I was at the House Judiciary hearing along with a few friends, one of whom spoke to the committee. It did not start off so well. The sponsors had amended the bill and failed to publish it or even update the copies they had for the public next to the sign in sheets. The first clue I had that the bill had changed was looking at the summary on the overhead projector. It was completely different.
NRA rep Brian Judy pointed out that dealers and the police can't access NICS for private gun sales. My friend was the last one to speak and expressed his dissappointment that we were not allowed to see the amended bill prior to the hearing and that he had called his local sheriff to be told that he could not obtain a NICS check from them for a private gun sale.
All and all it was a farce to say the least. The video of the hearing can be viewed at the
http://tvw.org/archives# site. The section is House Judiciary hearings on Feb 14, but the site is down at the moment.
lark