Why is a Pro-Gun Senator Pushing Gun Control So Hard?

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Dear Friend:

There’s an old adage that says: “When you’ve dug yourself into a hole, stop digging.”

Texas Senator John Cornyn — the second most powerful Senator in Washington — is a traditionally pro-gun friend who made a big mistake by sponsoring a bad gun control bill.

But, rather than admitting that he made a mistake, he is digging in — and, in the process, becoming a vocal advocate for gun control.

That’s why I need you to contact your two Senators right away. Urge them to do everything they can to stop Cornyn in his tracks.

It should tell you something that Cornyn’s “Fix NICS” cosponsors include these gun control crazies: Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

You may remember that Sen. Murphy is the guy who put the infamous item on social media arguing that God doesn’t listen to gun owners’ prayers.

Well, now Murphy is publicly arguing that the Cornyn “Fix NICS” bill is the most important gun control in a long time, stating: “The Fix NICS Act is the most important piece of bipartisan guns legislation since Manchin-Toomey…. Reforms aren’t window dressing. Big deal.”

The goal of the Cornyn-Feinstein-Murphy-Schumer bill is to force every single potential NICS name to be sent to the FBI’s NICS system.

It was prompted by reports that the Air Force did not send the name of the Sutherland Springs shooter to NICS — even though he certainly could have gotten a firearm in a wide variety of ways, even if he had been in NICS, and even though his carnage was stopped by the real solution to violence … a good guy with a gun.

The problem is that, because of this isolated horror story, the Cornyn bill could add the names of millions of additional law-abiding Americans to NICS.

You already know of the 257,000 veterans who have lost their rights because of a bad experience in Iraq.

You already know that 95% of NICS denials are “false positives.”

And you probably also know that “Fix NICS” would require that the rolls of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and ObamaCare be trolled for recipients with PTSD, ADHD, or Alzheimer’s — that is, people who have had guardians appointed.

What you may not know is that the SECOND LARGEST CATEGORY of prohibited persons is “fugitives from justice” — and that a good portion of these are Americans who have UNPAID TRAFFIC TICKETS.

The Department of Justice reported in 2012 that 19.1% of denials (13,862) were as a result of being a “fugitive from Justice.” That category sounds ominous until you consider that unresolved traffic issues are one of the most common forms of bench warrants that can result in your becoming a “fugitive from justice.”

At Gun Owners of America, we frequently see gun owners who are denied for no apparent reason — or for the slightest reasons (like traffic offenses).

Take Ryan, who was denied a gun purchase by NICS. Upon appealing his denial, he said, “the only thing [my attorney] can find is that i have a bench warrent [sic] from Ohio for failure to appear for a traffic ticket.”

Or take this gun buyer who, in posting to a “General Firearms Forum,” said he was denied and, upon appeal, “got a letter in the mail saying I had an outstanding warrant for a traffic ticket out of state from 6 years ago.”

So don’t be fooled by lying legislators who say they want to expand NICS to reach hard-core criminals, when they’re really going after speeders.

The dirty little secret of NICS is that hundreds of thousands of people in the database are law-abiding Americans who did nothing wrong, unless you count “service to your country” and/or “speeding.”

And many of the names which the “Traffic Ticket Gun Ban” would add would largely fall into these categories.

There is no reason why the second most powerful senator in the country — Texas Senator John Cornyn — should be leading a gun control charge.

Instead, the Senate should be taking up concealed carry reciprocity instead!

Sadly, Senator Cornyn is saying that he wants to push gun control first, and then get to concealed carry later.

But what the Senator is ignoring is this: If gun control passes into law, he will have lost any leverage he had to score a pro-gun victory with his seminal reciprocity bill.

So please contact your Senators and urge them to OPPOSE the Traffic Ticket Gun Ban (S. 2135) and to support an immediate vote on concealed carry reciprocity (S. 446).

Thanks so much for your help.

In Liberty,

Erich Pratt

Executive Director

P.S. Please contact your Senators and urge them to say YES to concealed carry reciprocity (S. 446) and to say NO to S. 2135, the “Traffic Ticket Gun Ban.” And don’t forget that you can join Gun Owners of America today for only $20 — and this will double your contribution because of our matching fund!