March 4, 2003 Legislative Report

Greetings from the inner workings of this years effort to pass License to Carry reform in the state of Missouri.

Today was a great day in Missouri!

Our annual rally was a huge success! By some estimates, over 500 people came from around the state, took time off from work to once more come to our capitol to personally lobby for our gun rights.

All the major statewide gun groups were in attendance. Missourians for Personal Safety, Western Missouri Shooters Alliance, Gateway Civil Liberties Alliance, Missouri Sport Shooting Association. The rally was also attended by National Rifle Association and the Gun Owners of America.

Key note speakers former Congressman Harold Volkmer and Larry Pratt were a huge hit.

Before the rally could come to a conclusion, the House took up and started debate on Representative Larry Crawford's LTC bill HS HCS HB349.

The debate lasted all day and the House considered 19 amendments. Some of the initial amendments were technical corrections that fixed some problems that occurred when the House Substitute for written.

All the favorable amendments were approved.

The anti's were expected to, and did, offer a wide range of amendments in attempts to add trigger locks, safe storage, opt out for St. Louis County/City, opt out for any county in the state plus some others.

Our "Support Center" was in and around Larry Crawford's office. We had a team of people assisting the Representatives consisting of Mary Anne Bradfield [our NRA-ILA rep], myself, Michael Meyer [GCLA], Chad Cook [GCLA], and Whitney O'Daniel [NRA].

As the amendments were offered, they were reviewed by our team and any advice that was needed by our floor supporters was forwarded to the floor of the House.

By the end of the day, we did NOT TAKE ANY NEGATIVE AMENDMENTS! and the bill was declared perfected. The bill tentatively scheduled to have the final vote cast on this Thursday.

This was a GREAT DAY for our effort, but we are a long way from being done.

There were a lot of representatives that demonstrated their leadership and commitment today during the debates and actions on the floor. I know many of you listened on the net. But there was a lot going on behind the scenes.

There were many stars today and while we would like to credit them all in this email, we can only highlight a few.

You should make a phone call to everyone on this list and give them a very BIG "THANK YOU" for their support and efforts that they made to help see this important measure passed.

It is vitally important that you take a few moments and call and fax these people.

First off:

These two individuals in particular did SPECTACULAR work in moving this measure and debating the amendments on the floor.

Call them and thank them. Do it today. Fax them a nice handwritten note.

You also need to call and thank these two people. Without their help, we would not have had this fair and open debate.

Last but not least, you should contact the following people and thank them as well.

Even though this list is NOT a complete list, you should take a few moments to call their office and thank them.

The effort today was truly a bi-partisan, PRO-DEFENSE effort. While not every vote cast was a perfect vote, by every member of the House, some of the amendments that could have done the most damage were defeated by extremely wide margins. These votes bode well for our prospects of final passage in the House, and when coupled with the veto proof vote on Manufacturers' Protection [SB13] of 24-10 in the Senate last week, things look VERY promising.

This year's effort is by no means a "done deal" and we are still only just getting out of the gate, but this will be one of the earliest votes cast on this measure. We have very many things going for us this year, but we still have a governor who is not sure which way he'll go... but that is okay.

We will be here working the system to get the bill completed through the House and successfully through the Senate. With your help, we can do something we have not done in this state in 12 years... put a bill on the governor's desk.

Thanks to Mary Anne and Whit from the NRA, they did a very good job today.

Rep. Crawford and Rep. Barnitz did a FANTASTIC job.

CALL these people on the above lists.

THANK THEM for their efforts to make passage of this bill by the House a success.

Thanks to everyone who took time off to be here today and everyone who was in here in spirit. Your support and phone calls and letters DO MAKE AN IMPACT.

Stay tuned. We are on the move.

Greg Jeffery
Legislative Chairman
Gateway Civil Liberties Alliance
Legislative Director
Missourians for Personal Safety
Part-time Designated Spokesman
Western Missouri Shooters Alliance

Chad Cook
Legislative Assistant
Gateway Civil Liberties Alliance

Michael Meyer
Legislative Assistant
Gateway Civil Liberties Alliance