7/10/98 Arianna Huffington Conservative Current " On Wednesday morning , at a White House ceremony the president endorsed a bill aimed at reducing children ' s access to guns . Among other things , the bill will make parents criminally responsible for the actions of children using unsafely stored guns .It is a forlorn hope to continue to pretend that we will reduce teenage violence just by focusing on gun control , just as it is delusional to continue fighting the war on drugs just by focusing on illegal drugs"

Reuters 4/26/99 Randall Mikkelsen "...President Clinton will propose new anti-gun laws Tuesday, the White House said, predicting last week's Colorado school horror would fuel support for the long-planned measures. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart also denounced the National Rifle Association, telling reporters Monday that the time had come for the pro-gun lobbying organization to stop fighting against gun control. "There is a consensus in this country that we need to do more; the president will propose doing more, and it's time for the NRA to get out of the past and get on the right side of this issue," Lockhart said..... Saturday, Clinton said he would ask Congress to crack down on gun shows and illegal trafficking, ban violent juveniles from ever buying guns and close loopholes permitting juveniles to own assault rifles...."

New York Times 4/26/99 Barry Meier "...Just hours after the gunfire had stopped on Tuesday in Littleton, Colo., another battle erupted as lobbying groups and others on warring sides of the nation's gun debate moved to turn the shootings to their advantage. Appearing that evening on CNN, Sarah Brady, the chairwoman of Handgun Control, blamed the easy access to weapons for the killings. A day later, Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association and its chief political strategist, went on the MSNBC program "Equal Time" to say Hollywood's obsession with violence, rather than firearms, was at fault...."My bottom line is that these laws were passed with the best of intentions to create safety zones for our children," Lott said in an interview. "But my concern is that the people who obey these laws are the good people and what these laws do is make safe zones for criminals."..."

WorldNetDaily 4/29/99 Jon E. Dougherty "...While much of the nation and most politicians call for increased gun control measures in the wake of mass murder by two students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., April 20, a new study shows that the best way to prevent such incidents in the future is to pass more laws that allow concealed carry of handguns. The study, completed earlier this month by John R. Lott, Jr. and William M. Landes of the Chicago University School of Law, concludes "that the only policy factor to influence multiple victim public shootings is the passage of concealed handgun laws." The study also shows that other crime deterrent factors -- such as more police and wider use of the death penalty -- tend to curb "normal" instances of murder. But they do little or nothing to prevent such tragedies as those that have occurred in a number of the nation's public schools since 1997. "Not only does the passage of a shall issue law have a significant impact on multiple shootings," wrote the authors, "but it is the only law related variable that appears to have a significant impact." ..."

Associated Press 5/12/99 David Espo Freeper Brian Mosely "...The Republican-controlled Senate refused Wednesday to impose fresh restrictions on sales at gun shows in Congress' first vote on gun control since last month's shooting spree in a Colorado high school...."

Chicago Sun-Times 5/30/99 Robert Novak "...Rep. Christopher Cox is receiving private backstage criticism from fellow House Republican leaders for letting President Clinton off the hook in order to get bipartisan approval for his select committee's report on alleged Chinese theft of nuclear secrets. Cox, who as chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee ranks fifth in his party's House hierarchy, responds that the report implicitly targets Clinton and that its impact is much greater for not being narrowly partisan. Members of Chairman Henry Hyde's House Judiciary Committee, accused of partisanship in their presidential impeachment proceedings, are particularly irked by the comparison with Cox. A footnote: Conservative House Republicans also were irritated that Speaker J. Dennis Hastert chose to endorse Senate-passed gun controls on the day the Cox report was released--partially upstaging the bad news for the Clinton administration..... "

Jewish World Review 6/10/99 Thomas Sowell "..."gun control." The tragic irony is that such laws are much more likely to increase shooting deaths than to reduce them. For those of us old-fashioned enough to think that facts still matter, comprehensive research has shown that allowing law-abiding citizens to carry concealed weapons reduces gun violence, as well as other kinds of violence. Unfortunately, facts may carry very little weight politically, in the midst of an emotional orgy with rhetorical posturing. Yet the evidence is overwhelming that allowing law-abiding citizens to be armed has reduced violence in general and mass shootings in particular. For those to whom facts still matter, John Lott's book "More Guns, Less Crime" presents overwhelming evidence. Another study of his, with Professor William Landes of the University of Chicago as co-author, addresses mass shootings, such as those which have been taking place in schools, post offices and other public places. These shooting rampages have been far more common in places where there are strong gun control laws. No matter what other factors these authors take into account -- poverty, race, population density, etc. -- the results are still the same. Places with many armed citizens have fewer mass shootings. Their data cover mass shootings in every state and the District of Columbia, going back nearly two decades...."

Boston Globe 6/12/99 Louise D. Palmer "....While the NRA did not get exactly what it wanted, the lobby's influence during the early stages of House discussions on gun control has reversed the prevailing opinion that pronounced the gun lobby weakened after last month's defeats in the Senate. ''Our epitaph has been written many times,'' said Jim Manown, an NRA spokesman, laughing...... The NRA's two-pronged lobbying strategy, which was advertised on the Internet, in mainstream newspapers, and all over Capitol Hill, began two months ago with a campaign that questioned the wisdom of passing new gun-control laws when the Clinton administration is not enforcing existing ones. In one advertisement in The Wall Street Journal, the NRA wrote that the government prosecuted only 37 cases where felons bought firearms through straw purchases, 11 cases where individuals provided guns to juveniles, and 11 cases of juveniles caught with guns. ''More firearms legislation, like previous legislation, that is passed with no intention of enforcement is a dangerous fraud,'' the ad said. The Justice Department said it could not comment on particular prosecutions but defended its record, pointing out that combined state-federal prosecutions of gun crimes were up 22 percent since 1992. The number of federal cases in which an offender is sentenced to more than five years also rose 22 percent....."

Washington Times 6/18/99 Sean Scully "…The House Thursday night narrowly passed a measure regulating sales of weapons at gun shows - written by a rebellious faction of Democrats - that could doom a larger gun control bill set to be voted on Friday. The House voted 218-211 to support a measure sponsored by the most senior Democrat in the House, Rep. John D. Dingell of Michigan. Forty-five Democrats joined 173 Republicans in the vote. The mildest of three gun-show proposals before the House, the approved measure limits to 24 hours the maximum amount of time gun buyers must wait for background checks. The strictest measure - sponsored by Democrats - sets a maximum of three business days for background checks. A Republican measure sets a maximum of 72 hours…."

Washington Compost 5/19/99 David B. Ottaway "....Some of the nation's leading private foundations and philanthropists such as billionaire George Soros are pouring millions of dollars into research and support in the battle to control gun violence. The infusion of private money has raised the wrath of the National Rifle Association, which in a publication this month named Soros and another private foundation as part of a "vast conspiracy" to bankrupt gun manufacturers with lawsuits...."

Jewish World Review 5/27/99 Tony Snow "...Even though Selleck is the nicest guy in show business, she[Rosie] treated him like meat. As hausfraus and tourists shouted "You go, girl!" the klatchmistress assailed his affiliation with the National Rifle Association, insinuating that he condoned the massacre of innocents at Columbine High School. ... The show's producers had promised Selleck the conversation would focus on his new movie, not guns. But Rosie broke the compact and ambuscaded the poor fellow. Then again, she may have had her reasons. Selleck often shoots objects -- sporting clays -- that otherwise might carry food. In any case, Rosie's attack was notable for its imbecility and hypocrisy. Begin with the dim-wit part: Gun violence in the United States has been declining for the better part of a decade. Research indicates that states with relatively permissive gun laws also have the lowest levels of gun crime -- presumably because bad guys never know whether their intended victims are packing heat. Moreover, the nostrums recently approved by the U.S. Senate -- trigger locks and background checks -- would have saved no one at Columbine High School and could make it more difficult for citizens (such as, say, battered wives) to defend themselves..... The Clinton administration has promoted more federal gun legislation than any in history, but it hasn't enforced the statutes. The Justice Department has prosecuted exactly one person in four years for violating the much-touted Brady Law and the feds have gone after 20 juvenile gun-thugs in the last three years -- out of an estimated 20,000 cases. Cut to the moral core of the controversy. The NRA never has condoned the murder of innocents. This distinguishes it from the Clinton White House -- which is considering the legal harvest of babies for medical purposes -- and Planned Parenthood. If Rosie were truly concerned about preventable deaths, she might want to ambush Democrats who support partial-birth abortion. Or she might want to bushwack Spike Lee, who recently told the New York Post that the National Rifle Association ought to shut its doors and that someone ought to shoot NRA president Charlton Heston -- not only a nice guy, but a Freedom Marcher in the 1960s -- "with a .44-caliber Bulldog." Talk about double standards! If some right-wing cracker were to suggest similar justice for Spike Lee, Janet Reno would be convening a hate-crimes tribunal and prescribing a year's worth of sensitivity training for the foul-mouthed malefactor...."

WorldNet Daily 7/2/99 Stephan Archer "..."More gun confiscation in California? State may take some firearms without compensation By Stephan Archer 1999 WorldNetDaily.com While some California gun owners are turning in their illegal guns for cash, others may have to turn them in for nothing at all. In a situation related to California's current buy back program in which the state is offering $230 to gun owners in exchange for their SKS "Sporter" rifles, owners of certain semiautomatics other than the SKS "Sporter" may have to give up their firearms without compensation to avoid facing criminal prosecution. ..."

