guthe only thing missing were the che guevara t-shirts. democrats have stepped up their attacks on...

by Tim MacyIn late June, Congressional Democ-

rats tried reliving their hippie collegedays.

They staged a sit-in on the actualfloor of the House of Representatives— all in an effort to force House lead-ers to bring up gun control legislationfor a vote.

The only thing missing were the CheGuevara T-shirts.

Democrats have stepped up theirattacks on the Second Amendment inrecent weeks, following a series of hor-

rific shootings.It doesn’t matter that no amount of

gun control would have conceivablymade any difference.

Consider that the Orlando shooterpassed background checks when pur-chasing his firearms — so UniversalBackground Checks would have madeno difference.

He was not on any of the “watchlists,” and had been exonerated by theFBI.

So none of the “watch list” amend-ments (voted on in the Senate) would

have changed a thing — other than tolet the Attorney General deny gun pur-chases to honest Americans who havebeen illegitimately or erroneously

Gun OwnersTHE

41 YEARS OF NO COMPROMISE – 1975-2016

By Erich PrattThe anti-gun Left is blam-

ing you for all the recent high-profile shootings.

No doubt, you sat glued toyour television, watching thevideo footage from Orlando toDallas over the past severalweeks.

The media coverage ofthese tragic shootings has cer-tainly gripped the heart of ournation.

Sadly, but predictably, theanti-gun Left is using theseevents to push even more infringementson the Second Amendment.

And they have become extremelyfrustrated with Gun Owners of Americafor helping stall gun control in Con-gress. But more on that below.

Obama’s Deceptive Comments on Guns

After the murder of several Dallaspolice officers in July, the Presidentrenewed his push for banning semi-automatic firearms. Obama said:

When people are armedwith powerful weapons,unfortunately it makesattacks like these moredeadly and more tragic,and in the days aheadwe’re going to have toconsider those realities aswell [that is, enact moregun control].

These comments comefrom the same man whoearned the “Lie of the Year”award in 2013.

It helps to remember hisstruggle with truth-telling, because hiscomments demonizing the “powerfulweapons” that law-abiding citizens canown is completely misguided.

As the Liar-in-Chief goes after guns once again...Media Credits GOA with Helping Stall Gun Control

Volume XXXVI, Number 3 • August 8, 2016

Continued on page 6

• What they are savingabout GOA’s mediaappearances (page 4)

• GOA on the Frontlines(pages 4-5)

• Did your Senators support gun control?(page 7)

Inside:

Continued on page 2

House Democrats Relive College, Stage a Petulant Sit-In

The Gun Owners is published by Gun Owners of America, Inc. 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 (703) 321-8585

August 8, 2016 • The Gun Owners /

Banning semi-automatic firearms andmagazines will NOT make Americanssafer, and the overwhelming majority oflaw enforcement would agree:

• 91% of officers say that banningso-called “assault weapons” wouldeither have no effect or a negativeeffect in our efforts to reducecrime; and,

• 95% say that banning magazinesholding more than 10 rounds wouldNOT reduce crime. (Source:tinyurl.com/qa7ej64)

The President is using “officer safe-ty” as an excuse to ban firearms, butour first responders have already reject-ed his premise.

Our law enforcement gets it. TheLiar-in-Chief does not.

Anti-gun Democrats Politicize Guns, Renew Push for Gun Control

Democrats in Congress have forcedseveral votes on gun control over thepast several weeks.

In the Senate, Democrats filibustereda spending bill and refused to relinquishcontrol of the floor until they were ableto secure several promised votes onrestricting firearms.

GOA led the charge in opposingevery single gun amendment, and weare happy to report that every amend-ment failed.

(You can see how your Senatorsvoted on page 7.)

In the House, anti-gun Democratsstaged a sit-in, pressuring Speaker PaulRyan to bring up gun control for a floorvote.

Speaker Ryan relented to the Democ-rats’ antics and promised HouseDemocrats they would get their vote ongun control.

(See more on the Democrat’s petu-lant sit-in on page 1.)

In response, GOA activated its grass-roots network against the Ryan-endorsed “gun control lite” legislation.

Gun Owners generated thousandsupon thousands of emails and phonecalls into the House of Representatives

from all over the country.After the resulting firestorm, Ryan

pulled the bill and delayed any move-ment towards gun control.

GOA Credited with Taking theLead in Stalling Gun Control

On July 6, The Hill newspaper ran anarticle entitled, “GOP struggles to findvotes for gun bill.”

