If one of your reps is on this list, get busy bombarding them with emails, phone calls, letters, ect...
-Sam53 Members of Congress Send Obama Letter Demanding Import Ban on Assault Rifles
REP. ENGEL URGES PRESIDENT OBAMA TO ENFORCE BUSH 41/CLINTON
RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTED ASSAULT WEAPONS
http://engel.house.gov | Congressman Eliot Engel
REP. ENGEL URGES PRESIDENT OBAMA TO ENFORCE BUSH 41/CLINTON
RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTED ASSAULT WEAPONS
Chairman of the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Leads Letter
with 53 Members of Congress
Washington, D.C.––Congressman Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, wrote a letter
signed by 53 Members of Congress urging President Obama to "return to
enforcement of the law banning imports of assault weapons, which was
previously enforced during the administrations of Presidents George
H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton." The letter was also led by Congressman
Michael Castle (R-DE) and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY).
"The alarming prevalence of imported assault weapons in the US has put
our nation's police officers at risk. Returning to the Bush 41/Clinton
enforcement of the ban on imported assault weapons will protect our
brave police forces and all people throughout New York and the United
States," said Rep. Engel.
Engel added that returning to enforcement of the imported assault
weapons ban is "a no-brainer that would require no legislative
action."
In recent years, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF) has quietly abandoned enforcement of the import ban
(which was authorized by provisions in the 1968 Gun Control Act and
enforced by Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton). As a
result, the civilian firearms market is flooded with imported,
inexpensive military-style assault weapons, primarily from former
Eastern bloc countries including Romania, Bulgaria and the former
Yugoslavia. Importers are also able to skirt the restrictions by
bringing in assault weapons parts and reassembling them with a small
number of US-made parts. Assault weapon "parts kits" for assembly by
individuals are also being imported. ATF has further weakened the
prohibition by placing certain extremely problematic assault rifles on
the "curios or relics" list, making certain firearms automatically
eligible for importation.
"Our failure to enforce restrictions on imported assault weapons is
affecting our bilateral relationship with Mexico," said Rep. Engel.
"We must do more to support our friends in Mexico whose drug war is
fueled by firearms flowing south from the United States, many of which
should never have entered the US in the first place."
5,661 people died in Mexico in 2008 alone as a result of drug-related
violence. This is more than double the 2007 total of 2,773. Over 90%
of firearms confiscated yearly in Mexico orginate in the United
States. As Chairman of the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, Rep.
Engel is a strong supporter of the Merida Initiative – a US-Mexico
security partnership announced in late 2007. However, he also believes
that the US must fulfill certain domestic obligations under the Merida
Initiative, including an enhanced commitment to curb the illegal
trafficking of firearms from the US into Mexico.
The full text of the letter and signatories are below:
Dear Mr. President:
We write to urge you to return to enforcement of the ban on imported
assault weapons, including those that are fully manufactured abroad as
well as those imported as parts, which was previously enforced during
the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
We believe that this issue has important implications for domestic
public safety, homeland security, and our bilateral relationship with
Mexico.
In the last eight years, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF) has almost completely abrogated the ban on imported
assault rifles. This ban – first established nearly 20 years ago – was
authorized by provisions in the 1968 Gun Control Act allowing ATF to
prohibit the importation of firearms and ammunition that are not
"particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes."
The import restriction is independent of the Assault Weapons Ban of
1994, and was not affected by its "sunset" in 2004.
The ban on assault weapon imports was first enforced by the George
H.W. Bush Administration in response to growing threats to law
enforcement personnel from the increased use of assault weapons by
drug traffickers and in mass shootings, like the Stockton schoolyard
massacre in 1989. The import restrictions were later strengthened in
1998 by the Clinton Administration to address foreign manufacturers
that were evading the ban by making minor cosmetic changes to their
weapons. The definition was changed to include any assault rifle with
the "ability to accept a detachable large capacity magazine originally
designed and produced for a military assault weapon."