Star Tribune 4/30/99 Larry Oakes Freeper DonMorgan "... In 1998 a civic group called Violence Free Duluth set out to study a year's worth of crimes involving guns in the port city. Among other things, its members wanted to know type of guns used, the role of alcohol or drugs, relationships between offenders and victims, and the age, sex and race of criminals. The results, released Thursday, give a detailed statistical profile of the 93 gun crimes reported in the city in 1997, with one notable exception: no mention of race of the offenders. That's because the 25-member citizens advisory council coordinating the study decided that divulging race might not be fair or relevant and might distract from the role of more universal issues surrounding gun violence..."

Reuters 5/13/99 "... A day after refusing to regulate gun show sales in a controversial vote, the Senate Thursday voted 96-2 to ban minors from purchasing semi-automatic assault weapons such as AK-47s and Uzis. Under current law, people under age 18 cannot buy handguns from either a licensed dealer or through a private sale, but the restrictions on assault weapons were not as strict. The measure approved Thursday closed the loophole and also barred youths from having high-capacity ammunition clips....The Senate later Thursday will vote on a similar amendment by California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, which also bans all imports of high-capacity ammo clips, for people of any age. Such clips cannot be made in the United States but are still imported..."

Reuters 5/14/99 Joanne Kenen "...The U.S. Senate Friday, reversing itself, narrowly backed mandatory background checks at gun shows but President Clinton said the Republican-drafted version was full of "high caliber loopholes." Two days earlier, the Senate had killed a Democratic measure to institute mandatory checks at gun shows and adopted a weaker voluntary system. A number of Republicans had swift second thoughts about appearing too soft on guns after the Littleton, Colorado, high school tragedy and Republicans produced their own gun show language....Republicans, while budging on guns, have tried to stress cultural factors and violence in entertainment and they hope to offer some more amendments in that area. For instance, Wayne Allard of Colorado wants to allow students or faculty of a public school to hold memorial services or place a memorial on school grounds that includes religious prayer and symbols in situations where someone is killed on school grounds. That will likely spark a debate about school prayer and separation of church and state....."

Manchester Union Leader 6/8/99 Betsy Hart "...If Americans genuinely want to restrict gun rights, then it should be done by the process laid out for amending our Constitution, not by congressional or judicial fiat. Constitutional objections aside, such new laws don't pass the common-sense test. The murderers in Littleton, Colo., had broken almost two dozen federal and state gun-control laws in their rampage. What would another law have done? Would someone with such little respect for the law that he is willing to use guns for an evil purpose have enough respect for the law to obey new gun-control measures? Nor should anyone believe that criminal minds won't easily figure out ways around the new laws. Some might argue that at least these new gun-control measures won't hurt. Oh, but they do. In fact, the way they hurt most of all, and the reason I most oppose them, is that they distract us into wrapping our thinking, our resolve, our resources and our very understanding of the issues around all the wrong things. Gun laws may make us feel we've gone a long way toward addressing the problem of gun-violence among our youths, when to the extent we believe such a thing we haven't even begun to understand the problem. Any doubts? Consider that for much of our nation's history, guns were a regular part of life for many young people and were far more available to them legally than they are today, but only in recent times have we witnessed these killing sprees...."

NewsMax.com 7/14/99 Mona Charen "…While politicians and many in the press attempted to make the availability of guns the "lesson" of the Littleton massacre, another theme just won't seem to go away. What more and more Americans are recognizing is that the Too Busy Parent is a cultural phenomenon with vast consequences for children. One researcher estimates that 50 percent of parents do not know who their adolescent children's friends are. Another has found that the average teen-ager spends only six minutes a day talking to his mother, and even less conversing with his father. American advertising is full of time-saving devices for "families on the go." Usually they are assumed to be going in different directions…."

The New York Post 7/12/99 Brian Blomquist "…Despite President Clinton's push for new gun-control laws, his own Justice Department admits it isn't enforcing all the gun laws on the books. Two federal laws, in particular, stand out as being virtually ignored by federal investigators. One makes it a federal crime for kids to sneak guns into schools; another makes it a federal offense - with a 10-year prison sentence - for felons to lie when they apply to buy a gun. But of the 6,000 kids caught sneaking guns into schools in the last three years, the Justice Department has prosecuted only 17. And of more than 400,000 felons and other bad apples blocked from buying guns, the Justice Department says fewer than 1,000 have been prosecuted for lying on application forms…."

Arizona Republic 6/9/99 Jim Gahar "...With all of the hysteria of late, we seem to be forgetting that the entire Bill of Rights is under assault, not just the Second Amendment. On the positive side, a federal judge in Texas has just ruled the Clinton-Gore crime bill in violation of both the Second and Fifth amendments to the Constitution. The government has appealed, and the case may now go before the Supreme Court. The entire issue stems from what "the people" means in the context of the Second Amendment. In a 32-page argument going back as far as A.D. 690 in English law, the judge argued that "the people" has an identical and consistent meaning in the preamble of the Constitution and in all of the amendments in which it is used. It means "the peaceable citizens" in every case, not the states or the federal government..."

NRA 8/99 "...A LIST OF CELEBRITIES RECENTLY SIGNED A NATIONAL AD Imploring the NRA to care more about the safety of our nation's children. Apparently, nobody told Barry Manilow or Bruce Springsteen that the "13 children lost to gun violence every day" cited in their ad are in fact neither children nor accidents, but 85% are suicides or murders committed by gangbangers aged 15 to 19. Clearly, Meryl Streep and Moon Zappa are unaware that countless children's lives have been saved through the single most successful, most effective and widely used gun accident prevention program in America: the NRA's Eddie Eagle program. We've distributed it to 12 million kids in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada at a cost of almost $20 million.... The media hasn't reported how the Eddie Eagle(r) curriculum effectively teaches youngsters what to do if they encounter a firearm: STOP! Don't Touch. Leave the Area. Tell an Adult. So Rosie O'Donnell and Tony Bennett probably don't know it's the only gun accident prevention program for kids used by 500 law enforcement agencies across the country. We doubt Madonna or Henry Winkler know that it won the National School Public Relations Association's Golden Achievement Award. Barbra Streisand and Fannie Flagg are likely unaware the National Safety Council gave the Eddie Eagle(r) program its Youth Activities Award of Merit. No one told Richard Gere or Rosemary Clooney that Eddie Eagle(r) has been officially recognized and honored by more than 35 governors and state legislatures. Jerry Seinfeld and Fred Rogers probably don't know that fatal firearm accidents among children have dropped 64% - falling 13% in Eddie's first year alone. We bet Spike Lee and Cathy Rigby are unaware that 3,500 ordinary Americans have volunteered to spread Eddie Eagle's(r) lifesaving message. It's probably news to Jack Nicholson and Brad Gooch that Eddie Eagle's(r) founder won the National Safety Council's Outstanding Community Service Award. Nobody informed Walter Cronkite and BOYS II MEN that theAmerican Legion awarded Eddie Eagle(r) its prestigious National Education Award. Nobody probably told Cher or Sting that only the Eddie Eagle(r) gun accident prevention program has won the endorsement of thousands of school systems nationwide. And probably, Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke don't know that today, fatal firearm accidents among children are the lowest in history. We won't stop until there are none. ...."

CNSNews.com 7/28/99 Lionel Waxman "...In this country, it is one of our most cherished rights to be considered innocent by the law until properly found guilty. Except in Connecticut, of course. Connecticut has just passed a law permitting police to confiscate all the firearms of anyone they believe might be considering a criminal act. All they have to do is apply to a judge for a warrant. The judge would hear the police in secret and issue the confiscation warrant if he believes the target is dangerous, if, for example, you have made threats, been cruel to animals, or abused drugs or alcohol. So in Connecticut, if you get quietly drunk at home on Saturday night, police can seize your guns. Kick your dog, lose your guns. Make an obscene gesture on the highway, lose your guns -- and probably your car....After a few years of this, Connecticut will become as safe as Cuba...."

Wall Street Journal 7/28/99 Paul Barrett "...The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering joining the legal assault against the gun industry, said people familiar with the situation. Such a move would sharply escalate the antigun court fight already being waged by 23 cities and counties around the country. A HUD spokesman said only that the agency is monitoring the litigation and has "no plans" to file a suit...."

NRA's American Guardian 8/99 NRA Institute for Legislative Action "... "Suing Gun Manufactures: Hazardous to Our Health" is the title of a recently released study that concludes the crime deterrent benefits of firearms ownership outweigh the societal costs of guns used in crime as much as $38.9 billion annually in the United States. In the study, H. Sterling Burnett, senior policy analyst as the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas, Texas, attempts to bring sanity to a litigious world that grows increasingly outlandish as greedy tort lawyers and anti-gun mayors try to replace legal precedents with legal theories.....Gun industry critics and anti-gun groups frequently compare the suits against the gun industry to those against the tobacco industry. But, Burnett points out, "There is much to distinguish guns form cigarettes. Guns do not cause harm to the user or third parties in normal use, and they are not addictive. That guns are potentially dangerous is widely known and has never been disputed by the firearms industry. Unlike tobacco, guns provide a multitude of tangible social goods: pleasures for those involved in the shooting sports, U.S. national security, police-led crime prevention and criminal apprehension efforts and effective personal defense against crime. Only a small fraction of firearms, less than 1%, are ever involved in violence. The clearest evidence that even the mayors suing the gun industries believe guns are beneficial is the fact that the arm the police. It is not that guns are bad, it is that some people use them badly." ...."