And what is one of the chief reasonsthat Speaker Paul Ryan is having diffi-culty getting a “gun control lite” billpassed?

Opposition from Gun Owners of America!

The Hill stated:The anti-terror bill has the backingof the National Rifle Associationbut is opposed by the Gun Ownersof America, a rival group that billsitself as a “no compromise nationalgun rights organization.”

Another newspaper on Capitol Hill,Politico, reported that while HouseGOP leaders had promised a vote ongun control, they have “indefinitelydelayed a roll call amid GOP infight-ing.”

A determined cadre of pro-gunRepublicans are refusing to support any“gun control lite” legislation.

And these pro-gun Republicans havebeen bolstered by GOA members and

activists who have continued to hammerthe continued message: Oppose AllGun Control.

Breitbart reported on GOA’s grass-roots efforts as well:

GOA sounded the alarm [via emailand social media] because of HouseMajority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s(R-CA-23) HR 5611, a bill thatinstitutes elaborate new gun con-trols under the guise of fighting ter-rorism.

Thanks to GOA members’ opposi-tion, all gun control has stalled, at leastuntil after the August recess.

On the Senate side, Minority LeaderHarry Reid (D-NV) recently expressedhis frustration with GOA, saying that“Gun Owners of America is worse thanbad.”

Again, it’s high praise for theactivists and members of Gun Ownerswho faithfully mail in their postcards,

make phone calls and send emails totheir elected representatives.

To stay up-to-date with legislativeupdates in between postal mailings,please sign up for GOA legislativealerts at www.gunowners.org/alerts.

And, make sure to like Gun Ownersof America on Facebook and follow uson Twitter and Instagram.

You will become part of GOA’s vastelectronic “Minuteman” force. ■

Media Credits GOA with Helping Stall Gun ControlContinued from page 1

Thanks to GOA members’ opposition, all gun control hasstalled, at least until after the August recess.



by Jordan SteinFor several weeks, the tragic

Orlando and Dallas shootings domi-nated headlines. News networks cov-ered the killers, their “evil” weaponsand possible motives.

But while media outlets have cele-brated a diversity of topics, theyalways have a bad habit of ignoringone type of story — self-defensecases.

For example, just two weeks afterthe Orlando murders, a concealed car-rier stopped a potential mass killer ata South Carolina bar.

While many pro-gun media outlets,including GOA, promoted the story, nomajor news network (except for FOXInsider) covered it.

The same applies for a self-defenseshooting in an Ohio pub — almost oneyear prior to the Orlando shooting.

An employee with a carry permitshot and killed a gunman who was fir-ing a shotgun and threatening patronsinside the Youngstown bar.

It’s a great example of self-defense.But outside of the GOA’s Self-DefenseCorner — at www.gunowners.org —you’ll have a hard time finding anynational coverage of this story.

An Inconvenient Truth To some media hosts, the idea of an

ordinary citizen carrying a gun in pub-lic is absolutely ridiculous.

The media is preconditioned to treatguns as “evil killing machines” thatwreak immense havoc and have little

social utility at all.But the oh-so-inconvenient truth, to

the media pundits’ dismay, is that gunsare used to save far more lives than theytake.

According to President Obama’sCenter for Disease Control, guns areused in self-defense 500,000 to 3 mil-lion times a year.

Contrast this with the approximately8,100 murders that were committedwith all types of firearms in 2014,according to the FBI.

How many of those lives were takenby so-called “assault weapons” in2014?

According to the FBI, about one-third as many people were killed withrifles — of which AR-15 styledfirearms are a subset — as were killedby fists and feet.

That would be 660 lives taken bybare hands and feet, compared to only

248 murders with rifles.Another inconvenient truth for the

media is Chicago. It’s commonly known that despite

having some of the strictest gun con-trol in the country, they consistentlyhave some of the highest murder rates.

If gun control truly worked asadvertised, the Windy City would beone of the safest places in the country.

Out of TouchBut what can you expect from these

out-of-touch hosts and politicians?They are so far removed from realitythat they cannot possibly understandwhy anyone would need an AR-15.Just look at Hillary Clinton. After the Orlando shooting, Hillary

completely inverted the concept ofinalienable rights. She said the federalgovernment has the “right” to regulatethe Second Amendment.

But what does she understand aboutgun rights or people who use firearmsin self-defense?

This is the same woman who hasn’tdriven a car since the 1990s, and she’shad armed security since she was theFirst Lady of Arkansas.

