A leading National Rifle Association supporter in the state senate accuses the NRA of lying about part of his pro-gun bill. But the NRA appears to be taking its time backing away from its claims.
The NRA has put out a members alert with the headline “Defacto Gun Owner Registration Legislation Moving in Missouri Senate! Call your Senators NOW!
Senator Brian Nieves of Washington believes Missouri should be able choose which federal gun laws and regulations it will follow. But one brief amendment has led to that exclamation-pointed alert. “This document is riddled with absolute untruths,” he says.
Nieves notes the amendment requires only the reporting within 72 hours of any stolen guns. No penalties are created by the amendment, as the NRA claims, and no registration list is created by it.. Amendment sponsor Jamilla Nasheed of St. Louis calls the “gun owner registration” claim “a myth,” and says the real issue is bigger than her amendment. She says the NRA never supported Nieves’ bill when it was heard in committee. She thinks the association is just trying to use her amendment as the scapegoat in urging senators to vote against the bill.
Nieves says he will honor the agreement he and Nasheed made to put the amendment on the bill. He says he will not support any effort in the Senate to peel it off before the final passage vote. But he also makes it clear that he will not fight to put the amendment back into the bill if the House takes it out.
Nieves and Nasheed, who are poles apart politically, both have asked the NRA to retract its statement and correct the misunderstanding the statement has caused. The NRA, which rushed to post the alert after Tuesday night’s vote, still had it on its webpage long after Nieves had closed his Capitol office yesterday afternoon.
Statement from Nieves:
http://www.senate.mo.gov/media/14info/Nieves/releases/SB%20613%20clarifying%2002132014.html
NRA statement:
http://www.nraila.org/legislation/state-legislation/2014/2/missouri-de-facto-gun-owner-registry-legislation-moving-in-missouri-senate-call-your-senators-now.aspx?s=&st=&ps=