The Russel Laing Story The R E S T of the Story!

From our last communication, I shared with you some important information concerning a case involving PA Act 17 (1995) -- Emergency mental health detention (aka "Section 302") by police without a warrant equates to lifelong loss of right to own/posses firearms.

The NRA was actually the primary supporter (along with HCI) of this hideous law. The most recent alerts we sent out show the victories that Russell Laing recently realized against this law, and the suffering he went through to obtain them. It is a great victory for ALL freedom loving Americans! I urge you to view the previous alerts at:

http://www.gunownersalliance.com/process1.htm

http://www.gunownersalliance.com/process2.htm

Several have asked me to further explain "Act 17", and how the NRA was actually the primary supporter (along with HCI) of this hideous law. Click herefor the long version of how "Act 17" passed:

In the mean time, here is a condensed history of Act 17:
 

Good reading,

Chris W. Stark
Gun Owners Alliance

CONTACT: Michael J. Slavonic, Jr. mailto:acsl@nauticom.net

Pennsylvania Sportsmen's Association condensed history of Act 17 is as follows:

PSA--The 1993-94 media hysteria about "assault weapons" caused the Pa. Legislature to consider an HCI backed 67 gun ban. Anti-gunners gave legislators a packet of 67 (8 ?" by 11") pictures of semi-auto versions of assault rifles.  NRA A+ rated Representative Matt Ryan panicked and countered with a 14 gun ban which quickly passed the House.  In our "steamroller" edition we printed evidence that NRA and other moderate mainstream sportsmen's groups helped to draft the 14 gun list (all but one deny it).  The 14 gun  ban was defeated in the Senate when Mike Slavonic and Kim Stolfer of the Allegheny County Sportsmen's League (ACSL) took the HCI endorsed propaganda packet of 67 gun pictures and added facts to each page such as the fact that almost all of these types of guns have never been found to have been used in a homicide anywhere in the United States. HCI's inability to refute hard ACSL factscooled the  Senate and defeated the proposed ban.  Gun bannershad egg on their face. Some legislators came to mistakenly believe that the NRA employee who distributed the ACSL's work was responsible for it's creation, the stuff of myths.

PSA -- The issue was still not dead as legislators demanded toknow if any other "assault weapons" do cause crime.  Slavonicthen obtained the legislation that created the Florida Assault Commission. Slavonic, who is also the only member of the NRA Board of Directors from Pennsylvania, gave the Florida legislation to NRA employee Alan Krug and Rep. Bob Godshall. Slavonic convinced them to introduce this legislation and told them that if the Commission does it's job, we will not need to revisit the assault issue.  Thus was born the Pennsylvania "SELECT COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE USE OF AUTOMATIC AND SEMIAUTOMATIC FIREARMS IN CRIME."   NRA gave it to gun-banner Ryan, so that he could introduce it and allow NRA to let him keep his A+ rating.  Slavonic discovered that NRA State and Local Affairs was not terribly interested in the Committee sohe personally arranged for the top pro-gun academic authoritiesin the country to appear before the committee.  The five Committee hearings were almost certainly the greatest massing of pro-gun expertise on this issue ever assembled.  The Committee itself was balanced with mainstream groups like the NRA and HCI and their affiliates.  Our then Governor (Casey) (elected with NRA A rating) was publicly supporting an assault ban and didn't like the facts being entered into evidence. Moderate pro-gun Committee members made no public stink when Casey derailed the direction of the Committee away from the "assault" issue.  The Committee never produced a report, nothing of the significant facts presented to prove that the "assault weapon" issue was a non-issue.

PSA -- The Committee did introduce legislative recommendationsfor a gun control bill that had nothing to do with so-called assault weapons.  Senator Fumo introduced the Committee's recommendations in the form of SB6 "The Fumo Bill" which HCI endorsed.  NRA would not endorse SB6 so Fumo called the NRA "pigs."  NRA took the "Fumo" Bill and removed some obvious anti-gun features.  NRA added a few pro-gun sections like Philadelphia carry reform and anti-gun features such as the now infamous 302 provision.  NRA then introduced it as HB7, the "Godshall" Bill.  NRA pushed the "Godshall Bill", and despite the public backing of moderate mainstream
organizations like PRPA, Unified and the Federation, NRA was unable to whip up any grass roots enthusiasm.  Meanwhile newly elected (NRA endorsed) Governor Tom Ridge (fresh from his three gun-banning votes as Congressman), was eager to appear tough on crime.  Ridge called a "special session" on crime which needed some Democrat support, (Republicans control the House and Senate by one vote).  Ridge got his crime bills including Special HB 110 (now Act 17), which is a hybrid of the "Fumo" and "Godshall" Bills.  HCI and NRA both backed 110.

PSA -- The PSA, GOA, and other pro-gun groups opposed the "Fumo"and the "Godshall" and Special HB110.  We are thus branded asextremist, since we did not support any anti-gun bills.  Itrapidly is being forgotten that NO FINAL REPORT WAS ISSUED BY THE COMMITTEE in any form, much less a form justifying _any_ of
the legislation offered first by Sen. Vincent Fumo, and subsequently landing in HB110.  That official report could have ended the "assault weapon" issue nationwide and inflicted a major
blow to the anti's.

PSA -- Special Act 17 (then called Special HB110) was passedbecause it was endorsed by NRA-ILA employees and by HCI.  Thecombined NRA-HCI effort was so powerful that the bill passed the Pennsylvania Senate - unanimously - the same day it was introduced!  A 44 page major overhaul of the state firearms code passed unanimously - in a state that has some very radical anti-gun senators.  Anti-gun grass roots activists had advance
notice and wrote advance letters to newspapers advocating passage,however, grass roots pro-gun activists were kept in the dark. Even after the bill passed the senate, NRA field office employees were telling callers that they had no details on the bill that had just passed.  So much for the six year story.

PSA -- DIRTY TRICKS - Pro-gun legislators were overwhelmed bythe sheer weight of the combined HCI-NRA forces and false NRA claims (repeated on the Floor of the House) that the Allegheny County Sportsmen's League, the Pennsylvania Gun Collector's Assn., the Pennsylvania Federation of Black Powder Shooters and the Pennsylvania Trappers Assn. supported the bill along with Handgun Control Inc.  These names (EXCEPT FOR HCI) appear on the early NRA literature supporting the legislation and they appear in the minutes of the floor debates when the act was debated, but they have been omitted from the NRA document we now rebut because
this dishonesty was exposed when PSA alerted the groups thattheir names had been used.  The responsible NRA employee, Krug,had been chastised the year before by the Keystone Second Amendment Association for using its name without permission to promote "crap".  At Gunstock 94, Harry Schneider stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and asked Neal Knox to remove Krug because "we spend half of our time trying to undo the damage that he causes".  Given the problems with Act 17, that was an underestimate.  Given ILA's laudatory approval of Act 17, we can only assume that the responsible ILA employees were only following orders and that Tanya will promote Alan Krug and keep Randy  Kozuch. Unless NRA Directors act quickly and decisively, other states had better watch out!

PSA -- Sarah Brady was not the only person to praise NRA forpassing Pennsylvania's new gun law.  Many NRA and HCI affiliateorganizations have also praised NRA for getting Act 17 passed. Lots of people supported Act 17 before it went into effect - all they knew about it was what NRA employees told them.

PSA -- Then, the "October Surprise" happened, the law went intoeffect on October 11, and the state police issued plain Englishregulations.  Sportsmen and dealers revolted.  An emergencymeeting was held at the Governor's office on October 17.  Houseand Senate leaders who backed Act 17 were present, but pro-gun Representative Teresa Brown was refused admittance (before passage she warned House members not to vote for Act 17 because it is "44 pages of gun control". NRA and Federation employees who had assured the legislative leadership and the governor that sportsmen would support Act 17, were present, but none of the truly pro-gun leaders who warned that the bill was defective were invited.

PSA -- Following the meeting, Representative Godshall - the primary sponsor of Act 17 issued a two page letter to legislators listing many changes that will be quickly written into legislation. The exact wording of the proposed changes is a closely guarded secret at the time of this writing.  The proposals haven't even been introduced, but legislative aids are already deceiving angry constituent callers by telling them that the problems with Act 17 have been fixed.

PSA -- On October 26 1995, the Pennsylvania State Grange Association concluded it's convention with representatives from 66 counties. By a vote of 356 to 6 the State Grange passed a Resolution to demand the repeal of major sections of Act 17.

PSA -- Some of the other groups advocating the repeal or guttingof Act 17 include: The Allegheny County Sportsmen's League, BucksCounty Sportsmen's Coalition, Citizen's Committee For Constitutional Rights, Delaware County Chapter of the Unified Sportsmen, Gun Owners of America, Keystone Firearms Coalition,
Keystone Second Amendment Assn., Pennsylvania Gun Owners Assn.,Pennsylvania Sportsmen's  Assn., the Warren County Gun OwnersAssn. and the Washington County League of Sportsmen.