She has completely adopted the“guns for me, but not for thee” mentality.

And in response to all of this, shewould no doubt say: “What difference,at this point, does that make?” ■

Jordan Stein is the Public RelationsCoordinator for Gun Owners of America.

Media Blackout: Self-Defense StoriesNot Covered in Mainstream Media

Gun Owners of America8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102

Springfield, Virginia 22151703-321-8585

www.gunowners.org

Enroll as a Life Member at the special charter rate of only$500, which entitles you to full member privileges.

Also consider the easy payment plan with an initial depositof $50 (with the remainder to be billed to you) or as a

quarterly debit to your credit card for $50 until your GOA Life Membership is fully paid.

When you contact us by phone,email or mail, please provide uswith your name, address, city,state, zip and member number tobegin enjoying your Life Memberprivileges with Gun Owners ofAmerica.

Life Member

Are you a GOA Life Member yet?

GOA on the Front LinesAugust 8, 2016 • The Gun Owners /


“CNN Gets Schooled by [GOA] Guest WithActual Facts on Gun Violence in the U.S.”

NewsBusters, June 23, 2016

“Gun Owners of America’s Larry Pratt Schools MSNBC’sThomas Roberts on Guns”

Accuracy in Media, June 21, 2016

“CNN host Carol Costelloended up being prettyembarrassed on her guncontrol knowledge by Gun Owners of AmericaExecutive Director ErichPratt during an interviewsegment last week.”

Controversial TimesJune 26, 2016

What They’re Saying AboutGOA’s Media Appearances

Media Reports CNN’s Host got “crushed” during debate

“During a June 23 appearanceon CNN, Gun Owners ofAmerica’s Erich Pratt shutdown host Carol Costello’sgun violence inquisition.”

BreitbartJune 23, 2016



GOA on the Front Lines

Accuracy in Media says Pratt “schooled” MSNBC host

“Class was in session whenGun Owners of America’sErich Pratt took CNN’s Carol Costello to school onthe issue of firearms and gun violence last week.”

BizPac Review,June 26, 2016

“Banning weapons[will] not make anyonesafer. What does work isallowing the potentialvictims –– that is, the real first responders ––to defend themselves with firearms.”



placed on a terror watch list.Likewise, the Dallas gunman was an

Army veteran who could legally pur-chase firearms.

Neither his gun nor the one bran-dished by the shooter in Orlando wereAR-15s. So it’s not clear that a semi-auto ban would have applied to theguns they used, even if they had notbeen grandfathered.

Gun-Free Zones are DeadlyWhat would have worked, of course,

is if some of the 320 helpless victims inOrlando’s Pulse night club had thewherewithal to defend themselves,rather than being mowed down likehelpless sheep.

And, in fact, we welcome the factthat the LGBT community is apparentlyflocking to learn how to use firearms todefend themselves.

But you wouldn’t hear any of this inany major American newspaper.

They seem to take it as an article offaith that we need to create lots morehelpless victims to honor those gun-freevictims who have already died as aresult of their anti-gun policies.

They also seem to be confounded atwhat could have created many copycatkillings. The answer, however, is fairlysimple.

Every one of these mass killers —whether a radical jihadist or a derangedpsychopath — obsessed over the presscoverage given to the previous killers.

They sat in front of their media feedor their (physical) wall of press clip-pings and concluded: “Aha! Now Iknow how I can get MY fifteen minutesof fame.”

So, if you want to bring a fairlyquick end to copycat mass shootings,don’t ban guns. Ban NBC.

GOA to Hold Anti-gun Politicians Accountable in November

The more significant threat is stand-for-nothing Republicans in Name Only(RINOs) like Senators Sue Collins(ME) and Kelly Ayotte (NH), who aredragged around by anti-gun New YorkSenator Chuck Schumer on a “leash.”

(See the details of the anti-gunCollins-Ayotte amendment on page 7,along with some of the other gun con-trol amendments which were voted on,but failed, in the Senate.)

Sen. Ayotte may soon find thatattacking her supporters because ChuckSchumer tells her to do so is not a win-ning strategy in an election year.

Democrats took it on the chin, politi-cally speaking, when they went aftergun owners in 1994. They lost theCongress, as a result.

But just like then, Gun Owners ofAmerica will make it clear to voters thisNovember that the same Leftist Democ-

rat Party — along with certain Republi-can dupes — are guilty of conspiring torob honest Americans of their free-doms.

We are going to hold them account-able for their actions.

