Fill out the witness form in support of the Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA) for Tuesday's hearing (1-19-21) for SB 39. As you know, the new administration and Congress in D.C. brings promises of gun control measures like we have never seen before in the U.S. and SAPA is the best defense against those attacks on liberty a single state can put in place.
  The good news is the Missouri legislature is poised like never before to pass SAPA. We want them to do it early enough in the year to pave the way for other states to do the same. Pull the trigger boys and girls!...The link is below:

http://www.libertytools.org/LibertyTools/witness/witness2.php?template=110

BUMP

I'll do it, what are you putting in the testimony box???

I'm bad with words and not very eloquent...

My wife wrote: I urge you to represent my protection under the Constitution to keep and bear arms by voting YES on SB 39...thank you!

I wrote: As the Biden administration is poised to take reign of Capitol Hill, it is imperative that our right to keep and bear arms is safely protected here in Missouri. President-elect Biden and his newly appointed cabinet has made it clear they will infringe our GOD-given right of personal safety and liberty. I personally ask you to vote yes on SB39 to uphold the constitutional protection and representation of my rights.

Wife and I just now did the form. Hope it does some good getting this passed.

It gives our representatives support in the right direction by seeing and reading these slips. We need to stay in the game and work where we can to protect our rights. Thanks for doing your part!

Thanks.

Filled out and sent in form.

Hit, thank you for posting!

You bet!

Done

Done, thanks for the link.

Did!

Done

Make sure to click the FOR box

Exactly...and to all who said thanks...you're welcome fellow roughnecks!

You want votes AND thanks?? We'd need some of those giftcards the democrats allegedly gave out for that...

Ha! Ha!...sweet!!

Done!

Can you provide any more info about the bill itself and what a witness form is?

Current Bill Summary

SB 39 - This act creates the "Second Amendment Preservation Act", and lists various declarations of the Missouri General Assembly regarding the United States Constitution and the scope of the federal government's authority. In addition, the act declares that federal supremacy does not apply to federal laws that restrict or prohibit the manufacture, ownership, and use of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition within the state because such laws exceed the scope of the federal government's authority. Laws necessary for the regulation of the land and the United States Armed Forces are excluded from the types of federal firearms laws that exceed federal authority.

This act declares as invalid all federal laws that infringe on the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Section 23 of the Missouri Constitution. Some laws declared invalid under this act include certain taxes, certain registration and tracking laws, certain prohibitions on the possession, ownership, use, or transfer of a specific type of firearm, and confiscation orders.

The act declares that it is the duty of the courts and law enforcement agencies to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms.

Under this act, no public officer or state or local employee has the authority to enforce firearms laws declared invalid by the act.

Any public officer or state or local employee who tries to enforce the firearms law declared invalid by the act or any person who acts under the color of law to deprive a Missouri citizen of rights or privileges ensured by the federal and state constitutions shall be liable for redress. In such an action attorney's fees and costs may be awarded, and official or qualified immunity shall not be available to the defendant as a defense. Such officer or employee may also be prohibited from serving as a law enforcement officer for the state or any political subdivision.

This act contains a severability clause.

This act is substantially similar to SB 588 (2020), SB 367 (2019) and similar to HB 786 (2019), HB 1760 (2018), and similar to provisions in HB 1439 (2014).

A Witness Slip as filed digitally goes to your representative which they see and can read from the people they are representing. It allows for you to leave remarks as how you would like to them to vote on a certain piece of legislation. Or you can file it/print it out and show up at the capital and give your witness slip testimony in person...I hope that answers your question my friend.  You can click on the hot link (in my original post) and see what a witness slip looks like; it won't hurt anything to look. Good question(s) TurboVolute!

Here's something else for your reading pleasure...
http://www.senate.mo.gov/bill-law.htm

Thank you.

Submitted:

I am urging my representatives in Jeff City to vote to pass this bill. Missouri must stand strong in supporting the God given rights provided under the founding documents of this nation. The right to bear arms must not be infringed if our liberty is to survive.

Well said!

Hit it and posting on social media

I dones it.

Edit to add this response that I just received,

This is a quick report on the hearing for SB 39, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, today (Tuesday).

The hearing was excellent.

There were no witnesses officially in opposition to the bill and 15 or so there to testify in favor of the bill.

