SECOND AMENDMENT SISTERS READY TO MARCH ON WASHINGTON

DALLAS, TEXAS - Second Amendment Sisters, Inc., is pleased toannounce that Texas State Representative Suzanna Gratia-Hupp will be thekeynote speaker at their Armed Informed Mothers' March (A.I.M.M.) on Sunday,May 14, 2000 in Washington DC.

The event will begin at 9 AM at the northwest quadrant of the WashingtonMonument. In addition to Ms. Hupp, the rally will feature speeches by LarryKlayman, Chairman of Judicial Watch, and women from across the countrywho represent the 2.5 million people whose lives are saved by guns everyyear. It will conclude with a march to the Capitol Building.

Representative Suzanna Gratia-Hupp, a leading proponent for the rightof citizens to carry concealed weapons, became involved in Second Amendmentissues in 1991. She was a patron in a Killeen, Texas restaurant when anarmed man entered and began shooting, killing twenty-one people includingMs. Hupp's parents. She believes that had she been allowed by law to carryher legally owned sidearm into the restaurant, she would have been ableto stop the man because she had a clear shot at him from a distance ofless than 5 yards.

Second Amendment Sisters Inc. is a grass-root self-defense and safety-educationadvocacy group based in Dallas. Its founders are five women from five differentstates who were tired of the stereotypical portrayals of gun owners andthe erosion of personal freedoms.

"We all own firearms or know someone who does. I used one to save mylife from an attacker," said Debra Collins, Colorado State Coordinatorfor SAS. "The anti-gun factions constantly say if it saves on life it'sworth it. Well my firearm saved one life - mine - and I promise you mymother thinks it was worth it."

Recent research has shown that in jurisdictions where strict gun controlmeasures are in effect, the result is almost always that GUN CONTROL INCREASESVIOLENT CRIME, by shifting the balance of power to favor criminals anddisarming helpless victims. This is why SAS opposes measures such as legislationthat would make trigger locks mandatory with every handgun purchase, aswell as licensing and registration of guns and gun owners.

"We already know that licensing and registration will be counterproductivebecause the U.S. Supreme Court (Haynes v. U.S., 390 US 85, 1968) has unequivocallyruled that criminals cannot be legally required to register their firearms,and they cannot be convicted for possessing an unregistered firearm. Itmakes no sense at all to enact laws which can only be used to convict previouslylaw-abiding citizens while criminals get a free pass. It is time to startenforcing the existing violent crime laws, rather than wasting taxpayermoney on harassment and punishment of non-violent firearms owners. It istime for the media and the politicians to help people who want to defendthemselves against crime, rather than passing laws which only help thecriminals. " said SAS co-founder Kim Watson.

Second Amendment Sisters supports the extremely successful firearmssafety education programs that have been developed by firearms owner groupsand have been available to firearms owners for decades. Safety programssponsored by national and local clubs and organizations have been responsiblefor a nearly 50% decline in the number of children's shooting accidentsover the last 25 years, despite increases in population and number of gunsin circulation.

A six-year study done at Johns Hopkins University found that the majorityof children aged 0-14 died as a result of "other causes" (35.3%). Nextwere vehicle occupant (17.0%) and drowning (13.4%), while accidental shootingsranked lowest, at 2.9%.

Second Amendment Sisters can be reached toll-free at 877-271-6216or via their web site at www.sas-aim.org. ==============================================