http://www.gunowners.org/a100404.htm www.gunowners.org Oct 2004 GOA Alert-- October 04, 2004 House 9/11 Bill Will Set Up A Database On All Americans, Create National ID Card Gun Owners of America 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102 Springfield, VA 22151 (703)321-8585 Monday, October 4, 2004 What part of "Constitution" don't they understand? In a frightening move, House Republicans -- members of the party that supposedly favors "limited government" -- are pushing an Orwellian nightmare in Congress in the name of "national security." In the wake of the 9/11 Commission's recommendations, the Senate -- unlike the House -- has prepared legislation which would closely track that Commission's findings by reorganizing the intelligence services in the federal government. The Senate bill is relatively innocuous compared to the House version, HR 10. Unfortunately, many of the so-called Republicans in the House are pushing this nightmarish legislation which would: * Create a massive government database containing personal information on every American man, woman and child; * Standardize (i.e., nationalize) the process of issuing driver's licenses -- thereby taking the final step toward creating a national ID card; and * Set up a system whereby any employer or industry identified by the Attorney General would have to submit employment applicants to the government for approval -- complete with fingerprints or other "biometric identifiers." Now, let's look at how each of these problems could affect your rights -- gun rights in particular: (1) The government database is created by section 2173 of HR 10, a bill introduced by House Speaker Dennis Hastert. It would allow airline passengers to be screened against lists containing "all appropriate records." What would be "appropriate" would be within the exclusive discretion of the bureaucrats, but could include medical records, confidential financial records, library records, and gun records. (2) The driver's license standards are in section 3052. They would allow the federal government to set standards as high as desired to determine who may or may not obtain a driver's license. Please note that you need a driver's license (or similarly regulated state-issued photo ID) to purchase a gun from a dealer. But, increasingly, you also need it to travel on any form of transportation (airplane, bus, train, car), to get a job, to open a checking account, to cash a check, to check into a hotel, to rent a car, or to purchase cigarettes or alcohol. If the federal government can set standards so high as to deny you a driver's license or photo ID, it has effectively turned you into a non-person. (3) Section 2142 would allow the U.S. attorney general to promulgate any regulations he desires concerning (a) what employers must submit the names and fingerprints of all employment applicants to the FBI, (b) what standards the government will use in approving or disapproving the employment applicants, and (c) whether or not the government's "disapproval" will prevent the applicant from being hired. There is nothing in section 2142 which would prohibit an anti-gun attorney general from (a) requiring the resumes and fingerprints of every employment applicant in the country, (b) disapproving them on the basis of gun ownership or, for that matter, any factor he viewed as not being politically correct, and (c) prohibiting any employer from hiring an applicant thus blacklisted. ACTION: Write your representative. Ask him, in the strongest terms, to vote against any "9/11 legislation" that (1) creates a government database of personal information on law-abiding Americans, (2) moves toward the use of a driver's license as a National ID Card, or (3) sets up a system for fingerprinting and approving job applicants in the private sector. You can use the pre-written message below and send it as an e-mail by visiting the GOA Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm (where phone and fax numbers are also available). ----- Pre-written message ----- Dear Representative: Movement toward an oppressive government does not make me feel more "secure." Therefore, I would urge you, in the strongest terms, to please vote against HR 10, The 9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act, if it: * Creates a massive government database containing personal information on every American man, woman and child [section 2173]; * Standardizes (i.e., nationalizes) the process of issuing driver's licenses -- thereby taking the final step toward creating a national ID card [section 3052]; * Sets up a system whereby any employer or industry identified by the Attorney General would have to submit employment applicants to the government for approval -- complete with fingerprints or other "biometric identifiers" [section 2142]. Frankly, the ideas which are being floated with respect to this legislation are simply horrible, and are surely unworthy of those who have sworn to protect the Constitution. Sincerely, *************************** GOA Candidate Ratings Now Online The 2004 version of GOA's famous Candidate Ratings Guide has now been posted at http://www.gunowners.org/votetb04.htm on the web. A survey was mailed to every identifiable candidate nationwide for this year's Congressional elections. And every incumbent was rated based on his or her gun rights voting record while in office. The result is a truly comprehensive voter's guide that will prove invaluable to gun owners this November. Be sure to take note of where your candidates stand on the Second Amendment! Up to Home Copyright, Contact and Credits -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'