Sybil Ludington Rides Again

Politics, Freedom and Farm Life

The NRA Fibbed?!

Well, there is nothing like starting off a new blog with a “bang” so to speak of course. I have long maintained that the NRA is not necessarily a friend of law abiding gun owners. Now, they will sell you a fine bottle of wine, or life-lock, but mostly what they seem to be very good at doing is blocking legislation that law-abiding gun owners would like to see. For instance, here in Missouri last year there was an excellent bill up for consideration that would have allowed applicants for a CCW (concealed carry weapon) to send their fingerprints via their local sheriff to the FBI using a number rather than their name.  HB 379 would have been a great bill.  But the NRA blocked it.  Inquiring minds want to know why. I already do.

This year we are trying to get a Second Amendment Protection Act passed, last year we were sold out by RINOs Dempsey & Richard. Discouraging since they are Senate leadership. They objected to newspapers not being able to publish the names of concealed carry holders.

So now we have Senate Bill 613 is the 2014 Second Amendment Preservation Act.

On February 12th, the NRA released one of their e-mail blasts stating that an amendment had been added to the bill by Sen. Nasheed that made the bill anti-gun. The whole one sentence amendment is this “Section 2. Upon becoming aware that a firearm has been stolen, a person shall have seventy-two hours to report such theft.” That’s it. You can view it yourself.  Dated 2/11/14 offered by Nasheed.

What the NRA said was:

Missouri: De-facto Gun Owner Registry Legislation Moving In Missouri Senate! Call Your Senators NOW!
They the claimed: This modified anti-gun language would require every person to report the theft of a firearm they possess to a local law enforcement agency.  Any missing firearm must be reported within 72 hours of the time he or she knew or “reasonably should have known” that the firearm had been stolen. Those who are unable to report a lost or stolen firearm within this arbitrary amount of time, would be subject to penalties including: a $1,000 fine, Class A misdemeanor and the loss of their Right to Carry Permit.  Victims of gun theft should not be punished further by being prosecuted for such a “crime.”  Police resources should be focused on finding the real criminals responsible, not further victimizing those who have had not only their belongings stolen, but their sense of security and privacy as well.

I have NO idea how they could have gotten all that from the one sentence. At first several of us thought that they had confused Nasheed’s SB 556, but even after they have been contacted they are continuing to call this an anti-Second Amendment bill claiming it would create a gun registry.

I think I will let a couple of folks speak for themselves. One is  Sen. Brian Nieves, the sponsor of the bill and an excellent friend to law abiding gun owners. This is from an e-mail he sent out:

Subject: The NRA is Lying!!
This may be the strangest, most unexpected email I’ve ever written but I believe YOU deserve the truth….
Ladies & Gentlemen, the NRA is using the same inappropriate, dishonest, and disgusting tactics we only expect from the left!! They are attacking Senate Bill 613, Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act, based on LIES! They are reporting that an amendment was placed on the bill that was not. At first I gave them the benefit of the doubt, assuming they’d simply made an error but they’ve now put out another alert that contains some of the same LIES!!
Senate Bill 613 is still in process and it has had a couple amendments placed on it BUT there is NOT an amendment on the bill, nor will there ever be, that does what the NRA is reporting. The second amendment preservation act (SB613) is arguably the most powerful piece of gun legislation in the country and it MUST pass. Why in the world the NRA would be opposing it is beyond my ability to reason but it’s time for them to stand down and start helping.
There is an amendment that talks about Stolen Guns and has No Penalty, No Fine and only pertains to firearms that a person is aware of having been stolen. This amendment does NOT pertain to lost firearms and has no wording that involves “should have known” stuff! The amendment also effects what is known as the severable clause and when it’s all said and done, the amendment will be REMOVED. I am completely open to the idea of the NRA, or any other group, addressing concerns that are accurate and true but to see such a respected organization resort to LIES and Distortions is very diss-heartening to say the least.
As I said, the bill is still a Long Way from being finished AND the amendment the NRA doesn’t like will be removed. I just can’t stand to see them out & out, LIE about the bill/amendment. Are you an NRA member? Call them and ask them to move back in the direction of credibility and respect by retracting what they’ve said about this bill/amendment and moving forward with truth instead of acting like the liberal left and resorting to lies and distortion.
You can read the bill in it’s full, current, form by searching for SB613 at www.senate.mo.gov/nieves you can even watch my press conference on this subject.

