Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. letter to Speaker of the House, 1998?

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 3 1 5 Cannon House Office Building Lutherville, Maryland 2 1 093 Washington, D.C. 205 1 5 Mr. Speaker: I support the rights of law abiding citizens to possess guns for a variety reasons, not the least of which is self defense. This view derives from my observation that many gun control initiatives have proven a failure in reducing crime. For example, in the case of the Colorado shootings, the two criminals responsible for the carnage broke nineteen state and federal laws in the preparation and commission of their crimes. Some of my constituents have written about gun control proposals which seek to restrict gun owners to purchasing one gun a month and a minimum three day waiting period. Previously, waiting periods were necessary in order to allow for background checks to be completed. The passage of the Brady Bill in 1994 brought new computerized national and local criminal arrest records. The criminal background of a potential gun purchaser can now be verified in a matter of minutes