Both my senators voted for it, and while it was far better than the others, it's still an abomination.
Quote
Dear Senator [Fischer/Sasse],
Today I reviewed the "common sense" gun control laws proposed and voted on by the Senate, and which votes were cast by my Senators.
I think there is a higher need for "common sense" in our federal legislators than there is for it in gun control laws.
I saw both Senator Boxer and Senator Feinstein stand up in the Senate and say how these lists only contain 5,000 American citizens. As though there were some standard where due process doesn't apply if it's only a few thousand Americans.
But if there are only 5,000 citizens on the list, how can it be justified that there is no form of judicial review and no standard of evidence that's necessary before being placed on the list? This is only 5,000 citizens that are on it after 15 years, we're not going to need 500 new judges to handle that load.
And yet both of my Senators voted for the Cornyn amendment, which delays all judicial review or action until AFTER the right is impacted. Where the American citizen (or maybe subject is a better term?), convicted of no crimes, can hire a lawyer for hundreds of dollars an hour and go to court to have his rights restored after what will probably amount to years of delays in court.
Maybe it doesn't take probable cause to initially put a citizen on the list and incur a 72 hour delay, maybe it's only reasonable suspicion. But how can any conservative justify denying or even delaying any right from the Bill of Rights to an American without SOME form of due process before the right is denied?
And it sickens me that this comes only FIVE days after a House committee recommends to censure the IRS commissioner for a pattern of conduct that betrayed the trust of America when the IRS created secret lists to prevent the freedom of political speech by conservatives. And BOTH of my senators voted to enable a secret government list to hinder gun purchases! FIVE DAYS!
How well has the IRS, the EPA, the ATF, the BLM, the VA, or even Homeland Security done in the last decade that you trust any nameless and invisible bureaucrat to manage 2nd Amendment rights for your constituents?
Maybe you don't realize that freedom of political speech is the 1st Amendment.
Maybe you don't realize that freedom to keep and bear arms is the 2nd Amendment.
Maybe you don't realize that those two are the very first items in something called the Bill of Rights. These are not rights that lowly subjects are allowed to exercise by the government if the lowly subjects behave and think proper thoughts and say proper words, these are pre-existing rights for all people of the world that the US government must only infringe upon in the most dire of circumstances.
And yet the IRS infringed upon the 1st with no bureaucrat suffering when they refused 501(c)'s for Conservatives. And no bureaucrat from ATF paid the price for Fast & Furious and a body count likely in the thousands. Do you really think any bureaucrat would pay a price for adding people onto a secret gov't list? Maybe.. NRA members? Maybe.. Tea Party members? Maybe.. Nebraskan conservatives?
I simply ask for you to uphold your oath to support and defend the Constitution. As a Nebraskan, I like to think we stand for something beyond what the national party thinks is the best thing to do.
I like to think we stand for what is the right thing to do.
No denial of any rights to any American without due process. Anything else is a betrayal of the trust your citizens have in you.
Thank you.
Today I reviewed the "common sense" gun control laws proposed and voted on by the Senate, and which votes were cast by my Senators.
I think there is a higher need for "common sense" in our federal legislators than there is for it in gun control laws.
I saw both Senator Boxer and Senator Feinstein stand up in the Senate and say how these lists only contain 5,000 American citizens. As though there were some standard where due process doesn't apply if it's only a few thousand Americans.
But if there are only 5,000 citizens on the list, how can it be justified that there is no form of judicial review and no standard of evidence that's necessary before being placed on the list? This is only 5,000 citizens that are on it after 15 years, we're not going to need 500 new judges to handle that load.
And yet both of my Senators voted for the Cornyn amendment, which delays all judicial review or action until AFTER the right is impacted. Where the American citizen (or maybe subject is a better term?), convicted of no crimes, can hire a lawyer for hundreds of dollars an hour and go to court to have his rights restored after what will probably amount to years of delays in court.
Maybe it doesn't take probable cause to initially put a citizen on the list and incur a 72 hour delay, maybe it's only reasonable suspicion. But how can any conservative justify denying or even delaying any right from the Bill of Rights to an American without SOME form of due process before the right is denied?
And it sickens me that this comes only FIVE days after a House committee recommends to censure the IRS commissioner for a pattern of conduct that betrayed the trust of America when the IRS created secret lists to prevent the freedom of political speech by conservatives. And BOTH of my senators voted to enable a secret government list to hinder gun purchases! FIVE DAYS!
How well has the IRS, the EPA, the ATF, the BLM, the VA, or even Homeland Security done in the last decade that you trust any nameless and invisible bureaucrat to manage 2nd Amendment rights for your constituents?
Maybe you don't realize that freedom of political speech is the 1st Amendment.
Maybe you don't realize that freedom to keep and bear arms is the 2nd Amendment.
Maybe you don't realize that those two are the very first items in something called the Bill of Rights. These are not rights that lowly subjects are allowed to exercise by the government if the lowly subjects behave and think proper thoughts and say proper words, these are pre-existing rights for all people of the world that the US government must only infringe upon in the most dire of circumstances.
And yet the IRS infringed upon the 1st with no bureaucrat suffering when they refused 501(c)'s for Conservatives. And no bureaucrat from ATF paid the price for Fast & Furious and a body count likely in the thousands. Do you really think any bureaucrat would pay a price for adding people onto a secret gov't list? Maybe.. NRA members? Maybe.. Tea Party members? Maybe.. Nebraskan conservatives?
I simply ask for you to uphold your oath to support and defend the Constitution. As a Nebraskan, I like to think we stand for something beyond what the national party thinks is the best thing to do.
I like to think we stand for what is the right thing to do.
No denial of any rights to any American without due process. Anything else is a betrayal of the trust your citizens have in you.
Thank you.