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SACMO
PO Box 52
O'Fallon, MO
63366
SECOND
AMENDMENT
COALITION
OF MISSOURI
2005 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
January
16, 2005
Dear
Second Amendment Supporter:
SACMO
set out an agenda for 2005, lobbied in Jefferson City on Tuesday, Jan. 11th to
determined the tone of the legislators and met with the new NRA Missouri
representative on Thursday, Jan 13th. Things couldn’t look better! Now, here
is the story.
The 2005 legislative year has arrived amid a mixture of optimism and
uncertainty, fear and confidence amongst gun rights supporters. The Missouri
General Assembly has convened again and had their first session on Tuesday,
January 11th, although the legislators were all in Jefferson City on Monday. The
questions that I have been receiving reflect that mixture and everyone wants to
know, "What is going to happen this year with LTC, gun rights, and what is
it that we can do?"
SACMO
has been studying on these questions for the last couple of months and we have
laid out an agenda that we would like to see pursued. Our assessment of the
situation is this; The Second Amendment rights people have already done the hard
work of going door-to-door, writing letters, donating time and money during the
elections over the last many years in order to get "the right people"
in office in Jefferson City. So, on Tuesday the 11th, I got up early and trekked
to the state capital to visit with as many of our legislator friends as I could
to get the true measure of what it is that we can expect this year for all our
hard work during the various elections. Here is how I read the situation.
Pro
gun leaning legislators and executives at all levels of our state government are
abundant. Conservative, pro gun Republicans control the state House, the state
Senate, the Governors mansion, the Lt. Governors position and most of the state
elected offices. Many of the few remaining Democrats still in office are pro gun
leaning. There are still some anti gunners in positions of authority but they
are so out-numbered that there is just no necessity of bargaining with them over
gun related issues. Here is an important consideration: I cannot find even
one example of a legislator who both voted for LTC and the veto override and who
wanted reelection to his position but lost! There may be someone somewhere
who lost but I’ll be darned if I can find him. This
sends a powerful message to everyone in politics! The message is,
"Being pro Second Amendment is the winning way."
I
also discovered that most of the legislators were eager to get on with pro
Second Amendment issues, setting things right and everyone was just waiting for
someone to "start the ball rolling." Well, that ball is rolling! The
next day, the NRA’s newest representative for legislative issues arrived in
Jefferson City and spoke with many of the very same guys that I did and,
apparently received a good reception.
(2)
Speaking
of this new NRA representative, his name is Joel Partridge. I had the privilege
of working closely with Joel in 1999 when I ran the Proposition B headquarters
in Hazelwood. I was impressed with him then and I am impressed with him now. Let
me reassure you that Joel is about as good as it gets. He is a hard working,
straight shooting, and no nonsense, ex-Marine who has a real grasp of the
situation. More over, his assessment of the situation and his stance on the
issues is almost identical to that of SACMO’s. SACMO’s leadership met with
him on Thursday evening, January 13th for over 2 hours, along with
representatives of Missouri Sport Shooting Association and Midwest Friends of
GOA. I am very confident, on the subject of what it is that we are going to do
with gun rights in Missouri in 2005 that, Joel Partridge will be working for our
interests.
I
would like to caution everyone to be patient regarding this legislative session.
There is no need at this time to call everyone in political office or to agitate
anyone in Jefferson City. No one is going to bargain away any recent gains.
Nothing is going to be weakened. We know that we are in a position of strength
and plan on making clear pro gun gains in 2005.
For
example, there is a bill being considered that is similar in theory to the
"motor voter" registration but will be directed at hunters and
fishermen. The idea of the bill is that whenever someone applies for a hunting
or fishing license, they can register to vote at the same time. What a great
idea! Also, there is a bill to create a special "NRA license plate"
just to name a couple of items. There are other plans in the works, but please,
be patient for the next few months. The General Assembly and the legislative
process grinds slowly but it grinds fine and the product of that grinding, in
SACMO’s opinion, is going to be well worth the wait.
Please
don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I am not saying that anyone should stop
paying attention or that they should turn their backs on the legislative
process. Speaking metaphorically, as in gardening, what I am suggesting is that
we give the seeds of Second Amendment rights and freedom that we worked so hard
to plant in Jefferson City the time necessary to germinate and bare fruit. And
to carry the metaphor a bit further, let’s not stomp and blunder around in the
freshly planted garden until we see a weed growing.
In
the mean time, welcome Joel Partridge, we wish you the best of good luck.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Dale
A. Schmid, President,
The
Second Amendment Coalition of Missouri, Inc.
517
Connie Lane
Manchester,
Mo. 63021
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