Exactly the response I expected from this pompous windbag!!

[marinevet1994]

Dear Mr. Amyx:

Thank you for contacting me about gun safety issues. I appreciate you sharing your views with me.

I support sensible gun safety laws and strict enforcement of those laws to help prevent crimes, suicides and violence committed with firearms. I support the steps President Obama outlined recently to curb the gun violence that plagues our nation, and I believe Congress can and should work to enact legislation to prevent gun violence without infringing on the rights of law-abiding citizens.

I was an original cosponsor of the Brady Law (P.L.103-159). This law requires prospective handgun purchasers to undergo criminal background checks before purchasing a firearm from a licensed dealer. The background check system is able to make 92 percent of background check determinations on the spot, and since 1994, has prevented more than 1.5 million firearm purchases. Additionally, according to Centers for Disease Control statistics, since the Brady Law went into effect, the number of gun deaths in the United States dropped 22 percent, from 39,595 in 1993 to 30,769 in 2007. The number of gun homicides dropped by more than 29 percent, from 17,024 in 1993 to 12,129 in 2007.

While the Brady Law has been successful in reducing gun violence, I believe more has to be done. For example, only 60 percent of all gun sales in the United States take place at licensed federal dealers, where background checks are mandatory. The remaining 40 percent of gun sales are conducted by unlicensed individual sellers, often at gun shows, and a background check is not required. This means that across our nation, any dangerous individual can go to a gun show and purchase a deadly weapon without any form of background check. To close this ‘gun show loophole,’ I am a cosponsor of the Gun Show Background Check Act. This bill would enact the common sense principle that anyone who wants to purchase a firearm at a gun show should be able to pass a simple background check. Ten national police organizations support closing this loophole.

Additionally, I am a cosponsor of the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act, a bill that seeks to reduce gun violence by keeping firearms out of the hands of terrorists and criminals. Although hard to believe, nothing in current law prohibits individuals on terrorist watch lists from purchasing firearms, unless they fall into another disqualifying category. This “terror gap” in federal law must be closed, and this bill would do just that. This legislation would deny the transfer of a firearm when a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check reveals that the prospective purchaser is a known or suspected terrorist and the Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the purchaser may use the firearm in connection with terrorism. Keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists is just common sense.

I also have always supported the rights of sportsmen and hunters. Hunting is a way of life for millions of Americans and plays an integral role in modern wildlife management. But military style assault weapons have no sporting purpose. Because of these weapons, our nation’s citizens are in greater danger and police officers across the country are encountering criminals armed with highly lethal military style weapons.

To support our law enforcement community and to save lives, I am a cosponsor of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. This legislation would prevent the future possession, manufacture, sale and importation of assault-type weapons while grandfathering weapons lawfully possessed at the date of the bill’s enactment. It would ban firearms with detachable magazines and military style features, such as grenade launchers, protruding pistol grips, and barrel shrouds. It would support law enforcement officers across our nation, who should not be forced to confront lawbreakers toting military arms. And it would protect the rights of hunters by specifically naming thousands of firearms with legitimate sporting, sentimental or other value that would remain legal to possess.

This bill also would ban high capacity ammunition magazines. Studies have shown that high capacity ammunition magazines are used in 31 to 41 percent of fatal police shootings in cities across our nation. They also have been used by the perpetrators of numerous mass shootings, including at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, the Tucson shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others, the attack on a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, and the horrifying shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The Newtown shooting alone left twenty six people dead, twenty of them children.

We must not wait until more places are added to this heartbreaking list. We can and should act swiftly to protect our families and loved ones from mass shootings. These measures have the overwhelming support of law enforcement communities around our nation, who have implored us to make changes to stop the flood of these types of weapons into the hands of those who would use them for harm. I will continue to work for common-sense gun safety measures.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Sincerely,
Carl Levin
levin.senate.gov

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[john.shewchuk]

It frightens me that the fate of our Nation rests with people like this...

[msgt/ret]

Another one that deserves to be voted out of office and off the public teat.

[Rcher]

So ... when are you moving out of Michigan?

[Jetfuelrm]

Time to get these people out of office and the sooner the better.

[KoriBustard]

I'm not in MI, but I've made "gun control" legislation a litmus test for who I vote for. I've never been a one issue voter, but times call for it now. I hope he's looking for a new job soon.

[marinevet1994]

So ... when are you moving out of Michigan?

My wife won't let me. Says the family is here.

[limatunes]

Additionally, I am a cosponsor of the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act, a bill that seeks to reduce gun violence by keeping firearms out of the hands of terrorists and criminals. Although hard to believe, nothing in current law prohibits individuals on terrorist watch lists from purchasing firearms, unless they fall into another disqualifying category. This “terror gap” in federal law must be closed, and this bill would do just that. This legislation would deny the transfer of a firearm when a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check reveals that the prospective purchaser is a known or suspected terrorist and the Attorney General has a reasonable belief that the purchaser may use the firearm in connection with terrorism. Keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists is just common sense.

This is the scariest paragraph.

I've heard a lot of talk implying that people who believer strongly in individual liberty and feel their constitutional rights are in danger are people to watch as potential domestic terrorists.

So if you get yourself on some arbitrary "watch list" suddenly you cannot buy a firearm.

I would be very interested to see what the criteria to get on such a list would be.

[JaxRolo]

My wife won't let me. Says the family is here.

Time for a divorce!

[Rock and Glock]

He not only cites several erroneous "facts" he apparently loves to "Co-Sponsor" that junk. I would explain to him in no uncertain terms that his continued support of any gun control, in any fashion, will earn him your enmity until he is replaced, and that you will do everything humanly possible to insure his defeat at the polls.

Begin supporting anybody but him!

[marinevet1994]

I can honestly say that I have never voted for this piece of garbage.

[marinevet1994]

So I open my email to show my wife the response posted above and find this silver lining in my inbox.

banner
January 29, 2013




Dear Mr. Amyx:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the right of all Americans to self defense. It is good to hear from you on this important issue.

Please let me take this opportunity to share my beliefs with you on Second Amendment rights. First, as a former FBI Special Agent and member of the law enforcement community, I believe we should be looking to enforce existing gun laws and then punish criminal offenders to the full legal extent of those laws.

Second, while we must provide law enforcement with the tools necessary to combat criminals, we must ensure the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens are not infringed upon. The ability of law-abiding sportsmen, gun enthusiasts and citizens concerned for their personal safety to own a gun, whether for sport or protection, should never be compromised. I have strong concerns with the creation of a federal gun registry or a ban on certain firearms solely based on their appearance.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on this issue. Please let me know if I can be of any additional assistance.

Sincerely,
Signature
Mike Rogers
Member of Congress


Finally a politician in Michigan who gets it!!!

[BigJon10125]

Well ya got one good one. Keep that one in office and get rid of the other fool.

[Mike1956]

So ... when are you moving out of Michigan?

We are going to be running out of states to move to soon.

[B_2keys]

I just got that same response today...