Associated Press (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) 8/4/99 Kate Grossman "...Treating U.S. gunshot victims in 1994 cost $2.3 billion in lifetime medical costs, an amount that matches what Americans spend on guns and firearms annually, a new study found...... The government, mostly through Medicaid and Medicare payments, paid $1.1 billion of the total cost, the study found. Private insurers and victims picked up the bulk of the rest, accounting for 18 percent and 19 percent of the total costs, respectively. The researchers speculated that victims' costs are often passed on to other patients because many victims can't afford treatment. Despite the seemingly high numbers, Cohen said the costs are not significant when compared to the $1 trillion spent on medical care annually. "If you did away with gunshot injuries, would you reduce medical costs?'' Cohen asked. "Not by much.'' He said fraud is more costly to hospitals than gunshot wounds...."

Claremont Institute 3/4/99 Medical Sentinel Timothy Wheeler, MD "...Imagine this scenario: you visit your doctor for back pain. Your doctor asks if you have firearms in your home. Then he announces that your family would be better off (especially your children) if you had no guns at all in your house. You leave the doctor's office feeling uneasy, wondering what guns have to do with your backache. Does your doctor care about your family's safety? Or instead, did he use your trust and his authority to advance a political agenda? American families may soon find themselves in this scenario. Social activists are taking their war on gun ownership to a new battleground: the doctor's office. (1) The American Medical Association (AMA) (2), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) (3), and American College of Physicians (ACP) (4) are urging doctors to probe their patients about guns in their homes. They profess concern for patient safety. But their ulterior motive is a political prejudice against guns and gun owners. And that places their interventions into the area of unethical physician conduct called boundary violations....The AAP, ACP, and AMA are members of the Handgun Epidemic Lowering Plan (HELP) Network, based in Chicago. HELP is an exclusive advocacy group dedicated to banning guns. Physicians who disagree with HELP's anti-gun agenda are barred from attending HELP's conferences, a policy unthinkable in any scientific organization. HELP's founder and leader Dr. Katherine Christoffel has compared guns to viruses that must be eradicated. (9) The group's militant advocacy has no place for differing viewpoints on firearms, and apparently neither do the medical organizations which have signed on as HELP members...."

NRA 8/3/99 "...Immediately after last night's airing of CBS Evening News' blatantly biased "Reality Check" segment, which ignored recent scholarly research and falsely claimed that the Second Amendment is not an individual right, the National Rifle Association launched a campaign to provide CBS News with its own reality check.

** CBS FAILED to cite the 1990 Supreme Court reference to the Second Amendment in U.S. v. Verdugo-Urquidez that stated, "'the people' protected by the Fourth Amendment, and by the First and Second Amendments ... refers to a class of persons who are part of the national community." Each of these rights are individual.

** CBS FAILED to report this year's federal court ruling from the Northern District of Texas, U.S. v. Emerson, in which the federal judge overturned a federal gun law on Second Amendment grounds and argued, "The rights of the Second Amendment should be as zealously guarded as the other individual liberties enshrined in the bill of rights."

** CBS FAILED to report that, in the last decade, scholars from across the political spectrum have concluded that the Second Amendment, from any method of analysis, protects an individual right, and that this view is now commonly referred to as the "Standard Model" (Glenn Harlan Reynolds, 1995).

** CBS FAILED to note that the nation's leading constitutional scholars such as Lawrence Tribe (Harvard), Akil Reed Amar (Yale), William Van Alstyne (Duke), and Sanford Levinson (Texas) ascribe to the concept of the individual Second Amendment right as the "Standard Model."

** CBS FAILED to report the conclusion of Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds, of the University of Tennessee, that scholars adhering to an individual rights interpretation, "... dominate the academic literature on the Second Amendment almost completely," and that this view is "... the mainstream scholarly interpretation."

U S Newswire 8/3/99 "...Mohammad N. Akhter, M.D., MPH, APHA's executive director, said, "Any bill they craft must include the common-sense, gun-law-loophole-closing measures adopted by the Senate." Dr. Akhter said these provisions include the following: -- three-business day background checks for all gun show purchases; -- safety devices sold with every gun; -- a ban on importing high-capacity ammunition clips; and -- a ban on juvenile possession of assault weapons. .... The American Public Health Association, the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals, represents more than 50,000 members from more than 50 public health occupations. APHA has long recognized gun violence as a critical public health issue and since 1976 has supported efforts to reduce and prevent firearm-related injury and death...."

Reuters 8/3/99 "...It may be hard to believe, but the percentage of high school students who carry a weapon to school or engage in physical fighting is declining, according to new data released this week. Nonetheless, the rates of both weapon carrying and fighting among students in grades 9 through 12 "remain unacceptably high," Dr. Thomas R. Simon of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, told Reuters Health...."

Bloomberg - Top World News 8/7/99 Greg Wiles "...Los Angeles County and three county supervisors are suing gun makers, distributors and retailers, including Sturm, Ruger & Co. and Tomkins Plc's Smith & Wesson, claiming they illegally promoted handgun sales to criminals. The suit claims the gun manufacturers violated California's pro-consumer business law by engaging in unfair and deceptive practices, marketing the weapons to disreputable dealers and designing guns that appeal to criminals. The manufacturers also failed to sell handguns that incorporate reasonable safety features, the filing said..."

business week 8/16/99 William Symonds "...At the center of this hurricane are the world's gun manufacturers, a diverse group ranging from true-blue American brand names like Smith & Wesson and Colt's Manufacturing to foreigners like Italy's nearly 500-year-old Beretta to idiosyncratic tiny players like W.S. Daniel, a company in Ducktown, Tenn., that makes mail-order assault-weapon kits. They're all dependent on America as the world's largest consumer firearms market--and they're all running scared and increasingly divided on how best to defend themselves. ''I've been in this industry 36 years, and this is the most awesome set of circumstances I've ever seen,'' says Robert G. Morrison, chief operating officer of Miami-based Taurus International Manufacturing Inc., the U.S. arm of Brazilian handgun producer Forjas Taurus. Not since George Washington established the Springfield (Mass.) Armory to defend the young republic has the American gun industry faced a more serious crisis. Trouble looms on every front. Politically, the companies are facing the prospect of a Big Tobacco-like meltdown of their power in Washington and clout with state legislatures, a development that could lead to tough new regulations that aren't riddled with loopholes. While handgun registration is still unlikely, measures that would make it harder for criminals to buy weapons at gun shows and limit the number of firearms purchased at one time seem more viable every day. Legally, gunmakers are facing an onslaught of lawsuits they can barely afford to fight, much less lose. These cases are based on the controversial theory that manufacturers are partially responsible for gun violence. The suits seek millions to cover local government expenses for health care and policing. That's a scary prospect to many gun executives because the business is financially shaky. While 1999 will be a strong year, thanks in part to fears of new restrictions on ownership, most executives expect the market to steadily shrink over the long term. ..."

New York Post 8/12/99 Frankie Edozien "...The National Rifle Association stuck to its guns yesterday - noting the suspect in California's daycare shooting spree was an ex-con and saying it proves "guns don't kill people, bad people do." The NRA - the country's leading pro-gun lobbying group - said legal gun ownership cannot be blamed for the shooting rampage. "Our members like everyone else are concerned about this tragedy. But reasonable people know there is something else going on here, and it has nothing to do with lawful people who own firearms," said Bill Powers, the NRA ..."

Houston Chronicle 8/10/99 Nicloe Schiereck "...Imagine yourself in your office, crouched beneath your desk, trying desperately to drown out the gunfire and screams that are penetrating your every thought. Your heart is beating a mile a minute as a feeling of complete helplessness overwhelms you. Are you next? You don't have to be. Mark Barton, the gunman in the office rampage in suburban Atlanta, was obviously intent on killing as many people as possible. According to reports, Barton, armed with 9 mm and .45-caliber handguns, walked through an office complex, killing workers. Because of one deranged man's abhorrent actions, there will be cries for stricter gun control laws. But don't be led astray by gun control advocates. It is essential to realize that this tragedy might have been completely avoided, and most certainly lessened, if someone else in that office had a gun...."

Sacramento Bee 8/12/99 Steve Geissinger "...Political leaders in several states with strong histories of gun ownership say they are unlikely to toughen gun-control laws following the nation's third major multiple shooting in two weeks. "Gun laws wouldn't have helped in Los Angeles," Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a Democrat, said Wednesday. "Better enforcement would have helped." .... It wasn't immediately clear where Furrow obtained the weapon. California gun buyers must pass a background check with a 10-day waiting period, and convicted felons like Furrow are barred from possessing firearms. President Clinton immediately urged the nation to "intensify our resolve to make America a safer place," and White House spokesman Barry Toiv repeated the call Wednesday...."

The London Sunday Telegraph 8/15/99 James Langton "...PROBATION officers ignored an earlier judge's order that they should confiscate weapons belonging to the self-confessed Nazi and racist Buford Furrow, who gunned down children at a Jewish community centre in Los Angeles last week, writes James Langton. Furrow, 37, had been banned from owning guns in his home state of Washington because of his criminal record but was known to have easy access to weapons. A judge's order that his home be regularly searched was apparently ignored by probation officers.

