Emergency: National Association For Gun Rights

For the past several hours, I’ve been feverishly working Senate phone lines.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is preparing to break through Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster as early asWednesday afternoon, convinced pro-gun Republicans will run for the hills at the first sign of a fight. 

Richard, without your IMMEDIATE action, I’m afraid he just may be right. 

That’s why it’s absolutely vital you sign your Emergency Fax Petition IMMEDIATELY. 

My staff has delivered 192,673 Emergency Fax Petitions to U.S. Senate offices in just the last 72 hours.

If you have already signed your petition, please forward the Emergency Fax Petition to everyone you know and ask them to take action.

You see, as of right now, one dozen Senators have pledged to join Senator Paul’s filibuster. 

That means you and I need to pressure 28 other Senators to stave off Senate Majority Leader Reid’s scheme. 

Other Senators are cowering in the shadows and riding the fence. 

But there’s a handful who are conspiring to hand President Obama everything he wants. 

In fact, the message Senator John McCain delivered yesterday on CBS’ Face the Nation was crystal clear to anyone listening, saying “I don’t understand” why Senator Paul was filibustering the motion to proceed to debate. 

Richard, Senator McCain’s underlying message was as hard to miss as it was outrageous . . . 

“Senate Republicans should trust President Obama and Harry Reid.” 

Anyone with half a brain and a shred of concern for our Second Amendment rights should see why this would be a horrible strategy to allow Harry Reid to bring ANY gun bill to the floor. 

In fact, just this past Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid laid his strategy bare in a radio interview on Nevada Public Radio, saying:

*** “We’re going to do something on background checks [NATIONAL GUN REGISTRATION].”

*** “We’re going to take a look at the size of clips or magazines.”

*** “And when it’s all over, we’re going to have votes on [the Feinstein Gun Ban].”

As I’ve warned you from the beginning, as soon as a gun bill reaches the floor for debate, Senate Majority Leader Reid will be free to horse-trade and deal with supposedly “pro-gun” Democrats vulnerable for reelection and weak-kneed Republicans to see just how much of President Obama’s anti-gun agenda they can ram into law. 

The only thing stopping them until this point was convincing a well-known “pro-gun” conservative Republican to help them break Senator Paul’s filibuster. 

Knowing just how heated the gun issue is, many vulnerable Democrats were wary of “stepping out on the ledge” and having the gun issue spell their defeat in 2014. 

The solution? 

Being able to say such a scheme was “bipartisan” and “even pro-Second Amendment Republicans supported it.” 

That’s why, for weeks, they’ve been shopping around a “compromise” to weak-kneed GOP Senators they think they can work with. 

First it was Tom Coburn (R-OK). Then Chuck Grassley (IA). 

Now Pat Toomey (R-PA) is in “talks” with Obama’s anti-gun Senate ringleader Joe Manchin (D-WV). 

Richard, I haven’t heard any news of a smoky backroom deal being struck yet. 

But Senator Reid’s decision to try and break through Senator Paul’s filibuster as soon as Wednesday makes me fear for the worst. 

That’s why you and I have to turn up the heat IMMEDIATELY. 

You see, this may be our last best chance to defeat the bill. 

Already, GOP leaders in the House have passed three bills with majority Democrat support -- even when a majority of Republicans have opposed the bills. 

Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor are keeping their mouths zipped, refusing to say whether or not they’ll do the same thing on guns. 

Richard, you and I both know their silence means Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor are planning to betray Second Amendment supporters. 

I hate to be so cynical, but that is the ugly truth. 

So please sign your Emergency Fax Petition IMMEDIATELY. 

And if you can, please forward this email to every pro-gun friend and family member you have. 

Finally, if you possible can, won’t you please chip in just $10 or $20? 

Every dollar you give means I can turn up even more pressure on the Senate -- and hopefully smoke out any Senate Republican backstabber before the motion to proceed to any anti-gun scheme is voted on. 

You and I can win this fight. 

But only if we take action IMMEDIATELY. 

So please sign your Emergency Fax Petition at once. 

There’s no time to waste. 

