother gun control,
yet anti-gunners keep coming back hoping to ram this new gun control
down your throat.

Normally, I’d say you had nothing to worry about.

However, in a mad dash to slip this through the legislature at the
last minute, anti-gunners and weak-willed politicians (on the floor
of the House of Representatives) have just attached gun control to
SB 167 and made it the Lock Up Your Safety bill that it is.

NOW SB 167 STANDS TO BE PASSED BY AN UP OR DOWN VOTE BY THE FULL
SENATE. The No Amendments Allowed vote could come as early as
tomorrow, November 30 or up to the last day of session this year.
If the Senate votes for this gun control bill it then goes directly
to the Governor to be signed.

As you can see, your rights are in grave danger.

Only you and your family and friends can persuade the State Senate
to stop the Lock Up Your Safety bill from becoming law.

Right now, if you and your family and friends do not call your State
Senator, anti-gunners and mushy-middle politicians will likely think
that you don’t care if your guns are useless.

They may think they are politically safe to wipe away your right to
self-defense.

RIGHT AWAY, PLEASE, TAKE ACTION. THERE’S NO TELLING WHAT WILL
HAPPEN… OR WHEN.

1) CONTACT YOUR STATE SENATOR right away (see the enclosed roster).
Make it clear Pennsylvania gun owners DO NOT support Lock Up Your
Safety gun control like SB 167 or any other gun control.

2) PLEASE HAVE YOUR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS DO THE SAME.

If you want your self-defense gun rights, you and other 2nd
Amendment Supporters must now stand up for them.

Sincerely,
DENNIS FUSARO
Director of State Legislation

*** COPY-N-PASTE *** COPY-N-PASTE *** COPY-N-PASTE ***

The Honorable _______________________________
Capitol Building
Senate Post Office
Harrisburg, PA 17120
PHONE: 717-787-5920

Dear Senator:

As you know, firearms are used in successful self-defense cases in
excess of two million times per year.

I respectfully ask you to oppose any and all forms of Lock Up Your
Safety legislation– such as SB 167– that is the first step to
forcing gun owners like me to lock away guns or install so-called
“trigger locks.”

If passed, these ill-conceived pieces of legislation would try to
make a gun virtually useless when I need it most– to protect my
family or property when absolutely necessary and legal.

As my elected representative in the Pennsylvania Senate I also ask
you to oppose all other forms of gun control that may be hidden in
SB 167 or in other bills.

Furthermore, the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania should
address real crime and punishment issues, not gun owner regulation.
You and other legislators need to stay focused on getting tough on
crime– not regulating to death my fundamental freedoms.

Thank you for your consideration. Please write me and tell me what
you will do.

NAME: _____________________________________________

ADDRESS: _____________________________________________

CITY/ST/ZIP: _____________________________________________

—————————

To find out who your Senator is, see the District map at
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/VC/find/counties.htm or call the
main Senate phone number.

Once you know your Senator, e-mail the above pre-written letter (or
better yet, write your own) using the roster below.

Additionally, http://www.pasen.gov/members/senators.html provides
links to information on individual Senators, including their office
phone numbers.

Senator Pty Dis e-mail

Armstrong, Gibson R 13 [email protected]
Belan, Albert D 45 [email protected]
Bell, Clarence R 09 [email protected]
Boscola, Lisa D 18 [email protected]
Bodack, Leonard D 38 [email protected]
Brightbill, David R 48 [email protected]
Conti, Joe R 10 [email protected]
Corman, Jake R 34 [email protected]
Costa, Jay D 43 [email protected]
Dent, Charles R 16 [email protected]
Earll, Jane R 49 [email protected]
Fumo, Vincent D 01 [email protected]
Gerlach, Jim R 44 [email protected]
Greenleaf, Stewart R 12 [email protected]
Hart, Melissa R 40 [email protected]
Helfrick, Edward R 27 [email protected]
Holl, Edwin R 24 [email protected]
Hughes, Vincent D 07 [email protected]
Jubelirer, Robert R 30 [email protected]
Kitchen, Shirley D 03 [email protected]
Kukovich, Allen D 39 [email protected]
LaValle, Gerald D 47 [email protected]
Loeper, F. Joseph R 26 [email protected]
Madigan, Roger R 23 [email protected]
Mellow, Robert D 22 [email protected]
Mowery, Harold R 31 [email protected]
Murphy, Timothy R 37 [email protected]
Musto, Raphael D 14 [email protected]
O’Pake, Michael D 11 [email protected]
Piccola, Jeffrey R 15 [email protected]
Rhoades, James R 29 [email protected]
Robbins, Robert R 50 [email protected]
Salvatore, Frank R 05 [email protected]
Schwartz, Allyson D 04 [email protected]
Slocum, William R 25 [email protected]
Stapleton, Patrick D 41 [email protected]
Stout, J. Barry D 46 [email protected]
Tartaglione, Christine D 02 [email protected]
Thompson, Robert R 19 [email protected]
Tilghman, Richard R 17 [email protected]
Tomlinson, Robert R 06 [email protected]
Wagner, Jack D 42 [email protected]
Waugh, Mike R 28 [email protected]
Wenger, Noah R 36 [email protected]
Williams, Anthony D 08 [email protected]
White, Mary Jo R 21 [email protected]
Wozniak, John D 35 [email protected]
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Andy Barniskis a PA activist adds:

Also, please remember to tell PA senators you oppose the
“Operation Hardtime” amendments to SB167.

–Andy