It also emerged that Furrow, a white supremacist who also murdered a Filipino postman during his rampage, was a known psychotic whose behaviour was so violent that a policeman who arrested him for an earlier assault came close to shooting him in self-defence...."

NRA 8/14/99 Bob Evans/Republican Congressional Candidate vs Tom Lantos for 2000 "...NRA-ILA FAX ALERT 11250 Waples Mill Road - Fairfax, VA 22030 Vol 6 No 12 "...In what could prove to be an extremely important precedent- setting decision, a United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas recently dismissed an indictment against a defendant based on the opinion that the federal law he was accused of violating represented an unconstitutional exercise of congressional power that violated rights protected under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The law, which was buried within the massive 1994 Clinton Crime Bill, prohibits the possession of a firearm by anyone with a court restraining order..... "A historical examination of the right to bear arms...bears proof that the right to bear arms has consistently been, and should still be, construed as an individual right." "The rights of the Second Amendment should be as zealously guarded as the other individual liberties enshrined in theBill of Rights." "It is absurd that a boilerplate state court divorce order can collaterally and automatically extinguish a law-abiding citizen's Second Amendment rights...."

World Net Daily 8/10/99 Jon E Dougherty "...Make no mistake about it: The mainstream media is this country's worst enemy on the issue of the Second Amendment. And after another recent spate of shootings -- perpetrated not by guns alone but by deranged, psychopathic losers using guns -- the spin machine has been ratcheted up to full steam. A piece in this week's Time magazine by author Roger Rosenblatt says it all: "Get rid of the damned things!" and superficially it looks like little more than another media attempt to convince Americans that our society has outgrown the U.S. Constitution. Rosenblatt uses some familiar socialist anti-gun themes, such as never assigning blame to the criminals and social misfits who commit heinous acts and offering only one solution, the total banning of guns..... Granted, Americans should be concerned about all this gun violence. But the media is turning the debate over guns into a matter of national conscience, not simply a matter of the rule of law -- probably because liberals have discovered they cannot satisfactorily refute the simple meaning of our right to keep and bear arms. Understand one thing: These people are helping Uncle Sam come after our guns. They don't understand that if we lose our ability to defend all constitutional rights, the next one to go will be freedom of speech. God help this country then, because we all know what will happen next...."

Investors Business Daily 5/19/99 "..."There's no good reason for a child to own an AK-47,'' President Clinton said last week while pushing his kiddie gun control bill. Just as there's no good reason for a U.S. president to entertain the head of a communist entity that sells AK-47s to kids, right? Don't expect an answer from Clinton. He did just that on Feb. 6, 1996. His fund-raising pal, Charlie Trie, had invited Beijing arms dealer Wang Jun to one of Clinton's famous fund- raising ''coffees'' in the White House Map Room. Wang is the son of China's former vice president. He also runs Polytechnologies, an arms dealership owned by Poly Group, which is owned directly by China's People's Liberation Army. In May 1996, agents of Wang's dealership and another Chinese arms company, Norinco, were arrested for trying to smuggle AK- 47s into the U.S. for sale to drug gangs...."

Smith-Wesson.com 8/15/99 L E Schutz "...On June 3, 1999 the City of Boston and the Boston Public Health Commission joined a number of other cities in filing a lawsuit against Smith & Wesson and other members of the firearms industry. As in several of the other cases, the complaint has been signed not just by attorneys employed by the City, but by outside lawyers from New York, Washington, D.C. and representatives of an anti-firearm organization, individuals with their own social agenda. Although those bringing the suit say it is not about money, it asks for $100 million plus, and the law firms will get 25% of whatever is exacted from the firearms manufacturers as their only payment for handling this matter...The implications of the suit are that Smith & Wesson has no concern about firearms safety, whether it be applied to the handgun itself, or to safe and responsible storage of the gun. Nothing could be further from the truth. For nearly a century and a half Smith & Wesson has been, and continues to be, a leader in firearms design, innovation, manufacturing quality, safety and training. Smith & Wesson has lawfully and responsibly manufactured firearms in the State of Massachusetts since 1856. Every Smith & Wesson firearm is sold with an owners manual that clearly warns the purchaser about the dangers and responsibilities that accompany ownership. Since 1997, before the President and Congress began debating the merits of gunlocks, Smith & Wesson was providing a Master Lock gunlock with every Smith & Wesson shipped. Even before that Smith & Wesson guns were being shipped in lockable boxes and before that with lockable trigger devices that owners could lock if they were not going to secure their gun in another manner. Since 1955, Smith & Wesson has offered semi-automatic pistols that utilize a magazine disconnect which renders the gun incapable of firing when the magazine is removed. This feature has been incorporated into the training of many police departments and is responsible for saving the lives of officers every year. The similar pistols shipped to the non-law enforcement market also contain this feature. Other features of Smith & Wesson handguns include manual safeties, firing pin safeties and hammer blocks. Smith & Wesson handguns also require significant pressure on the trigger to cause the gun to discharge. In order for a Smith & Wesson gun to fire, the trigger must be pulled all the way to the rear and held, thus preventing the gun from accidentally firing if the trigger is bumped or the gun is dropped...."

Wall Street Journal 8/16/99 Vanessa O'Connel & Paul M. Barrett "...Since last fall, 26 municipalities have sued the gun industry, accusing it of flooding the market with handguns, many of which end up in criminal hands. There is an incongruity in the municipalities position, though: Most of the cities suing the gun industry are themselves, in effect, gun suppliers--and some could be accused of a degree of carelessness in how they unload police weapons and confiscated firearms... The cities say they need to sell or trade in the weapons to cut the cost of obtaining new, higher-power model--much as old police cars are auctioned off for cash...Thousands of these castoff guns have turned up in crimes, such as last week's shooting rampage in Los Angeles by neo-Nazi Buford O. Furrow Jr...[T]he confessed killer allegedly murdered a mailman of Filipino descent with a Glock 26 pistol......But it wasn't an isolated incident. Data obtained by The Wall Street Journal under the Freedom of Information Act show that at least 1,100 former police guns were among the 193,203 crime guns traced last year by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Because of inconsistencies in how the agency compiles gun-trace data, any such annual count of former police guns connected to crime "probably represents the tip of the iceberg," says Howard Andrews, a Columbia University bio-statistician who assisted the Journal in its analysis...."

Roll Call Jim VandeHei 8/15/99 "...The National Rifle Association is under fire for its lobbying tactics, but, this time, the shots are coming from Republicans and other pro-gun activists. The NRA, easily the largest and most influential gun-rights lobby in America, has been too quick to compromise and too slow to mobilize its troops to defeat anti-gun legislation in the House and the Senate, GOP leadership sources and gun activists say. As a result, several sources warned that the NRA has presented anti-gun Democrats with the perfect opportunity to score a major political victory next month when key Members of the House and the Senate convene to put the finishing touches on the juvenile justice bill, which is expected to include the first new collection of gun laws since 1994...."

AP 8/15/99 "...Attorney General Janet Reno wants a requirement that prospective gun buyers be required to prove they have the knowledge, ability and inclination to use weapons safely and legally. ``I'd have them take a written and manual test demonstrating that they know how to safely and ... to lawfully use it under state law,'' the attorney general said Sunday on CNN's ``Late Edition'' program. ``And I would have a background check that would make sure they had evidenced the willingness and capacity to do so.''..."

Jewish World Review 8/17/99 Debbie Schlussel "…SURE, IT’S A TRAGEDY that Buford O. Furrow’s bullets struck human flesh at a North Los Angeles area Jewish Community Center (JCC). The shooter said he wanted to sound a "wake up call to America to kill Jews." But what may be an even greater horror is that Jewish and other political leaders — such as the Anti-Defamation League’s Abraham Foxman and President Clinton — are using this tragedy — using Jewish blood — to advance a political agenda with the goal of stripping our freedom and Second Amendment right to self-defense. The fact is, Furrow was hell-bent on rampaging. He scouted out no less than three other Jewish institutions before settling on the JCC. There was one and only one reason he decided against the other sites: Armed personnel or security made his entry unfeasible. The saying, "the best offense is a good defense," is not just a football slogan. It also applies to saving human lives. But Foxman and Clinton want to take that right — the right to self-defense — away from us, the law-abiding citizens. They want to hand victory to Furrow from the jaws of defeat. .Contrary to Foxman’s and Clinton’s ill logic, if we are to ever restore peace to our streets, the right to keep and bear arms must be fully restored, not further restricted…..My grandfather told me about how the renowned Zionist leader, Vladimir "Ze’ev" Jabotinsky, who had emigrated to Israel, visited Nazi Europe just prior to the advent of the concentration camps and witnessed the anti-Semitism that was building throughout. In Yiddish, he warned, "Yiddin, learn tzoo shissin!"—"Jews, learn to shoot!" And he told Jews to get guns— the only way to protect themselves. Though the Jewish underground agreed with Mr. Jabotinsky that guns were the only way they could protect themselves from the Nazis, they did not have access to guns and — though their efforts were valiant — they failed --- six million Jews, and eleven million human lives, having perished at the fate of the Nazis. When Mr. Jabotinsky returned, he lamented that Jewish efforts to learn to shoot and to obtain guns were too little too late….."
ABC 8/18/99 Freeper commish reports "…Last night on the ABC game show "So you want to be a millionaire" they had a contestant who won $16,000 - she was unable to answer the following question to win $32,000 WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS NOT A PART OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION A. RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE B. RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS C. RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH D. RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION ….Here is the kicker - the person who could not answer this question is a HISTORY PROFESSOR at Kennesaw State College in KENNESAW, GA !!!!!! For those of you who don't know - Kennesaw was the first city in the USA to REQUIRE all homeowners to OWN at least One FIREARM - It also has one of the lowest crime rates in the nation, and has not had a Gun related murder in years! …"