Unfortunately, in recent years, ATF has quietly abandoned enforcement
of the import ban. As a result, the civilian firearms market is
flooded with imported, inexpensive military-style assault weapons from
primarily former Eastern bloc countries including Romania, Bulgaria
and the former Yugoslavia. Importers are also able to skirt the
restrictions by bringing in assault weapons parts and reassembling
them with a small number of US-made parts. Assault weapon "parts kits"
for assembly by individuals are also being imported. ATF has further
weakened the prohibition by placing certain extremely problematic
assault rifles on the "curios or relics" list, making certain firearms
automatically eligible for importation.
The noxious results of reversing long-established policy extend beyond
our borders and are directly affecting our foreign policy. Assault
weapons are being smuggled in bulk from U.S. border states to Mexico
where they are used by narco-traffickers to fuel a drug war that is
killing Mexican law enforcement and other officials at alarming rates.
The violence in Mexico has reached crisis proportions. In December,
Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora reported that the total
number of organized crime-related homicides in 2008 had reached 5,700,
more than double the previous record of approximately 2,700 set in
2007. The 2008 total includes 944 people killed in November alone, the
deadliest month in Mexico's history, in terms of drug violence. In
addition, the Attorney General confirmed that nearly 15 percent of the
victims of the violence were members of law enforcement or the
military. He also projected that the country's drug violence has not
yet peaked, and is expected to continue during the first few months of
2009. When the Merida Initiative was announced in October 2007, the
George W. Bush Administration made a commitment to "intensify efforts"
to combat the trafficking of guns from the U.S. into Mexico. A return
to the enforcement of the ban on the import of all assault weapons
would help us to live up to this commitment.
Not only is the violence in Mexico already spilling over the border
into the U.S., but the prevalence of imported assault weapons in the
hands of criminals has made "officer survival" a critical issue for
many urban law enforcement agencies. The Miami Police Department has
reported a steep rise in the number of murders and other crimes
committed with assault weapons; a Romanian WASR-10 (AK-type) assault
weapon was used to kill two Fairfax, Virginia police officers in 2006;
a Romanian WASR-10 assault weapon was used in a mass shooting that
left eight dead at a mall in rural Omaha, Nebraska in 2007. The
Associated Press conducted an analysis showing that the number of AK
variants traced to crime by ATF has increased from 1,140 in 1993 to
8,547 in 2007.
These are just the sort of incidents and statistics that prompted the
George H.W. Bush Administration to take action to halt assault weapons
imports in 1989, and we believe demonstrate the importance of
returning to enforcing the import ban once again.
We ask that you direct ATF to act in accordance with the 1968 Gun
Control Act and return to enforcing the ban on the import of all
assault weapons, both those that are fully manufactured abroad as well
as those imported as parts. By restoring these important restrictions,
we will be able to help reduce violence here in the United States,
while also sending an important signal to our friends in Mexico. Thank
you for your attention to this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Eliot L. Engel (D-NY)
Michael N. Castle (R-DE)
Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Gregory Meeks (D-NY)
Christopher Smith (R-NJ)
Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Nita Lowey (D-NY)
Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
Bob Filner (D-CA)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)
Louise Slaughter (D-NY)
Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
David Price (D-NC)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)
Edward Markey (D-NA)
Chaka Fattah (D-PA)
Jim Moran (D-VA)
Robert Wexler (D-FL)
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Brad Sherman (D-CA)
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
Gary Ackerman (D-NY)
Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Jose Serrano (D-NY)
John Conyers (D-MI)
Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)
Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)
John Olver (D-MA)
Betty McCollum (D-MN)
Rush Holt (D-NJ)
Linda Sanchez (D-CA)
Albio Sires (D-NJ)
Betty Sutton (D-OH)
Donna Christensen (D-VI)
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Sam Farr (D-CA)
Jim McGovern (D-MA)
Lois Capps (D-CA)
Allyson Schwartz (D-PA)
Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
Michael McMahon (D-NY)
Donna Edwards (D-MD)
Tim Bishop (D-NY)
Pete Stark (D-CA)
Doris Matsui (D-CA)
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Paul Tonko (D-NY)
Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