Von Clausewitz said: “Position iseverything.” If you can fight a politicalbattle on your own terms, you almostalways win.

But if you pursue a “gun control lite”strategy in which you concede that gunsare the “problem,” but promise to banfewer than the other party, then Novem-ber is going to be a very, very sadmonth for you. ■

House Democrats StagePetulant Sit-InContinued from page 1

House Democrats occupied the House floor demanding votes on gun control, but theyignored the fact that no amount of gun control would have conceivably deterred theOrlando shooter.

You can give to GOA through a recurringmonthly donation!Just select the amount you’d like to contribute each month!

Did You Know?

Payments can be made through PayPalor by Credit Card at

www.gunowners.org/monthly



Lifetime Gun Ban. This anti-gunDianne Feinstein amendment wouldhave imposed a lifetime gun ban onanyone the Obama administrationchose to put on a secret “watch list.”There is no due process for puttingAmericans onto that list, no dueprocess for getting off, and no easyway to tell whether you're on or offthe list and why. But we do know thatcongressmen like Rep. Tom McClin-tock (R-CA) and the late Sen. TedKennedy (D-MA) found themselveserroneously on these watch lists. A “+” indicates a pro-gun voteagainst the Feinstein amendmentwhich failed on June 20, 2016.

Universal Registration. This anti-gunChris Murphy amendment wouldeffectively outlaw private sales offirearms. For some people (who canlegally own firearms) and in someareas of the country, it would makethe transfer of firearms virtuallyimpossible. Given that virtually everygun buyer would be required to fillout a 4473, this amendment wouldfurther ATF’s efforts to create anational firearms registry, as theagency has already been illegallycopying 4473’s. Although the lan-guage purports to be narrow inscope, the “weasel words” used to identify things like “an Internettransaction” would turn it into anational gun registry. A “+” indicates a pro-gun vote against the Murphyamendment which failed on June 20, 2016.

Secret List Gun Ban. This anti-gunamendment (introduced by SenatorsSue Collins of Maine and Kelly Ayotteof New Hampshire) would allowAttorney General Loretta Lynch to putvarious gun owners –– including GOAor NRA staff –– onto a “secret list” ifthey “qualify” to be on the “selecteelist.” She could do this if in her politi-cized opinion, these targeted gunowners constituted a “threat.” Onceon the list, they would be subject to a lifetime gun ban. A “+” indicates apro-gun vote to successfully table(kill) the Collins-Ayotte amendmenton June 23, 2016.

ALABAMASESSIONS + + +SHELBY + + +ALASKASULLIVAN + + +MURKOWSKI + + +ARIZONAFLAKE + + -MCCAIN + + +ARKANSASBOOZMAN + + +COTTON + + +CALIFORNIABOXER - - -FEINSTEIN - -COLORADOBENNET - - -GARDNER + + +CONNECTICUTBLUMENTHAL - - -MURPHY - - -DELAWARECARPER - - -COONS - - -FLORIDARUBIO + + +NELSON - - -GEORGIAPERDUE + + +ISAKSON + + +HAWAIIHIRONO - - -SCHATZ - - -IDAHOCRAPO + + +RISCH + + +ILLINOISKIRK - - -DURBIN - - -INDIANACOATS + + -DONNELLY - - -IOWAGRASSLEY + + +ERNST + + +KANSASMORAN + + +ROBERTS + + +KENTUCKYPAUL + + +McCONNELL + + +

LOUISIANACASSIDY + + +VITTER + + +MAINECOLLINS + + -KING - - -MARYLANDCARDIN - - -MIKULSKI - - -MASSACHUSETTSWARREN - - -MARKEY - - -MICHIGANPETERS - - -STABENOW - - -MINNESOTAFRANKEN - - -KLOBUCHAR - - -MISSISSIPPICOCHRAN + + +WICKER + + +MISSOURIBLUNT + + +MCCASKILL - - -MONTANADAINES + + +TESTER - + -NEBRASKASASSE + + +FISCHER + + +NEVADAHELLER + + +REID - - -NEW HAMPSHIREAYOTTE - + -SHAHEEN - - -NEW JERSEYBOOKER - - -MENENDEZ - - -NEW MEXICOHEINRICH - - -UDALL - - -NEW YORKGILLIBRAND - - -SCHUMER - - -NORTH CAROLINABURR + + +TILLIS + + +NORTH DAKOTAHEITKAMP + + -HOEVEN + + +