Newsweek 8/23/99 Wayne LaPierre Interview "…LaPierre: People believe they have a constitutional right and a freedom to own guns in this country. And they don't want their names on government lists. They know what the next step is. It's a knock on the door confiscating their guns. And, you know, they're not going to stand in line and submit to that. What purpose is there for the government to compile a list of who has guns in their homes in this country? Why does Janet Reno need a list? Newsweek: Why do you think they want to do it? LaPierre: I think the real target is the Second Amendment. I don't think it has anything to do with crime. I don't think it has anything to do with stopping violence. I think the ultimate target is to take away the freedom and take away the Second Amendment. …"

USA Today 8/27/99 Tony Mauro "…Publication of the first volume of a revised edition of a legal treatise would not ordinarily make news. But even before it began arriving at law schools last week, Laurence Tribe's American Constitutional Law was causing a stir. Tribe, a Harvard law professor who is probably the most influential living American constitutional scholar, says he has already gotten hate mail about his new interpretation of the right to bear arms contained in the Second Amendment. Relegated to a footnote in the first edition of the book in 1978, the right to bear arms earns Tribe's respect in the latest version. Tribe, well-known as a liberal scholar, concludes that the right to bear arms was conceived as an important political right that should not be dismissed as "wholly irrelevant." Rather, Tribe thinks the Second Amendment assures that "the federal government may not disarm individual citizens without some unusually strong justification." Tribe posits that it includes an individual right, "admittedly of uncertain scope," to "possess and use firearms in the defense of themselves and their homes." None of Tribe's new thinking changes his view that gun-control measures are "plainly constitutional," but his shift has been enough to anger gun-control advocates. "I've gotten an avalanche of angry mail from apparent liberals who said, 'How could you?'" Tribe says. "But as someone who takes the Constitution seriously, I thought I had a responsibility to see what the Second Amendment says, and how it fits." Tribe's views on the Constitution are of more than passing importance. Earlier editions of Tribe's treatise have been quoted more than 50 times in Supreme Court opinions - by liberal and conservative justices - and by the top courts of India, Germany, Russia and Canada, among others…."

The Claremont Institute 8/20/99 Larry Arnn "…In a Los Angeles suburb last week, another wicked act of violence against innocent children made national news. The response from political leaders and pundits has been predictable, and in many ways regrettable. Every demagogue in the country took to the airwaves and waved the bloody shirt, fulminating against the scourge of guns and declaiming the urgent need for special laws against crimes motivated by hatred. They turn too quickly from the suffering of these children and their parents to the political agendas which they hold most dear….. As to the first, it is important that Mr. Furrow, like the boys of Littleton, Colorado, broke existing firearms laws. Neither would have had the guns they did have, if those laws had been enforced. Instead of enforcing those already on the books, which applied very well to the circumstances of the tragedies in question, we propose instead to pass new laws that have little or nothing to do with those circumstances. This will not be effective. As to the second, "hate crimes" legislation, it is important that Mr. Furrow, and the boys in Littleton, Colorado, both committed capital crimes. By those acts they made themselves subject to the most severe penalties that the law can impose, unless we resurrect the practice of torture. It will add nothing to their punishment to convict them of a new crime based upon the "bias" they showed in the selection of their victims. Moreover, if we add to murder prosecutions the new element of "bias" or "hate" against certain groups, we make the implication that it is worse to murder one person, than it is to murder another, worse to shoot one child, than it is to shoot another. This is not good doctrine. Children who do not fit the selected groups will wonder what this means for them. And they may be subject to greater danger…."

BBC 8/24/99 "…Nato troops have warned Serbs in southern Kosovo that they must hand in their weapons or face arrest. Soldiers from the Dutch peace-keeping contingent in Orahovac have threatened to carry out house-to-house searches to find arms. They are reported to have obtained local police lists of Serbs with weapons…."

Conservative News Service 9/7/99 Ben Anderson "....More than 2,000 rank-and-file law enforcement agents from across the country are taking President Bill Clinton to task over what they say is a continued effort to exploit police officers while pushing an anti-gun agenda. The officers are also unhappy with Clinton's record on enforcing the law, citing a 46 percent drop in criminal prosecutions since Attorney General Janet Reno took control of the Department of Justice. The Law Enforcement Alliance of America will launch an ad campaign on Thursday opposing the president, congressional Democrats and other gun control advocates. "This president, almost on a daily basis, exploits the rank-and-file of the law enforcement community to further his anti-gun agenda, yet his own administration has a reprehensible record of prosecuting criminals who violate the laws already on the books," said Jim Fortiss, executive director of the Law Enforcement Alliance of America. "It is an insult to the injured and maimed police officers and all in law enforcement who risk their lives on a daily basis to even consider more gun legislation, not to mention releasing convicted terrorists for politically motivated reasons," Fortiss said....."

NewsMax 9/7/99 Martin Fackler, MD '...Scientists who allow their intellect to be misled by their emotions fall into the trap of fooling themselves into isolating their preconceived strongly held desires and opinions from contradictory facts. When scientists allow themselves to be drawn into political agendas their heretofore rigorous scientific method is often replaced by a frenzy of fanaticism. Are they fooling themselves, or is this conscious fraud?. Distinguishing fraud from ignorance is often impossible, but whatever the motivation, the effect of the misinformation is equally deleterious. The public is most easily misled by political propaganda from highly respected sources. An extensive, carefully documented study by Kates DB, Schaffer HE, Lattimer JK, Murray GB, Cassem EH., Guns and Public Health: Epidemic of Violence or Pandemic of Propaganda? published in the Tennessee Law Review in 1995 (62(3):513-596)* tells a sad and shocking story. In the late 1970s, physicians from the American public health community apparently saw the opportunity for publicity (which helps to obtain funding) in the emotionally charged way the media presents, and dwells upon, violence involving firearms. Despite lacking expertise about firearms and their effects, and ignoring that crime (with or without guns) is clearly in the purview of the criminologist, these physicians declared gun violence an "epidemic," and entered into a campaign to remove firearms from the hands of the citizens of the United States. To further this goal, these physicians allied themselves with anti-gun political lobbying organizations. Medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) became willing partners in this anti-gun advocacy. Most distressingly, the taxpayer-funded Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also joined this medical anti-gun political cabal. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the resulting public health anti-gun advocacy literature is emotionally driven and lacks scholarly detachment. Prominent "researchers" openly admit an overwhelming "hate" of firearms - yet, contrary to the basic tenets of scientific method, they continue to do "research" on a subject about which their "hate" precludes rational evaluation. .."

NY Times 9/7/99 Fox Butterfield "…In Baltimore, Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier has made going after guns rather than drugs his No. 1 priority, reversing longstanding policy. In Louisville, Ky., in a state with a strong gun culture, Police Chief Eugene Sherrard recently joined a federal program that seeks to trace all guns seized in crimes, in an effort to cut off the flow of weapons from corrupt gun dealers to criminals and juveniles. In Minneapolis, to discourage drug dealers and others with criminal backgrounds from carrying guns, Police Chief Robert K. Olson has his officers use routine traffic stops for minor violations to search for weapons. Those actions are part of a little-publicized change on the part of police executives across the nation. As Americans debate gun control, those officials, in cities large and small, have made it a major element of crime control, and have also emerged as an important voice pushing for new federal and state gun-control laws…."

AP 9/7/99 Chris Newton "…. A judge's landmark ruling that the Second Amendment gives individuals, and not just militias, the right to bear arms has touched off a furious debate among constitutional scholars that could go all the way to the Supreme Court….. U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings dismissed the charges in April, declaring the law unconstitutional based on a "historical examination of the right to bear arms, from English antecedents to the drafting of the Second Amendment.'' Cummings said the right to bear arms is a protected individual right - and not just a right belonging to a militia, as federal prosecutors had argued. It is believed to the first decision in which a judge specifically called a law unconstitutional because it infringed on an individual's Second Amendment rights ……"That decision and the opinion were a major shot across the bow,'' said Bruce Hay, a Harvard law professor who signed the brief. "For the most part, federal courts have taken a hands-off approach to federal statutes regulating use of guns. This is the first decision to say the Second Amendment prohibits Congress from imposing special laws concerning gun ownership. That is why his decision is so worrisome.'' …..The brief accuses the judge of misinterpreting the Second Amendment, which Yassky writes was meant to "preserve organized, state-based militias,'' and not intended to "empower individuals or small groups of disaffected citizens to take up arms against the established order.'' …..Scott Powe, a constitutional law professor at the University of Texas, disputed Yassky's position, and charged that only three of the co-signers of the brief were "serious'' constitutional law scholars. "The brief is seeking to suck the meaning out of the words `the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,''' Powe said. "The meaning is clear. It couldn't be more clear.'' ……One expert who does not fit easily into either camp is Laurence Tribe, the liberal Harvard law professor. Tribe's recently published text, "American Constitutional Law,'' concludes that the Second Amendment assures that "the federal government may not disarm individual citizens without some unusually strong justification.'' His position has provoked gun-control advocates, and he says he has received "an avalanche of angry mail from apparent liberals.'' …."