For Freedom, 

Dudley Brown
Executive Vice President

Senate Action on Gun Bills this Week - NRA NOTICE

The U.S. Senate is set to act on anti-gun legislation as early as this week. These proposals are the latest attempt by anti-gun Senators to erode our Second Amendment rights by making it illegal for law-abiding gun owners to transfer firearms without the federal government’s approval; and by banning commonly owned semi-automatic rifles and magazines, to name a few. Unfortunately, none of these proposals address the critical issues of fixing our broken mental health system; securing our schools; or prosecuting violent criminals.

However, there is a proposal worthy of gun owners' support. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Mark Begich (D-AK) have introduced S. 480, the "NICS Reporting Improvement Act of 2013", which will provide accurate definitions of persons who pose serious threats to themselves or others and therefore should be prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms, while protecting the rights of those who should not be included in NICS. Further, this legislation will protect the rights of America's veterans, by no longer allowing their Second Amendment freedoms to be denied based on an administrative finding that a person requires appointment of a representative to mange his financial affairs.

The NRA fully supports Senators Graham and Begich's important legislation.

The time is now. Please contact your U.S. Senators today, let them know you are a NRA member and encourage them to support S. 480 and to oppose all anti-gun legislation.

You can contact your U.S. Senators at 202-224-3121.

UN General Assembly Passes Arms Trade Treaty, Senate Rebuffs

On April 2, the United Nations General Assembly voted 153-4 to pass the Arms Trade Treaty, with the United States voting in favor and several countries abstaining. The vote in the General Assembly was necessary to push the treaty process forward after negotiations twice failed to deliver on the goal of developing the treaty by unanimous consent. The Obama Administration is expected to sign the treaty soon after it is opened for signature June 3. 

The text of the approved treaty is deeply problematic and threatens the rights and privacy of American gun owners. Signatories are encouraged to keep information on the "end users" of arms imported into their territory and supply such information to the exporting country. Exporting nations, nearly all of which have civilian firearm control regimes far harsher than the U.S., are encouraged to take the firearm control laws of an importing country into account before approving a transfer of arms. The treaty also encourages states to adopt domestic legislation to facilitate the treaty's onerous requirements.

For U.S. gun owners, the fight now moves to the Senate, where the Obama administration would need to find 67 senators to ratify the treaty. A majority of senators have already made clear their opposition. On March 23, 53 senators endorsed an amendment to the Senate Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2014, "establish[ing] a deficit neutral fund" to oppose United States entrance into the treaty. Additionally, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kans.), along with 32 cosponsors, has put forth a concurrent resolution expressing the Senate's opposition to the ATT, as it "fails to expressly recognize the fundamental, individual right to keep and to bear arms and the individual right of personal self-defense... and thus risks infringing on freedoms protected by the Second Amendment."

Following U.N. passage of the treaty, several senators were quick to further register their opposition. In an April 2press release, Sen. Moran made clear his continued opposition to the ATT and urged his colleagues to do the same, noting, "Given the apparent support of the Obama Administration for the ATT, members of the U.S. Senate must continue to make clear that any treaty that violates our Second Amendment freedoms will be an absolute nonstarter for ratification." Moran's office also pointed out that the General Assembly vote illustrates how the Obama Administration reneged in its previous insistence that the ATT be developed by consensus.

Also commenting on the ATT vote was Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who reiterated some of the NRA's concerns about the document, stating, "The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that passed in the General Assembly today would require the United States to implement gun-control legislation as required by the treaty, which could supersede the laws our elected officials have already put into place."

Similarly, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) urged Senate opposition, declaring, "It's our job to make sure any treaty the U.S. enters doesn't interfere with our sovereign ability to uphold the rights of Americans… The arms treaty simply doesn't include strong enough protections to pass that test, and I won't support any treaty that undermines the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Montanans."

A day later, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) joined in with a statement in which the senator explains, "I have great concerns that this treaty can be used to violate the Second Amendment rights of American citizens, and do not believe we should sign any treaty that infringes on the sovereignty of our country."

Unfortunately, once a treaty has been signed, it normally remains available for the Senate to ratify in perpetuity, unless a later president withdraws from it. This means that American gun owners must remain vigilant in ensuring this treaty is never ratified. In the coming months and years, the NRA will keep gun owners up to date on any movement toward ratification, and will work with our allies in the Senate to ensure the treaty remains unratified.