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Updates > Alert for 6/25/2013: Legislators Hid Behind
Herbert's Veto of HB 76
Legislators Hid Behind
Herbert's Veto of HB 76
(Alert for 6/25/13):
We've suggested that some
legislators only voted for
HB 76 S1 (Carry Unloaded Firearms Concealed) with the
understanding that governor Herbert would
veto it. Well, don't just take our word for it.
Thanks to a citizen
GRAMA request,
we now present
email correspondence between representative Spencer Cox
and Mike Mower, governor Herbert's Deputy for Community
Outreach. In it, Cox confirms our analysis:
"It was great to talk to you today.
I thought you might be interested in my thoughts on HB 76.
This document represents my thoughts on why I was wrong and
Gov. Herbert was right. It is fairly long and detailed
(by design). It is still a work in progress, but
I want to be prepared in case my 'switch' vote becomes public.
Thanks for all you do!" [bold added]
Cox voted for HB 76 during the
legislative session. When a secretive poll was later
conducted by the house and senate monarchs, however, he voted
AGAINST holding a veto-override for the bill.
Cox was preparing to defend his
"switch" vote because citizens were waking up to the political
games played every legislative session, and were
pressuring the house
and senate monarchs to make the veto override poll public.
Again thanks to a
GRAMA request
and persistent follow-up by citizen Kenneth Warfield, you can
confirm how each legislator voted on whether to hold a veto
override session for HB 76 S1 by
clicking here.
Grateful Gun Controllers &
Secret Back Channels
South Jordan City councilmember, Chuck
Newton, likewise implied that legislators who voted for HB 76
were grateful to governor Herbert for vetoing it, and
identified "back channels" preferred by governor Herbert.
Here are excerpts
from his email:
"I just got
off the phone with the Governor's office who called to
extend a hearty thanks through back channels in response to
our work to assist them in ginning up support for vetoing HB
76...
"I was informed that the legislature
will poll their members for a veto session, after the time
period has expired for the Governor to sign all the passed
bills. However, given that a number of legislators
have privately communicated with the Governor's office and
extended their thanks to him for doing what they were
reluctant to do in putting this down, the sense is that a veto
session will not be successful. Be that as it may,
I was encouraged to proceed with an Op-ed that had
previously been discussed in order to provide cover to the
legislators who are now supporting the Governor."
[bold added]
Rather than stand publicly and proudly
behind their anti-gun agenda, a "number" of legislators were
looking to governor Herbert to do "what they were reluctant to
do." In other words, they wanted HB 76 to die, wanted to
avoid political accountability for killing it, and were
expecting to hide behind Herbert's veto. Municipal
governments then "provided cover" to these legislators.
Oh, No! The Citizens are
Watching Us!
City officials and bureaucrats could
provide such cover in the past because they are unaccustomed
to real citizen scrutiny. Thanks to recent citizen
pressure, however, their nefarious activities are now
being exposed. As South Jordan City attorney, Ryan
Loose, shared in an
email to city officials:
"Councilman Newton came by the office
this morning looking for all the information on HB 76 so he
could get ahead of the issue as it is returning to the
forefront of public debate and based on the “leaked”
letter to the City Council he wrote and the GRAMA request he
thinks the City will be a target. He wants to
write an op-ed piece and is looking for the information the
City had such as the Chief’s position paper and any other city
position documents. Let me know how you would like me to
follow up. Thank you," [bold added]
Legislators, governor Herbert, and municipal officials prefer
to operate through secret "back channels" and with brazen
deceitfulness that exemplifies Utah's culture of political
corruption. They do not want you to know where they
really stand on issues, who they work with behind closed
doors, and their anti-gun agenda.
"You legislators
and city officials are taking a page out of my
playbook!" |
Appropriate Actions
As we will continue to demonstrate, these officials are part
of a spider web-like network of corporations, lobbyists, officials,
and bureaucrats infesting every level of government. In
response to this secrecy and betrayal, consider the following
activities:
1) Question municipal office
candidates about their position on HB 76 S1.
Read our previous alert to see
if your city asked governor Herbert to veto HB 76 S1.
2) Conduct your own GRAMA
request. Inquire
with your city council, mayor, managers, police chief, and
county sheriff regarding any communications they had regarding
HB 76 S1. We would be happy to assist you in formulating your
request.
3) Involve yourself in your
city. Consider creative actions, such as
forming citizen-only review boards, offering resolutions for
council debate, becoming part of your city's ordinance review
committee, and monitoring your city's interactions with other
officials and pseudo-private organizations.
4)
Network with local gun owners. Let people know
what happened this session. Get them connected with
sites like UT Gun Rights so they can receive critical
information and form their own, independent opinions.
Sign up for our free email alerts and news at
info@utgunrights.com
and "Like" us on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/UtGunRights
Encourage others to read, analyze,
question, confront, challenge, and understand what is going on
around them. A highly informed community is required
to resist manipulation, deception, and fraud. Here are
two pages they should familiarize themselves with:
2013 Bill Tracking Page: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,
and our
Free Ammo Page.
5) Organize into smaller
working groups for your area. Each of your
local politicians should receive his/her political direction
from a group of local, determined, solidly-educated gun rights
citizens. This group can consider political action such
as establishing local email/phone political action networks,
fliering, holding town meetings, recruiting alternative
candidates, and election monitoring and participation.
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