Knight Ridder Newspapers 9/6/99 Chris Mondics "…Every day, a computer at the sprawling FBI crime information center in rural West Virginia kicks out the names of 100 or more convicted felons and others who, though barred by law from owning a gun, tried to buy one anyway by lying on their firearms applications. In most instances, the federal government knows where to find these gun law violators, and has in its possession evidence that could lead to convictions. But this is one gun law the government rarely enforces. Of the 23,000-plus cases referred by the FBI to the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for potential prosecution since the beginning of the year, only 65 people have been arrested, according to the ATF. The Clinton administration says it doesn't have the staff to make many arrests and is focusing on more serious crimes, and that assertion has triggered a storm of criticism from Republicans and pro-gun groups. …It takes a lot of nerve to bang your fist and demand tougher juvenile gun laws while doing nothing to enforce the ones that already exist," said U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., a former federal prosecutor who has held hearings on the issue. "I must point out that doubling the size of the criminal code will not matter if the Clinton-Gore administration refuses to vigorously enforce these laws." …."

USA TODAY 8/31/99 Staff Sgt. Fulton J. Waterloo "…As an adjunct professor of American history and a member of the Maryland Army National Guard, I must comment on the "collective right" theory of the Second Amendment (The War Over Guns: Testing the right `to keep and bear arms,'" Cover Story, News, Friday). Our nation's Founders disagreed on almost every article and section of the Constitution. However, I made a standing bet with my students: I would buy dinner for any student who found a single explicit quote by a "Founder" who believed that the Second Amendment applied ONLY to the state militias. "Founders" included any singer of the Declaration of Independence or of the Constitution or any member of any state convention that ratified the Constitution - a group numbering in the hundreds. I never bought that dinner. This clear consensus will be ignored by the "collective right" theorists, who will not allow the Constitution to interfere with their agenda. In the historical profession, this is called "bass-ackwards" reasoning. A "historian" with a set interpretation will selectively utilize, distort or even manufacture evidence to arrive at a predetermined conclusion. I would like to close with a disturbing observation. Professor Laurence Tribe, as USA TODAY points out, has received hate mail for defending the individual's right to bear arms. Tribe's "sin," in the eyes of the left, appears to be intellectual honesty (Scholar's views on arms rights anger liberals," News, Friday)….."

USA Today 8/29/99 Tony Mauro "…Publication of the first volume of a revised edition of a legal treatise would not ordinarily make news. But even before it began arriving at law schools last week, Laurence Tribe's American Constitutional Law was causing a stir. Tribe, a Harvard law professor who is probably the most influential living American constitutional scholar, says he has already gotten hate mail about his new interpretation of the right to bear arms contained in the Second Amendment. Relegated to a footnote in the first edition of the book in 1978, the right to bear arms earns Tribe's respect in the latest version. Tribe, well-known as a liberal scholar, concludes that the right to bear arms was conceived as an important political right that should not be dismissed as "wholly irrelevant." Rather, Tribe thinks the Second Amendment assures that "the federal government may not disarm individual citizens without some unusually strong justification."…."

"Section 1. The Second, Ninth and 10th Amendments are hereby repealed.

"Section 2. The 'right of the people to keep and bear arms' is hereby denied.

"Section 3. The unenumerated rights retained by the people shall not include self-defense. The people shall have only such rights as the federal government chooses to grant them.

"Section 4. The powers of the federal government are not limited to those delegated by, and enumerated in, the Constitution.

"Section 5. The federal government may assume such powers as it deems appropriate for the general welfare of the United States. No powers are reserved to the several states or to the people.

"Section 6. The president shall have power to make war without consulting Congress, and to assume emergency powers when he declares an emergency to exist.

"Section 7. The courts of the United States shall have power to nullify any state or local law."

CNSNews.com 8/30/99 Bruce Sullivan "….A new study shows that there has been a steady decline during the Clinton administration of federal prosecutions of firearms-related criminal cases. The study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University said that the number of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) cases referred to federal prosecutors has decreased 44 percent since 1992. According to records, most ATF referrals involve alleged weapons violations. The study may indicate, as opponents of new gun control laws have pointed out, that federal authorities are not doing enough to enforce existing gun laws. "We do not lack for laws. We lack for enforcement of laws," said National Rifle Association (NRA) President Charlton Heston when informed of the TRAC study…."

The Orlando Sentinel 6/21/99 Charley Reese "…The argument over gun-control measures is an argument over how many restrictions will be placed on the rights of honest citizens. The argument has nothing to do with the National Rifle Association. The neo-totalitarians in America are nothing if not unoriginal. They follow a fixed pattern. They create a straw man, demonize the straw man, then frame the argument as a contest between good and the evil demon. In the case of gun control, the NRA is the designated demon. In the case of the illegal bombing of Yugoslavia, the designated demon was Slobodan Milosevic. The NRA is one of America's oldest organizations, but it never intended to be a "gun lobby." That role was forced on the organization when politicians, beginning in the fatal 1960s, embarked on the continuing effort to disarm the American people. The NRA was created in the 19th century by National Guardsmen for the purpose of encouraging marksmanship and gun safety. Its main functions today remain just that. The bulk of its resources are devoted to sports shooting, gun safety, collecting and hunting. The purpose of demonization is to avoid an honest debate. Instead of proving the benefits of proposed gun-control legislation, gun-control enthusiasts simply assert that there are benefits and that only the evil NRA and its puppets oppose the bills. It is a handy technique when neither facts nor logic is on your side. Of course, unsaid by the neo-totalitarians, is that, even as a lobby, the NRA is way down on the list of lobbies both in terms of its influence and in terms of the amount of money devoted to lobbying. But, as part of the demonization, it is made out to be more powerful than itreally is…."

Jewish World Review 9/3/99 Michelle Malkin "…WHEN IT COMES to talking about guns, responsible women should adopt Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo pledge: No more tears. No more mom-in-tennis-shoes proselytizing. No more irrational NRA-bashing. No more maudlin sermons. Alas, the sopping feminization of political debate continues to drown out sober analysis of gun-control laws. In the wake of the Los Angeles-area day care shooting, serious academic research is once again taking a back seat to sensational self-flagellation... "

Inside Politics (Washington Times) 9/3/99 Greg Pierce "…Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, the Mafia turncoat, was asked about gun control in an interview in Vanity Fair. "Gun control? It's the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters," Gravano said. "I want you to have nothing. If I'm a bad guy, I'm always gonna have a gun. Safety locks? You will pull the trigger with a lock on, and I'll pull the trigger. We'll see who wins."

Freeper Howie 9/9/99 "….According to Clinton, almost a half million felons have committed another felony by trying to buy a gun since the Brady Bill was enacted. Less than a dozen have been prosecuted, yet millions of dollars and several lives were spent to attack the Branch Davidians for essentially commiting the same sin. (breaking some gun law)WHY? …."

Intellectual Capital [www.intellectualcapital.com] 9/2/99 K Daniel Glover "…Such tongue-lashings may be justified at times. But simplistic labeling -- a la "the liberal media crucified Newt Gingrich" or "the right-wing press is out to get President Clinton" -- misses the point. Readily apparent media bias is not the problem; even casual readers recognize it and filter it as they see fit. The subtle partiality that lurks beneath the journalistic surface is far more dangerous……. University of Michigan graduate Brian A. Patrick made those dangers abundantly clear earlier this year in an intriguing, albeit dry, doctoral dissertation examining coverage of the National Rifle Association (NRA). The underlying point of Patrick's thesis, which examined NRA coverage in what he called "the elite press of the nation" -- The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor and the Los Angeles Times -- is that the NRA actually benefits from bias against it by gaining new members….."

Yahoo News (Reuters) 9/9/99 "…President Clinton will unveil Thursday a plan to provide $14 million in grants to police and local officials to buy back and destroy up to 280,000 guns across the country, the Los Angeles Times said. The paper said the finance, to be supplied by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), would represent the federal government's largest effort to buy firearms now in private hands. …. Since some cities have drawn fire for reselling guns purchased in buyback programs, the HUD initiative will require municipalities to destroy those weapons bought back. Only stolen guns, which will be returned to their owners, and guns needed for police inquiries will be exempt. …."

Rocky Mountain News, Denver Post 9/9/99 "….Denver Mayor Wellington Webb challenged Congress on Wednesday to cut the nation's death toll from gun violence by enacting reasonable new laws. Webb, the newly installed president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, presented a report on 556 people in 44 U.S. cities who have been shot to death since April 20 -- the day 15 died at Columbine High School. "There's more room to add more names," he said, pointing at the long rows of names printed on cardboard placards during a news conference. "And more names will be added." Webb this week is leading a delegation of mayors, police chiefs and church leaders in a last-ditch push to lobby Congress for stricter gun laws. …….Bill Powers, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, described the event as another Democratic "media circus" and called on President Clinton to start enforcing current laws instead of trying to create additional statutes. ……."

WorldNetDaily 9/9/99 Jon Dougherty "….It's taken nearly seven years, but it looks as though -- finally -- rank and file cops are ready to publicly call Clinton the hypocrite he is regarding law enforcement and gun control. According to an article in Capitol Hill Blue Sept. 8, the Law Enforcement Alliance of America is preparing to launch an ad campaign (today) decrying Clinton's hypocrisy and informing Americans that, among other things, Clinton's "Justice" Department has had a 46 percent drop in prosecutions since Attorney General Janet Reno took over. Specifically, the LEAA's campaign will oppose "the president, congressional Democrats and other gun control advocates." Jim Fortiss, executive director of the 65,000-member strong LEAA, said that Clinton "almost on a daily basis, exploits the rank-and-file of the law enforcement community to further his anti-gun agenda, yet his own administration has a reprehensible record of prosecuting criminals who violate the laws already on the books."

