[Previous entry: "Police could have saved three children, but dildn't bother"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "The school shooting in MN"]
03/21/2005 Archived Entry: "The NRA sabotages more pro-gun legislation"
THE NRA HAS REPEATEDLY BEEN ACCUSED of sabotaging pro-gun legislation at the state level. This time, the accusation comes, with details, from Gary Marbut of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, one of the most effective gun-rights groups in the nation.
Last time Gary and I had a talk, I accused an NRA rep of similar sabatoge and Gary ardently defended him. So Gary is no knee-jerk NRA opponent.
Click the "more" link for Gary's news release and additional info.
Dear Second Amendment Friends,
Greetings from Montana.
Pasted below is a News Release that is self explanatory.
Please help with this by:
1) Communicating about this with any NRA Directors you may know,
2) Forwarding this to whomever you think may be interested, and
3) Posting this on all forums and/or blogs you think suitable.
Office of Wayne LaPierre, NRA Exec. V.P. - (703) 267-1059
Phone numbers for NRA Directors
http://www.grnc.org/who_to_complain_to.htm
Thanks loads for your help.
Best wishes,
Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.org
====================
NEWS RELEASE
(for immediate release - March 21, 2005)
Montana Gun Group Accuses NRA Staff of Malfeasance
NRA Shoots Itself In Foot
Missoula, Montana - The Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA) is harshly critical of National Rifle Association staff for conduct MSSA says is killing pro-gun legislation in Montana. MSSA recently had a bill before the Montana Legislature, HB 693, to clarify the right to self defense with firearms. MSSA blames the failure of this important bill on a deliberate determination by a mid-level NRA staffer to undercut the bill by withholding NRA support.
In the February issue of the American Rifleman, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre took a strong stand in his Standing Guard column about employers who fire workers for having a firearm in a personal vehicle, perhaps associated with hunting before or after work. LaPierre said, "It pits corporate policy against the constitutional rights of the little guy, the individual citizen, with the NRA foursquare on the side of individual rights." In LaPierre's March Standing Guard column, he praises Marion Hammer of Florida for advancing the same type of legislation the NRA has declined to support in Montana.
MSSA President Gary Marbut commented, "Despite these strong positions by LaPierre, Randy Kozuch, director of NRA/ILA's State and Local division, actively headed off NRA support for Montana's HB 693, which would have accomplished exactly what LaPierre called for and praised in his February and March columns. This is precisely the sort of SNAFU so common with mid-level bureaucrats in the NRA. Some unaccountable Beltway denizen in the NRA bureaucracy obstructs what both the leadership and membership of the NRA want and need."
Marbut continued, "MSSA is a member of the NRA, maybe the most politically successful organization affiliated with the NRA. We went through NRA channels to seek NRA support for HB 693. Our request stopped cold at the desk of Kozuch, who decreed that the NRA would withhold support for HB 693. Kozuch also took the same stance on MSSA's HB 366, which declares that firearms made and retained in Montana are not subject to federal regulation under commerce clause authority. The NRA also failed to support restoration of funding for shooting range development in HB 2. I'd bet a dollar to a donut that Kozuch is guilty of similar obstruction in other pro-gun states. Such NRA staff obstruction creates more problems for gun owners in pro-gun states than all the gun control groups put together. In this respect, the NRA becomes a problem just like the federal government -- you get some unaccountable bureaucrat dictating state and local policy from a sensory-deprivation chamber in D.C."
"Having declined to support these bills," Marbut stated, "the NRA has also deprived itself of any scorecard issues by which to effectively rate legislators in upcoming election cycles."
"The lack of NRA support has essentially doomed my HB 693 in the Democrat-controlled Montana Senate judiciary committee," stated Rep. Jack Wells, HB 693 sponsor.
Montana's NRA Director, Jay Printz said, "I've been in Iraq for a year, and I'm surprised to return and learn that the NRA is not supporting pro-gun legislation here. I want to know why."
