The Knox Report
From the Firearms Coalition
By Jeff Knox
Note: The bill discussed in this article passed the US House on June 24 and is now headed to the Senate. Contact Senators to express opposition. - JK
A Firestorm was ignited this week when it was announced that House Democrats had carved out an exemption for the National Rifle Association in proposed new federal campaign law legislation and that NRA was no longer going to oppose the bill. The new campaign legislation is a response to the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. The Federal Election Commission. In that case the Court held that groups like NRA could not be blocked from mentioning a candidate’s name during the 60 days prior to an election. The proposed legislation – which is still only available in synopsis form – would tightly regulate the political speech of any corporation (most non-profits and political organizations are corporations) and require extensive recordkeeping and public disclosure of contributors names. Such disclosure is particularly hard on gun rights organizations as our members tend to be vehemently opposed to having their names put on lists – particularly lists identifying them as likely gun owners.
NRA has long been a leader in defense of constitutionally protected political speech and they had stepped up in opposition to this latest threat. Unfortunately, rather than stand strong on principle of liberty and the rule of the Constitution, NRA suggested to the bill’s sponsors that as long as the proposed legislation did not apply to NRA, the association would withdraw their opposition. Good for NRA, but bad for every other group and the Constitution.
