Souderton-Harleysville Game, Fish and Forestry Association
BATF Reform Page
To: All Lehigh Valley 912ers
From: 2nd Amendment Focus Group
Date: June 16, 2009

Re: Please show your support of these BATFE reforms

We’re contacting you today to ask you to contact your Congressman and Senators Casey and Specter to tell them to
support H.R. 2296 or S. 941, respectively. The NRA supports these bills and has requested our help. The Focus
Group has reviewed the background and concurs. The contact information as well as NRA’s summary follows:

As we reported earlier this month, Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick
Leahy (D-Vt.) have introduced S. 941, the “Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Reform and
Firearms Modernization Act of 2009” in the U.S. Senate. Representatives Steve King (R-Iowa) and Zack Space (D-
Ohio) have introduced a companion bill—H.R. 2296—in the U.S. House. The bills would roll back unnecessary
restrictions, correct errors, and codify longstanding congressional policies in the firearms arena. These bipartisan
bills are a vital step to modernize and improve BATFE operations.

Of highest importance, S. 941and H.R. 2296 totally rewrite the system of administrative penalties for licensed dealers,
manufacturers and importers of firearms. Today, for most violations, BATFE can only give a federal firearms license
(FFL) holder a warning, or revoke his license.

S. 941 and H.R. 2296 would allow fines or license suspensions for less serious violations, while still allowing license
revocation for the kind of serious violations that would block an investigation or put guns in the hands of criminals.
This will help prevent the all-too-common situations where BATFE has revoked licenses for insignificant technical
violations—such as improper use of abbreviations, or filing records in the wrong order.

S. 941 represents the first time such BATFE reform legislation has been introduced in the Senate. However, the
House passed similar legislation (H.R. 5092) in the 109th Congress, by a 277-131 vote. A majority of the House--224
congressmen--cosponsored H.R. 4900 in the 110th Congress.

Senator Robert Casey
Email:                
Local: 610-782-9470
D.C. 866-802-2833

Senator Arlen Specter
Email:               
Local: 610-434-1444
D.C. 202-224-4254

Representatives – Go to the House website. Enter your zip code in the upper left box to find your congressional
representative’s contact information.