-> SNETNEWS Mailing List Dear xxxxxx I have received a number of inquiries concerning a piece of pending legislation on gun control, sponsored by Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island. A copy of this message was cc'ed to Gary and JJ as well. The bill, S. 2099, is known as the Handgun Safety and Registration Act of 2000. This legislation would amend chapter 53 (Machine Guns, Destructive Devices, and Certain Other Firearms) of the Internal Revenue Code to, among other things: (1) require the registration of handguns in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record; (2) provide for the sharing of registration information with Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies; and (3) provide for the imposition of the five dollar transfer tax on handguns and a $50 tax upon the making of each handgun. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee because of its provisions involving the Internal Revenue Service and the taxes levied against gun manufacturers. Chairman Roth has assured me the bill will not be passed and I completely agree with him. This bill is just another example of the misguided gun-control advocates who erroneously think that placing restrictions on law-abiding citizens will somehow have an influence on crime and violence in this country. Additionally, this bill is flawed because legislation initiated in the Senate cannot be used to raise taxes without violating the Constitution. As always, I will continue to monitor legislation such as this that seeks to violate our 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Thanks again for contacting me. Please don't hesitate to call or write with any other questions or concerns you may have. If you have an opportunity, please visit my web site at http://burns.senate.gov for updates on this and other issues of importance to Montana. Sincerely, Conrad Burns US Senator ===== ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not so costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." -- Winston Churchill __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/ -> To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
