--
GUN-SHOW BILL IS NOT WHAT THEY SAY

Re:  S. 890, The McCain-Lieberman Bill:
"Gun Show Loophole Closing and Gun Law Enforcement Act of 2001."

by Alan Korwin, Author
Gun Laws of America

Mass media publicity on the newly proposed gun-show bill is grossly
inaccurate.

The bill has almost nothing to do with what you've probably heard so
far.  The so-called "gun-show loophole" headlines are a minor detail and
basically obscure what the bill really does.

I've just finished studying the eight pages of legalese.
Here is it what it calls for:

1.  Unprecedented federal control over gun shows nationwide -- perfectly
legal gun shows become strictly outlawed without prior federal approval,
licensing and registration of each show;

2.  Centralized federal licensing and registration of every gun-show
promoter in the nation;

3.  Centralized federal registration of every vendor -- including
non-gun vendors --  at any gun show in the country.  In order for me to
sell my BOOKS at a gun show I'll have to pre-register and prove who I
am, or face arrest; a private individual looking to sell a single gun
would be treated as a vendor under this law and must be registered even
if the gun isn't sold;

4. Centralized federal registration of EVERY PERSON who attends a gun
show in America, whether or not they make purchases of anything at all
-- you won't be allowed in without registering;

5.  Centralized collection of "any other information" on gun-show
attendees, as determined solely by the Secretary of the Treasury;

6.  Imprisonment for attending a gun show and failing to give up any
information required by regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury;

7.  Imprisonment of any gun-show promoter who fails to register a single
vendor;

8.  Imprisonment of gun-show promoters who cannot prove they notified
every person attending a gun show of the new rules, and obtained from
attendees any information the Secretary of the Treasury mandates by
regulation;

9.  Centralized collection of "any other information" the Secretary of
the Treasury decides, by regulation, is necessary on vendors, attendees,
and the gun show itself;

10.  Submission by gun-show promoters of vendor registration logs a) 30
days before any gun show, and b) additional submission of updated vendor
registration logs 72 hours before any gun show, and c) additional
submission of vendor registration logs within five days of the close of
any gun show, under penalty of arrest and imprisonment for
non-compliance;

11.  Identification of vendors only by use of federally approved photo
ID that may include use of a social security number, electronically
encoded data, or "biometric identifiers" such as fingerprint, voice
print, retina scan, iris scan, or similar (as defined under 18 USC
1028(d)(2));