Ten Gun Bills Filed the First Week of 2013 Congress

Houston, Tx --(Ammoland.com)- The information below is from NRA with federal lobbyist on the ground in Congress. Share this with others and please act.

Members of the 113th Congress introduced 10 bills on Thursday relating to gun violence, most of which came from Democrats seeking new restrictions on gun ownership.

The flurry of legislative proposals show that members are likely to push the issue in the wake of the December shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that left 20 children dead.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), whose husband was shot to death in 1993, introduced four of the bills. The congresswoman has vowed to seek changes in federal law in response to the school shooting.

• H.R. 137 and 138 from McCarthy would require people prohibited from buying firearms to be listed in a national database, and would prohibit the transfer or possession of large capacity ammunition clips.
• McCarthy’s H.R. 141 would require criminal background checks on all firearms transactions at gun shows, which would close the so-called gun-show loophole. Her H.R. 142 would require face-to-face purchases of ammunition, the licensing of ammunition dealers, and the reporting of bulk ammo purchases.
• Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and Rush Holt (D-N.J.) each proposed their own bills tightening firearms licensing requirements – H.R. 34 and H.R. 117, respectively.
• And Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) proposed H.R. 65, which would raise the eligibility age to carry a handgun from 18 to 21.
• Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) reintroduced his bill, H.R. 21, to require background checks for all gun sales, and to require gun owners to report when their guns have been stolen. Moran argued in December that while the National Rifle Association objects to these changes, members of the powerful group support them.

“The NRA as an organization is out of step with its membership on many commonsense gun safety measures,” he said. “Polling shows nearly two-thirds of NRA members support the five simple ways to improve gun safety included in this bill.”

Two freshman Republicans introduced contrary bills that would end federal law requiring that areas around schools be designated as “gun free zones.” These bills, H.R. 35 from Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) and H.R. 133 from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), are a response to findings that violence in and around schools has increased since the gun free zone law took effect in 1990.

“By disarming qualified citizens and officials in schools we have created a dangerous situation for our children,” Stockman said. “In the 22 years before enactment of ‘gun free school zones’ there were two mass school shootings.

“In the 22 years since enactment of ‘gun free schools’ there have been 10 mass school shootings,” he added. “Not only has the bill utterly failed to protect our children it appears to have placed them in danger.”

Companion bills could be introduced on the Senate side, but Senate leaders have reserved January 22 as the first day on which new Senate legislation can be proposed.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/275587-10-gun-bills-introduced-in-first-day-of-the-house#ixzz2H1kAihlC

Contact your members of Congress at 202-224-3121

• U.S. House of Representatives Contact Information

• U.S. Senator Contact Info

As gun bills are filed in the Texas Legislature, watch for posts and updates. Also read bill text Texas Legislature On Line

Contact information for Texas House Members and Texas Senators can be found at the link above also.

Please be advised that some local governments are jumping into the anti-gun feeding frenzy such as the city of Austin attempting to oust Saxet Gun Show from Travis County owned property.

Your vote and your voice is most concentrated and most powerful at home with your city, county, and your school board. You can be heard, you need to be heard! They work for you.

Never has gun-ownership been at risk as it is today. Please act quickly!

Keep the faith, tr

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The Mission of the Texas State Rifle Association is to protect and defend the inalienable rights of the individual Texan to acquire, possess, transport, carry, transfer ownership and enjoy the right to lawful use of firearms for self preservation, for the defense of family and property and the common defense of the Republic and the individual liberties of the people. Visit: www.TSRA.com