From a release by the
group, Second Amendment Sisters, which is holding a pro-gun alternative to the
Million Mom March:
Second Amendment Sisters, Inc., is pleased to
announce that Texas State Representative Suzanna Gratia-Hupp will be the keynote
speaker at their Armed Informed Mothers' March (A.I.M.M.) on Sunday, May 14,
2000 in Washington DC.
Representative Suzanna Gratia-Hupp, a leading
proponent for the right of citizens to carry concealed weapons, became involved
in Second Amendment issues in 1991. She was a patron in a Killeen, Texas
restaurant when an armed man entered and began shooting, killing twenty-one
people including Ms. Hupp's parents. She believes that had she been
allowed by law to carry her legally owned sidearm into the restaurant, she would
have been able to stop the man because she had a clear shot at him from a
distance of less than 5 yards.
Second Amendment Sisters Inc. is a grass-root
self-defense and safety-education advocacy group based in Dallas. Its
founders are five women from five different states who were tired of the
stereotypical portrayals of gun owners and the erosion of personal
freedoms.
"We all own firearms or know someone who
does. I used one to save my life from an attacker," said Debra Collins,
Colorado State Coordinator for SAS. "The anti-gun factions constantly say
if it saves one life it's worth it. Well my firearm saved one life - mine
- and I promise you my mother thinks it was worth it."
This is why SAS opposes measures such as
legislation that would make trigger locks mandatory with every handgun purchase,
as well as licensing and registration of guns and gun owners.
"We already know that licensing and registration
will be counterproductive because the U.S. Supreme Court (Haynes v.
U.S., 390 US 85, 1968) has unequivocally ruled that criminals cannot be legally
required to register their firearms, and they cannot be convicted for possessing
an unregistered firearm. It makes no sense at all to enact laws which can
only be used to convict previously law-abiding citizens while criminals get a
free pass. It is time to start enforcing the existing violent crime laws,
rather than wasting taxpayer money on harassment and punishment of non-violent
firearms owners. It is time for the media and the politicians to help
people who want to defend themselves against crime, rather than passing laws
which only help the criminals," said SAS co-founder Kim Watson.
