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HJR 17: Urging the United States Congress to reject H.R. 45, the Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009.

00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 17 01 Urging the United States Congress to reject H.R. 45, the Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing 02 and Record of Sale Act of 2009. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution enunciates a 05 citizen's right to keep and bear arms, stating that that right shall not be infringed; and 06 WHEREAS H.R. 45 has been introduced in the United States Congress to require 07 licensure of firearm owners and extensive recordkeeping of transactions that result in the 08 transfer of certain firearms, including handguns and semiautomatic rifles; and 09 WHEREAS H.R. 45, referred to as the Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of 10 Sale Act of 2009, would make it a federal felony to possess a firearm without a license; and 11 WHEREAS H.R. 45 would also make it a federal felony to transfer a firearm to 12 another person who is not licensed; and 13 WHEREAS H.R. 45 directs the Attorney General of the United States to establish and 14 maintain a federal system documenting the sale and transfer of firearms; and 15 WHEREAS H.R. 45 would make it a federal felony to fail to report the loss or theft of 16 a firearm to the attorney general within 72 hours; and

01 WHEREAS, under H.R. 45, a firearm owner could be charged with a federal felony 02 based on the actions of a juvenile who might gain access to the firearm; and 03 WHEREAS H.R. 45 directs the attorney general to establish and maintain a firearm 04 injury information clearinghouse, to conduct studies of firearm-related deaths and injuries, 05 and to collect and maintain production and sales data from licensed firearm manufactures; and 06 WHEREAS the provisions of H.R. 45 cumulatively constitute a gun registration 07 system and an assault on the Second Amendment rights of United States citizens; and 08 WHEREAS the private ownership of firearms has always been a key component of 09 our national defense and constitutes a constructive notice to our enemies that Americans are a 10 free people and a people free to defend themselves; and 11 WHEREAS H.R. 45 would diminish this traditional component of our national 12 defense; and 13 WHEREAS there are other methods of addressing the problem of gun violence and 14 gun-related deaths, such as increased education on the proper handling and use of firearms, 15 that would be more effective and less intrusive into the private lives of American citizens and 16 would not diminish a constitutionally guaranteed right; 17 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes the Blair Holt's 18 Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, urges the United States Congress to reject 19 H.R. 45, and further urges the members of the Alaska Congressional delegation to oppose and 20 defeat H.R. 45; and be it 21 FURTHER RESOLVED that members of the Alaska Congressional delegation are 22 urged to support and expand federal funding of firearm education programs. 23 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice- 24 President of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Harry Reid, 25 Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader of the 26 U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 27 Honorable John Boehner, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; and the 28 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the 29 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.