"It is an insult to the injured and maimed police officers and all in law enforcement who risk their lives on a daily basis to even consider more gun legislation, not to mention releasing convicted terrorists for politically motivated reasons," he added. Amen. How many times have we heard this? And yet -- to hear Clinton, Democrats and the mainstream media tell it -- all cops hate guns and those who own them. That's just garbage….."

The Detroit Free Press 9/10/99 MELANIE EVERSLEY and SUZETTE HACKNEY "…Detroit's rising homicide rate has attracted the attention of the nation's top law enforcement officer. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno is coming to town, where she plans to meet with Detroit officials to see what she can do to help. No date has been set. …… "She's coming to the city to meet with those of us who want to attack this problem of homicides," Archer said as he and Napoleon left the White House. Representatives of the Drug Enforcement Agency along with Saul Green, the U.S. attorney in Detroit, will be part of the meeting, as will Napoleon and other officials. "We might be able to wind up with some extra tools to attack the problem," Archer said. "It might involve some money, and if it does, we look forward to accepting it." …… Usually when a city experiences such an increase in homicides, it has to do with gang or drug activity, said James Copple, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the National Crime Prevention Council, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. Measures such as restricting access to guns can help, Copple said. In fact, his group sees gun access as the single biggest contributing factor to urban homicide. ….."

New York Times 9/10/99 Eric Schmitt "….Stepping up the federal government's fight against gun violence, President Clinton on Thursday announced a $15 million program to buy back firearms from private owners.

Under the first federal effort of its kind, the Department of Housing and Urban Development would provide grants of up to $500,000 to police departments around the country to buy back and destroy as many as 300,000 weapons, mainly in and around public housing projects. The department is suggesting that authorities offer $50 per gun, either in cash, food, gift certificates, toys or tickets to sporting events. Clinton's announcement capped a day-long rally and lobbying push here by scores of mayors, police chiefs, religious leaders and other local officials who favor tighter gun controls. "Every gun turned in through a buy-back program means potentially one less tragedy," Clinton said at a White House ceremony where he was flanked by mayors and uniformed police chiefs…..Despite the anecdotal evidence, there is no definitive analysis to support that buying back firearms reduces gun violence or crime. As a result, the housing department plans to conduct a $1 million study of gun buy-back plans, including its own. Opponents argue that gun buy-backs are largely a cosmetic effort in a nation awash with more than 200 million firearms. Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, said that if the administration was serious about combatting gun crimes, it would spend the $15 million on hiring new prosecutors and prosecuting felons. "People have a right to do what they want with their own personal property," said LaPierre, who said the NRA does not oppose gun buy-backs. "But this is nothing more than a public relations gesture that means nothing to drug dealers killing people." …."

The Ayn Rand Institute 9/10/99 Andrew Bernstein "…While President Clinton’s recent recommendations for tighter gun-controls met with general approval, his move to pardon FALN terrorists is encountering widespread criticism. Yet the two proposals stem from the same mistaken belief — i.e., that the fundamental cause of any crime is the weapon used, not the person using it. Clinton endorses measures such as a requirement that all guns in the home be locked up, and a mandatory waiting period for buying a gun, even after a check of the purchaser’s records shows no criminal history. Why? Although it is true that guns can be used for crime, so can almost anything else. The overwhelming majority of gun owners are not criminals. A private individual’s possession of a gun — unlike, say, his possession of a cruise missile — may serve a perfectly legitimate purpose. People use guns for hunting, collecting and — most important — self-defense against criminals. Why should such valid activities be punishable by law? …… What explains Clinton’s attempts to restrict innocent gun owners w hile pardoning terrorists? Why is he so hostile toward guns, yet so accommodating toward actual criminals? The answer is he believes that guns or bombs, rather than the character of those who use them, are responsible for the criminal act. From this it follows that guns should be banned while perpetrators should be pardoned. Such twisted logic results in policies that consistently aid the guilty and harm the innocent…… This consequence of abetting criminals while harming the innocent is a hallmark of many of Clinton’s policies. Saddam Hussein, for example, is allowed to continue his reign in Baghdad, with his capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction unchecked. The Chinese dictatorship — which openly considers America its primary enemy, steals U.S. nuclear secrets and threatens military action against a free Taiwan — is appeased by Clinton with most-favored-nation status. The terrorist Osama bin Laden, who was involved in the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, is still free more than a year later. It is only the American citizen, seeking a gun for self-protection, who is the target of a serious crackdown by our government….."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 9/11/99 Michael Romano "….Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell will rejoin the National Rifle Association -- five years after quitting the group in disgust over what he considered its take-no-prisoners political tactics. Campbell said current efforts to restrict the constitutionally guaranteed right to bear arms far outweighs past concerns over the hardball lobbying tactics of the NRA, one of the most feared and effective special-interest groups in America...."

LA Times 9/15/99 Monte Morin "....Officials had to renege on promise of amnesty from prosecution after learning it would be illegal. Number of weapons turned in falls short of goal. They aimed to collect weapons from local ne'er-do-wells and gunslingers Saturday, but in the end, Compton city officials shot themselves--figuratively, at least--in the foot. A heavily advertised gun buyback program at City Hall turned awkward when officials reneged on promises of immediate cash and amnesty from criminal prosecution. Even promised refreshments failed to materialize. Gun-toting participants from as far away as Irvine crowded the exchange table, but tempers began to rise as city spokesman Frank K. Wheaton said donors would have to supply not only their names and addresses, but also a thumbprint. The guns would also be checked for past criminal involvement, said the city's acting police chief. "This isn't what was advertised," said an irritated Yolanda Latham, 32, of Compton. She and her husband, Bernard, 36, had come to exchange two aging shotguns. "Now they tell us they want fingerprints? I don't think this is legal." In fact, what was illegal was the city's initial plan to offer gun donors amnesty--a promise that was repeated throughout the week on radio news broadcasts, in news releases and on posters....."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 9/16/99 Carla Crowder "... Gun buybacks are public relations fluff that do little or nothing to reduce gun violence, according to several researchers. President Clinton last week announced the largest buyback in U.S. history with plans to spend $15 million on used guns. It's part of Clinton's effort to curb youth violence in the wake of the Columbine High shootings. "Pretty much, globally, across the board, all of the research shows they're ineffective," said Tonya Aultman-Bettridge, a researcher with the University of Colorado's Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. CU researchers reviewed two buybacks, in St. Louis and Seattle. Interviews found that young men, who as a group commit the most gun crime, did not participate. The people getting rid of their guns were older men and women. "You may have a 60-year-old man who's had a gun sitting in the back of his closet for the last 40 years. It either doesn't work or it's old," Aultman-Bettridge said. Or, the sellers have other guns at home, and just bring in the broken one. ...."

Denver Post 9/16/99 Bill McAllister "....Opponents of post-Columbine gun-control measures rolled out a new star Wednesday in their fight against proposed legislation. Rick Castaldo and son Richard - a wounded Columbine High student - appeared at a Capitol Hill news conference where Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch denounced the Clinton administration for failing to enforce existing gun laws. "Passing any law will not stop any criminal from getting a gun if he knows the violation won't be prosecuted,'' Rick Castaldo told reporters. His teenage son was shot several times during the April 20 rampage and remains paralyzed from the chest down Hatch, seeking the GOP presidential nomination, released a committee staff report that said federal gun prosecutions dropped from 7,048 in 1992 under then President George Bush to 3,807 last year. ...."

Los Angeles Times 9/16/99 Shawn Hubler "....One day you're an actor with large hands and a gun collection, the next you're the president of the National Rifle Assn. in a metropolis where even the top police chief has gone anti-gun. Still, you have to admire Heston-he's a trouper, arguing away when most advocates would be as tuckered out as a spent cartridge. Maybe that's why, its chief notwithstanding, the LAPD can't shake its fondness for guys like him. How else to explain the LAPD Police Reserve Foundation's decision to let the head of a group denounced by their own police chief chair their fund-raising banquet tomorrow night? That's right. In the strange bedfellows category, enter this tidbit: Of all the marquee names in all of Southern California, the Los Angeles Police Reserve Foundation has, for its first--ever benefit, chosen a guy who defends cop-killer bullets and whose group has derided federal law enforcement as "Gestapo" and "jackbooted thugs." A guy who has fought the closure of gun law loopholes that leave cops perpetually outgunned. A guy who, in the words of LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks, is at the helm of a movement that is "peddling something that is far more dangerous than other special interest groups, and hiding behind a constitutional issue that I don't think exists." The flap over the reserve gala--even in the hands of a seasoned media whipper-upper--is only a footnote in this season of firearm anxiety. But it does say something, both about rank-and-file law enforcement and about the way celebrity trumps politics, especially in Los Angeles. Asked why Heston was chosen from among 25 celebrity candidates as the front man for Friday's event at the Universal City Hilton, the hired promoter, Bill York, had this only-in-L.A. explanation: "To tell the truth, I was unaware until after he accepted that he was the head of the NRA." ...."