Additionally, we gave the committee your witness form and over a thousand other witness forms -- a total of 994 in favor of SB 39, 6 opposed, and 6 for informational purposes.

In reality, some folks mistakenly checked the "Against" box when I'm confident the intended to be in favor of the bill.

The only negative testimony came from the leadership of the Missouri Sheriffs' Association.  They were an obstacle to the bill last year and presented some of the same concerns this year, but they testified "for informational purposes."  When the chairman of the committee asked if that meant they would not oppose the bill even if it wasn't changed, they said, "Not at this time."

It's clear to me that the leadership of the Missouri Sheriffs' Association will continue to be an obstacle, but they don't necessarily represent the rank and file members.

So what is their concern?

In a nutshell, they are saying that SAPA will make their job harder by taking away some tools they are used to using.


They are dissatisfied with Missouri sentencing laws and want to take advantage of the enhanced FEDERAL penalties that go along with federal gun charges.

They are upset over what they call "Truth in Sentencing" because criminals end up serving only about 1/10 of their sentence in Missouri prisons, so they want to be able to send them to federal prisons, where they will do more time.

They want to be able to use the threat of enhanced federal gun charges as negotiating tools when trying to get suspects to rat out their partners in crime.
I can understand why they like these "tools" -- they probably DO make their job easier dealing with what is a very small percentage of society who decide to live a life of crime.

The problem is, they are asking millions of Missouri's honest gun owners to accept what is no longer just a prospect, but is a promise, of a Biden administration purge of guns in America -- and just so their job is easier.

What's worse, in effect the leaders of the Sheriffs' Association are asking millions of us who have taken responsibility to defend ourselves and our families from that small percentage of criminals to just depend on them for protection. They seemed to not notice that all across America, last year, we learned that law-enforcement was overwhelmed by mobs of thugs.

And when the threat is something less than a mob, too often, the police are minutes away when seconds make the difference between life and death.

ACTION ITEM

We are just beginning the fight this session.  Here are things you can do right now:


Call your sheriff. Tell him that the leadership of their association seems to have missed the memo -- Joe Biden is going to be our next president and he has promised that he will coming after our guns. Tell him that even if it make his job harder, you expect him to place a priority on protecting our Second Amendment rights. Get his public commitment to support SAPA in its original form.

As of the writing of this email, there are 38 cosponsors for the House version of SAPA. Check this list to see if your rep is on it.  If he or she is not, call them and ask them to cosponsor HB 85.  They can do it from home and don't have to wait until they are back in Jeff City next week.

Spread the news of SAPA. We are finding far too many people have heard of it.  When the House version of the bill has a hearing I want to double the number of witness forms. To learn more, send your friends to: http://www.mofirst.org/?page=issues/SAPA-Resources.php

The chairman of the Senate committee conducting today's hearing said that the committee should be prepared to vote on SB 39 next Tuesday.  We expect it to be reported out of committee and sent to the full Senate as early as next week -- that's fast movement!

This is the year we pass SAPA and lead several other states who are considering the same or similar legislation.

We can do it, TOGETHER!

- Ron

ps Today the County of Camden passed a county level version of SAPA.  The idea is catching fire!




--
And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works. --  Frédéric Bastiat - "The Law"

Ron Calzone
[email protected]
http://www.mofirst.org

Okay so who was it... ?

Great job Ron! Thank you so much for going to the capital with the witness slips. You know how to get a hold of me and if possible, I'd like to meet you at the capital for the next go around. That way I can see how it's done the Missouri way. :)

Thank you for your efforts

https://www.usacops.com/mo/shrflist.html

Crap, I didn't see this or I would have tossed in my $0.02 on the witness form...

Damn, haven't had to do a witness slip since before I left Hellinois 3.5 years ago.

Just to be clear here I am NOT Ron.
That is just the response email I received after I sent in my slip.
I added it to my initial post instead of a new one witch in hindsight is what I should have done.
I Figure a few of you guys got the same message but I had it in hand and decided to share.
Again, I am NOT Ron, so please don't heap thanks I didn't earn on me. ??

You think that gets you off the hook? The hard work is just beginning..  

Okay...so your new username is...NOTRon...from now on and you're going to have to learn to like it. See even Morgan Freeman agrees!!