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Kelly J
02-19-2014, 10:36 AM
Western MIssouri Shooters Alliance

Postby KellyJ » 19 Feb 2014 12:34

Western Missouri Shooters Alliance
http://www.wmsa.net

SB 613, The NRA and the Lies

S.Stokes-Begley
17 February 2014


Senate Bill 613 is the 2014 Second Amendment Preservation Act. WMSA is not supporting this bill, it has a delayed fuse, not taking effect until 2017, or unless four other states pass similar legislation, or further infringing legislation or executive orders come down (personally, I figure that will take 23 minutes or so). But, the question was raised, who gets to decide if the legislation is similar or infringing? That being said, there are some excellent things in this bill, but our objection to it is the delayed fuse. I've been given reasons for the delayed fuse, but on that principle we have our objections. You need to know that part up front.


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 acknowlege their missinformation and attacks on our Senators, they need to appologize and retract using the same venues they used to spread their erronious 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 CLAIMES. 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!

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 and "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? If you are a member of the NRA, PLEASE, contact them and tell them they need to stop lying and they need to fire whoever made this horrible decision! If the NRA can not help with Missourians gaining gun rights, we can most likely do better without this kind of "help".