NEWS RELEASE

Citizens Committee for the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms
12500 N.E. Tenth Place
Bellevue, WA  98005

CCRKBA PRAISES GOV. BUSH FOR SIGNING GUN OWNER PROTECTION LEGISLATION

For Immediate Release: May 13, 2004

BELLEVUE, WA - The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) today congratulated Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for signing legislation that prevents police agencies in the Sunshine State from keeping comprehensive lists of law-abiding gun owners.

"Florida's new law has sharp teeth to prevent law enforcement agencies from developing a database that amounts to de facto gun registration," said CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron. "There is no sensible reason for a police agency to maintain a list of law-abiding firearms owners, who have committed no crime and are not suspects in a crime."

Under the law, police and government agencies that keep firearm owners' lists could be fined up to $5 million for the offense. There is a reasonable exemption for the creation of such a list if it is part of a criminal investigation.

"This new state law will provide one more layer of security for the privacy of law-abiding gun owners in Florida," Waldron stated. "Henceforth, without legitimate cause, the identities of private citizens who exercise their constitutional right to keep and bear arms will not be available to police or government bureaucrats who might exploit that information for their own political agendas."

CCRKBA also applauded Bush for signing legislation that will protect gun ranges from financially devastating lead cleanup lawsuits. This new law requires environmental regulators to establish guidelines for preventing lead contamination.

"Anti-gunners will not be able to litigate a gun range into bankruptcy as a means of shutting down the range," Waldron observed. "At the same time, responsible range operators will now have a set of protocols for keeping their ranges clean."

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States. The Citizens Committee can be reached by phone at (425) 454-4911, on the internet at www.ccrkba.org or by email to www@ccrkba.org.

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