Senate Scheduled to Vote on Free Speech Stranglehold Bill

Senate Scheduled to Vote on Free Speech Stranglehold Bill
DISCLOSE Act Vote Set For Tuesday.

Washington, DC –-(Ammoland.com)-  Just as gun owners are engaged in the intense battle over anti-gun Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced a new version of a bill that will gut the First Amendment rights of groups like GOA.

The so-called DISCLOSE Act, which passed the House last month, puts severe and unconstitutional limits on our ability to hold individual congressmen accountable in the weeks leading up to an election.

Chuck Schumer, who would like to do away with the Second Amendment, is now also trampling all over the First Amendment as a way to protect himself and his anti-gun colleagues from voters like you.

You may recall that the DISCLOSE Act passed the House only after a controversial carve-out was added to exempt the NRA from the bill’s provisions. Unfortunately, the NRA — which had originally opposed the bill because it was unconstitutional — withdrew its opposition after the carve-out was inserted.

The exemption was maintained in the Schumer version of the bill.

Ironically, while the bill is called the DISCLOSE Act, Schumer and Majority Leader Harry Reid are using the rules of the Senate to bypass any committee hearings — where the merits of the bill could be debated and the American people could see just how the Constitution is being undermined.

The bill will most likely come to the floor on Tuesday afternoon, where it will take 60 votes to “close off debate” on the measure.

So it is imperative that Second Amendment supporters contact their two Senators right away and urge them to oppose the DISCLOSE Act.

Some Senators may complain that this is not a Second Amendment issue. To the contrary, if GOA is hindered in communicating to the public about members of Congress and legislation they may be voting on, that undermining of the First Amendment will certainly have an effect on the Second Amendment.

The type of speech GOA is involved in — political speech — is first and foremost what the framers of the Bill of Rights had in mind when they wrote that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech.”

Please urge your Senators to protect ALL of your constitutional liberties.

ACTION: Please contact your Senators and urge them to oppose the new version of the Disclose Act. You can use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at https://gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Senators the pre-written e-mail message below.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

I stand with Gun Owners of America in opposing Senator Schumer’s new version of so-called DISCLOSE Act.

It is outrageous that the House of Representatives passed this legislation with a deal to exempt certain large organizations from its terms. This smacks of the money-for-votes fiasco which helped grease the skids for passage of ObamaCare and which has already lowered Congress’ reputation to unprecedented depths.

I was glad to see that Senator Mitch McConnell blasted this deal, which was especially aimed at carving out special exemptions for the NRA leadership in exchange for their promise to sit on their hands and not oppose the DISCLOSE Act. “If there is one thing Americans loathe about Washington, it’s the backroom dealing to win the vote of organizations with power and influence at the expense of everyone else,” McConnell said.

“Just as it wasn’t the Democrats’ money to offer in the health care debate, free speech isn’t theirs to ration out to those willing to play ball — it’s a right guaranteed.”

Another irony with the whole process surrounding this legislation is that while the bill is called the DISCLOSE Act, Sen. Schumer and Majority Leader Harry Reid are bypassing the committee process — where the merits of the bill could be debated and the American people could see just how the Constitution is being undermined.

Gun Owners of America represents hundreds of thousands of Second Amendment supporters. Any bill that hampers the right of groups like this to communicate with the public is also an attack on my rights.

Please vote NO on Sen. Schumer’s DISCLOSE Act.

Sincerely,

———-

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. `The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul