November, 12 2009, 09:58am EDT
Senator Burr Urged to Withdraw Gun Bill
Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence, sent a letter to Senator Richard Burr (N.C.) today,
responding to the Senator's recent attack on Helmke and the Brady
Campaign because of comments about his bill that would put guns in the
hands of thousands of veterans previously determined to present
sufficient risk that they should be denied firearms. In his letter,
Helmke calls for Sen. Burr to withdraw his bill.
WASHINGTON
Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence, sent a letter to Senator Richard Burr (N.C.) today,
responding to the Senator's recent attack on Helmke and the Brady
Campaign because of comments about his bill that would put guns in the
hands of thousands of veterans previously determined to present
sufficient risk that they should be denied firearms. In his letter,
Helmke calls for Sen. Burr to withdraw his bill.
- Read Paul Helmke's original comments here: https://www.bradycampaign.org/media/press/view/1193
- Read Senator Burr's comments here: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/06/senator-accuses-anti-gun-group-exploiting-fort-hood-massacre
- Read today's letter from Paul Helmke here: https://www.bradycampaign.org/xshare/pdf/letters/S-669-Burr-PaulHelmke.pdf
An excerpt from Helmke's letter is here:
[W]e referenced our opposition to
your bill, S.669, to automatically permit gun possession by over
100,000 veterans found by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the
Justice Department to be ineligible to possess firearms under current
federal law. Your bill would allow veterans determined to be 'mentally
incapacitated, deemed mentally incompetent, or experiencing an extended
loss of consciousness' to possess firearms by removing their names from
the Brady Law's National Instant Criminal Background Check System
(NICS).
Contrary to your reported assertion that our
opposition to your bill is a matter of my 'personal agenda,' or to
secure some 'personal triumph,' the issue is the safety of our
veterans, their families, and the nation they have so valiantly
served. In the wake of a mass shooting committed by a serviceman on a
heavily-fortified Army base, it is hardly 'exploitive' to have an
honest debate about your proposal to allow guns in the hands of
thousands of individuals already determined to present sufficient risk
that they should be denied firearms.
Brady United formerly known as The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and its legislative and grassroots affiliate, the Brady Campaign and its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, is the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence. We are devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.
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