The Second is Kerry Messer of The Missouri Family Network  Kerry is the lobbyist for the Missouri grassroots Second Amendment groups. He is honest, trustworthy and very Capitol savvy. It is with his permission I share this:

Pro-gun Senators like Brian Nieves and Ron Richards should be thanked for their overall support of the Second Amendment (last year’s veto vote debacle notwithstanding), not attacked by groups that are not even engaged! Until these national groups who are commenting from remote locations humble themselves and acknowledge their misinformation and attacks on our Senators, they need to apologize and retract using the same venues they used to spread their erroneous accusations.

Fact Check: Information being circulated via email (or otherwise?) from national gun rights groups (specifically the NRA and the NAGR) is totally wrong. Many folks are being miss-led by these groups who are not even in Missouri much less in the Capitol here in Jefferson City! SB 613, the Second Amendment Preservation Act was amended with a provision related to stolen firearms – however – that amendment is nothing like it is being reported by the NRA (and those repeating the misinformation) criticizing Senator Brian Nieves and other pro-gun Senators. (It is a provision requiring a report of a stolen firearm based on the time you discover such theft, and with NO penalty for failing to report! That’s it.) Reports that gun owners would be required to pay a $1,000. fine (as well as the many other myths about the amendment) simply are NOT true! Additionally, today’s accusation from NAGR that Senator Ron Richards orchestrated the amendment as a plot to kill the bill is an outright fabrication with no basis at all. PLEASE CONFIRM DETAILS FROM TRUSTED SOURCES “ON SITE” BEFORE RESPONDING TO SUCH FALSE CLAIMS. DO NOT BE LED TO SPREAD FALSE RUMORS OR BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST PEOPLE JUST BECAUSE OF JUSTIFIABLE FRUSTRATIONS AND A CYNICAL VIEW OF GOVERNMENT – there is enough true and verifiable facts to warrant complains, we do not want to lose credibility because of the sloppy reporting from people who don’t know what in the world they are talking about!

Last but not least, and excellent interview with an excellent State Senator.

So now the amendment has been stripped out, so Sen. Nasheed filibustered (preventing this was the point of accepting the amendment). It still passed and the NRA is crowing like they’ve done something great. Have they apologized, no.

I may have mentioned once or twice the NRA has not been our friend in Missouri, and has prevented us from getting legislation we wanted, but this is beyond the pale! On top of the lies, having labeled the Second Amendment Preservation Act an “anti-gun” bill, they are NOW saying they will score the vote! How many legislators are going to want to help Second Amendment groups now?

It seems that Missouri is not the only state that has troubles with the NRA trying to block state sovereignty legislation, Florida is dealing with it as well.

http://www.examiner.com/article/nra-works-against-second-amendment-preservation-act-florida

And yet, there are those that protecting the NRA’s reputation will be more important than protecting law abiding citizens rights.

Whose side are you on?

 

3 Comments

  1. The NRA Seems more concerned about their place as an advocate for the 2nd amendment than actually being an advocate. If these Second Amendment Protection Acts get passed and other States follow suite then the NRA becomes Moot!

  2. I might add that if the N RA Becomes Moot it would only affect the ILA branch of which the NRA should never gotten involved in in the first place. If they were to drop the ILA and return to what they were founded to be there would not be any rift.
    They were a Rifle Shooting Org. that promoted competition, safety and Education of the weapons use and proficiency of accuracy, including the safe handling of all weapons. That was what they were good at and should return to. The membership pays Wayne LaPierre $1,000,000 a year to put on his performance, as a leaded of the Second Amendment protection in the United States representing the National Rifle Association, in my personal opinion of him he is a joke!

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