Curtis Oda, (recently elected Utah House of Representatives) noted, "The conduct of Randy Kozuch is not in the best interest of the efforts of law abiding gun owners nor the NRA. His actions have the same effect as sabotage -- no different result than if he were a plant by the anti-gunners."
Montana State Representative Roger Koopman, former employee of NRA/ILA and NRA field staff, commented, "It's a travesty when a key person in the NRA hierarchy is able to derail important, pro-gun legislation. They act like they're the only show in town -- there's an arrogance to that. They end up undermining the efforts of pro-gun activists in places like Montana. This has got to stop."
Montana Senate Judiciary Committee member Aubyn Curtiss opined, "The rejection of this bill on a party line vote doesn't reflect the opinions or wishes of the vast majority of Montanans."
HB 693 has been under development by MSSA for two years, and the Montana Legislature will not meet again in regular session until 2007.
"The NRA needs to end this ongoing embarrassment by simply replacing Kozuch," Marbut concluded.
MSSA is the primary group asserting the rights of gun owners and hunters in Montana. MSSA has obtained passage of over 40 pieces of pro-gun and pro-hunting legislation in the past 15 years.
- 30 -
Information:
Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com
mssa@mtssa.org
Office - 406-549-1252
Mobile - 406-544-1252
Who is Gary Marbut?
http://www.marbut.com/storage/WhoIsGary.html
Montana House Bill 693
http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/2005/billhtml/HB0693.htm
Montana House Bill 366
http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/2005/billhtml/HB0366.htm
=============
Bills introduced at the request of MSSA and passed by the Montana Legislature
1989
Sporting goods stores storage of powder and primers, exempt from restrictions under Uniform Fire Code 50-61-120, M.C.A.
Shooting range development funding. HB2.
1991
Montana Shooting Range Protection Act, first in the U.S. 76-9-101-5.
Mandatory Issue Concealed Weapon Permits. 45-8-315, et. seq.
Right to Keep and Bear Arms Week. 1-1-224.
Hunting Heritage Week. 1-1-226.
Shooting sports in schools. SJ16.
Firearm safety in schools SJ15.
Increase shooting range funding. HB2.
1993
Game Lawfully Taken Becomes the Personal Property of the Hunter. 87-2-509.
Second Conviction of Hunter Harassment increased penalty. 87-3-143.
Easements to secure a safety zone around a shooting range. 70-17-101(20).
Non-resident minor children of Montana residents hunt as residents. 87-2-102(8).
Increase shooting range funding. HB2.
1995
Sheriffs First HB160 (vetoed by Gov.)
Montana exempt from the federal "gun-free school zones" 45-8-360.
CWP reciprocity. 45-8-329.
Gun buys for CWP-holders under the Brady Law. 45-8-330.
CWP applicants may be tested by sheriff, 45-8-321(5).
Appeal of CWP denial 45-8-324.
Increase shooting range funding. HB2.
1997
Gun owner not liable for criminal acts committed with a stolen firearm. 27-1-709.
Gun safety in schools. 20-7-132.
Sheriffs First resolution HJ28.
Increase shooting range funding. HB2.
1999
Firearm safety instructors exempt from liability. 27-1-721.
Prevent cities from suing gunmakers, 7-1-115.
Machine gun and silencer laws repeal SB427.
Repeal the Brady Law. HJ5.
CWP "prohibited places" revision, 45-8-317(2).
Recognize CWPs from other states, 45-8-329.
Shooting Range Development Act. 87-1-276.
Increase shooting range funding. HB2.
2001
Self-defenders' not civilly liable. 27-1-722.
Increase shooting range funding. HB2.
2003
Right to Hunt, Montana Constitution. HB306/C-41, (2003 & 2004)
Large predators must be managed to protect hunting and safety. 87-1-217.
Lautenberg effect judicial warning required. 404121(7)(a).
Game counts to be published. 87-1-201.
Wolf delisting terms and funding. HJ32.
Terrorist Free America resolution HJ12.
Increase shooting range funding. HB2.
Posted by Claire @ 02:28 PM CST
Link