OHIOBROWN - - -PORTMAN + + +OKLAHOMALANKFORD + + +INHOFE + + +OREGONMERKLEY - - -WYDEN - - -PENNSYLVANIACASEY - - -TOOMEY + + -RHODE ISLANDREED - - -WHITEHOUSE - - -SOUTH CAROLINASCOTT + + +GRAHAM + + -SOUTH DAKOTAROUNDS + + +THUNE + + +TENNESSEEALEXANDER + + -CORKER + + +TEXASCORNYN + + +CRUZ + + +UTAHLEE + + +HATCH + + +VERMONTLEAHY - - -SANDERS - -VIRGINIAWARNER - - -KAINE - - -WASHINGTONCANTWELL - - -MURRAY - - -WEST VIRGINIAMANCHIN - + -CAPITO + + +WISCONSINJOHNSON + + +BALDWIN - - -WYOMINGBARRASSO + + +ENZI + + +

Did Your Senators Vote to Protect Your Gun Rights?❶ ② ❸ ❶ ② ❸ ❶ ② ❸

❶

②

❸



Gun OwnersTHE

Sen. H.L. Richardson (Ret.)Founder

Tim MacyChairman

The Gun Owners publication is copyrighted. But copies may be made freely with attribution,giving GOA’s address, phone number and website location.

GUN OWNERS OF AMERICA8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102Springfield, Virginia 22151703-321-8585Web Site: http://www.gunowners.org

Larry PrattExecutive Director Emeritus

John VellecoDirector of Operations

Erich PrattExecutive Director

by Larry PrattJesse James’s notorious career

of bank robbing was endedwhen an alert young mannoticed that the men who hadjust ridden into town had nottied their horses tothe hitching posts.

The citizenhero spread the

alarm when he saw the gang enter the bank.By the time James’ gang emerged from thebank a short time later, they were over-whelmed by the armed townsmen who hadconverged on the bank.

More than 100 years later, the chief ofsecurity at a Colorado Springs church, andat the Focus on the Family offices in thesame city, had made plans for what every-one should do in the face of an attack.

That planning by Carl Chinn thwartedmass murderers in both places.

In 2007, it was a member of Chinn’ssecurity team, Jeanne Assam, who used her concealedhandgun to critically wound a heavily armed predator whowas intent on killing scores of victims.

And in 1996, Chinn helped persuade a gunman to allowan evacuation of the offices at Focus on the Family, prior tothe assailant surrendering to authorities.

Being alert, and being prepared, are essential to beingsafe. And these are skills that must be developed.

For example,Chinn says healways parks in acertain place, aimedin a specific direc-tion. The dome lightis set to not comeon, so that in a crisisit does not reveal hisposition. He sits in a particular place at church for a specif-ic reason.

Not too surprisingly, taking a controversial position in achurch’s pulpit can make the church a lightning rod for vio-

lent attacks:• A church in Birmingham, Alabama — that was used asa meeting place for civil rights leaders — was bombedin 1963, killing four little girls in the blast.

• The New Life Church pastor had spoken against abor-tion and homosexual marriage, as had radio hosts at

Focus on the Family. During the years it took to get concealed

carry legislation enacted, one of the stickingpoints was the concern by some that it is“inappropriate to have a gun in a church.”

What could happen in a church, they ask?Well, in 1999, a deranged dirtbag killed

seven in the Wedgewood Baptist Church inFt. Worth, Texas. Many shootings later,another dirtbag murdered nine worshippers atthe Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopalchurch in Charleston, South Carolina, in2015.

Making churches gun-free zones is as dan-gerous as making schools or any other place agun-free zone.

One of the lessons that Carl Chinn teachesin his Evil Invades Sanctuary: The Case for Security inFaith-Based Organizations is that there should be teammembers who have planned what they would do if theirchurch is attacked.

Once plans are in place, security teams should be carry-ing guns.

One of Chinn’s many conclusions is never again —never again wouldhe have a puny .32pistol. In the face ofan attack, ammuni-tion should be usedthat could quicklydisable an attacker.

Chinn’s bookshould be digested

by anyone involved with any kind of meeting that couldincite hate-filled slime balls. No place is immune, and it is shame on us if we assume that “it could never happen here.” ■

In 2007, it was a member of Chinn’s security team,Jeanne Assam, who used her concealed handgun tocritically wound a heavily armed predator who wasintent on killing scores of victims.

When Evil Invades Sanctuary

guthe only thing missing were the che guevara t-shirts. democrats have stepped up their attacks on...

Documents