AP 9/16/99 "...A steep decline in federal gun prosecutions during the Clinton administration shows Clinton is ``soft on crime,'' the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said. A Justice Department official said that federal authorities are working with states to lock up gun criminals and more gun cases, state and federal, are going to court. Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who is running for president, released a Judiciary Committee staff report Wednesday that said federal gun prosecutions dropped from 7,048 in 1992, when George Bush was president, to 3,807 last year. ``It's nice to mouth off about gun control, but we've got lots of laws on the books that aren't being enforced,'' Hatch said at a news conference that also included one of the students injured during the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colo. ``Passing any law will not stop any criminal from getting a gun if he knows the violation won't be prosecuted,'' said Rick Castaldo, whose son, Rich, was shot eight times and paralyzed. ...."

AP 9/16/99 Michelle Mittelstadt "....Lamenting the latest mass shooting in the United States, Attorney General Janet Reno said today Americans must look hard at the issue of "how we handle guns, of how we deal with mental illness, of how we deal with hate." Reno, discussing the killing rampage Wednesday night at a Baptist church in Fort Worth, Texas, said, ``The thought of gunfire in a place of worship should be inconceivable. But for families, for others last night, the inconceivable became a reality.'' ...... "I would hope that people would look, not just at what handguns have done to America this year, not in the context of this case, but what handguns have done to America over the last many years,'' Reno said, ``and that this nation would listen to its people who again and again cry out for ... asking government to make sure that we take reasonable steps to ensure that guns are not placed in the hands of people who are not lawfully entitled to have them.'' ..."

Texas Dept Of Public Safety 9/17/99 http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/chl/faq.htm "Handguns and other weapons can not be carried at schools or on school buses, at polling places, in courts and court offices, at racetracks and at secured airport areas. The law also specifically prohibits handguns from businesses where alcohol is sold if more than half of their revenue is from the sale of alcohol for on-premises consumption, and from locations where high school, college or professional sporting events are taking place. You may not carry handguns in hospitals or nursing homes, amusement parks, places of worship or at government meetings if signs are posted prohibiting them. Businesses also may post signs prohibiting handguns on their premises based on criminal trespass laws." "If you want to prohibit license holders from carrying concealed handguns on your property, state law requires you to post a sign that says: "Pursuant to Section 30.06, Penal Code (trespass by holder of license to carry a concealed handgun), a person licensed under Article 4413(29ee), Revised Statutes (concealed handgun law), may not enter this property with a concealed handgun." The sign must be written in both English and Spanish in contrasting block letters at least one inch in height, and must be displayed in a conspicuous manner clearly visible to the public." ..."

Washington Times 9/17/99 Wesley Pruden "....Let's see who we can blame now. Bill Clinton, who cut short his trip to New Zealand only to be cheated out of an opportunity to be photographed feeling somebody's pain in the wake of Hurricane Floyd, imagines he can exploit the tragedy in Fort Worth to bullyrag Congress into enacting more useless gun laws. "Yet again, we have seen a sanctuary violated by gun violence, taking children brimming with faith and promise and hope before their time." Naturally this underscores a need to enact more feel-good laws.....Ron Fornier of the Associated Press wants to blame George W. Bush: "The shooting posed a potential political problem for the two-term governor who signed a 1995 law allowing Texans to carry concealed weapons with a permit," he writes, quoting only himself. "Democrats have questioned his commitment to federal and state efforts to require background checks at gun shows . . . Yet he didn't budge from his belief that new anti-gun laws are not the answer." The Fort Worth gunman did not, in fact, have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, making the concealed-weapon law irrelevant. But when we're in the hysterical mode hysteria is all that counts....."

NRA Fax Alert 9/10/99 ".... Showing honesty and common sense that is far too rare among NRA's critics in Hollywood, actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, star of the hit TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer of the Warner Brothers Network, refused to blame firearms for the tragedy at Columbine High School in April of this year. In an interview published in the October 1999 issue of Teen People, Ms. Gellar, whom the magazine described as "the WB's hottest star," admits she "grew up around guns." She also said that she was taught not to touch them as a child. At the same time, she admits that it is impossible to fully comprehend what can lead to this sort of tragedy....."

Yahoo News 9/19/99 Reuters ".....President Clinton said Saturday the National Rifle Association and its supporters must assume more responsibility for the mass killings across the United States in recent years. The most recent shooting was Wednesday, when a lone gunman killed seven people and himself in a Fort Worth, Texas Baptist church. The attack sparked more calls by Clinton and gun-control advocates for tougher limits on the purchase of firearms. Officials of the NRA and its many supporters across the country and on Capitol Hill say mass killings will fall if the federal government would enforce existing gun laws more strictly...."

Associated Press 9/18/99 Arlene Levinson Rex Huppke ".... If you visited this central Indiana town -- if you chatted with folks who live in the Whitcomb Meadows subdivision, or ate at the Riley House Restaurant on West Main Street -- you probably would not see the guns. But they're there: in safes at home, under seats of cars, in bedroom closets. How many? No one knows. Police Capt. Danny Harrison's best guess is that there are firearms in two out of every three homes in greater Greenfield. That's roughly twice the ratio reported in a national survey released two years ago. Don't get the wrong idea, Hancock County Sheriff Nick Gulling says. Greenfield is ``not a gun-totin' town,'' full of Western bravado. Sure, he says, there are ``a lot of people who carry them that don't need to.'' They keep them for protection, even though they claim that most of the outlaws are 20 miles farther west, in Indianapolis. But they keep them for other reasons, as well. Guns for hunting. Guns for business. For family. For history. For the sensual pleasure of pearl handles, metal barrels, curly maple stock In that way, Greenfield is not unlike much of the rest of America. Yes, there is a criminal gun culture that sprays blood across the front pages. But there is also a law-abiding gun culture, woven deep in the heart of the heartland. ``Gun ownership goes with being close to rural life, whether it's your personal history, or where you live,'' says Philip Cook, a professor of public policy at Duke University. ....."

Denver Post 9/18/99 Bill McAllister Mike Soraghan "....It seems inevitable that the shooting rampage at a Baptist church in Texas will become the latest round of ammunition in a debate about guns that has ratcheted up with each deadly shooting this year. But not right away. Advocacy groups on both sides of the gun issue kept a low profile this week, waiting for details to emerge from Fort Worth. "Unfortunately, this is getting to be a ritual,'' said Joe Sudbuy, spokesman for Handgun Control Inc. in Washington. He said the group lays low out of respect for victims and families. ......Charlton Heston explained why the NRA is silent after such tragedies. "When an isolated, terrible event occurs, our phones ring demanding that the NRA explain the inexplicable,'' Heston told the crowd. "Why us? Because the story needs a villain. . . . Simply being silent is so often the right thing to do.'' After the speech and as Congress prepared to debate gun control measures, the NRA started talking more about Columbine. On Wednesday, for instance, the group posted a short item noting that Columbine survivor Rich Castaldo and his dad joined Sen. Orrin Hatch in calling for more vigorous enforcement of existing gun laws. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners is not as quiet. The group, which bills itself as Colorado's only "no-compromise'' gun lobby, was the only pro-gun group to issue a news release April 20. The group's chairman, Damien Veatch, said the Columbine shootings showed that concealed weapons should be allowed at schools so teachers could shoot back at intruders. Joe Velleco, spokesman for Gun Owners of America, parent of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, said his group will react to media calls, but it does little else after a mass shooting such as in Fort Worth. "Obviously the other side can obtain a great deal of sympathy at a time like this,'' Velleco said. "But there is nothing that any of the proposals before Congress could have done to have prevented this.'' ....Velleco also followed the tack that the Wednesday night shootings in Fort Worth might have been cut short if someone had pulled a gun and shot the gunman. "It might have had a different outcome if he had met with armed resistance,'' Velleco said....."

washington post 9/18/99 "....``Of course something horrible happened to that man's heart when he walked into that church in Texas. But we cannot use that as an excuse,'' Clinton said. He asserted that the solution is a sharing of responsibility and a refusal to duck facts, not a search for scapegoats or an attempt to blame all gun murders simply on human evil. ``The NRA (National Rifle Association) and that crowd has got to stop using arguments like this to avoid facing our shared responsibility,'' the president said. He said tragedies such as this year's spate of school shootings and the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City has made the search for answers imperative. ``I think the killing of innocent people en masse in America has been the most painful thing that (the vice president ) and I and our families have had to endure in discharging our duties for America,'' Clinton said...."

Reuters 9/19/99 "....President Clinton said Saturday the National Rifle Association and its supporters must assume more responsibility for the mass killings across the United States in recent years. The most recent shooting was Wednesday, when a lone gunman killed seven people and himself in a Fort Worth, Texas Baptist church. The attack sparked more calls by Clinton and gun-control advocates for tougher limits on the purchase of firearms. Officials of the NRA and its many supporters across the country and on Capitol Hill say mass killings will fall if the federal government would enforce existing gun laws more strictly. During a speech to the annual dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus, Clinton said: "The NRA and that crowd have to stop using arguments like this as an excuse to avoid our shared responsibility" to end the killings. ....."

New York Times News Service via St. Louis Post-Dispatch 9/19/99 "..... No one blamed guns. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the shooter, Larry Gene Ashbrook, bought his two weapons - a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a Ruger 9 mm semiautomatic pistol - from separate vendors at a flea market more than seven years ago. "I don't remember going into too many houses when I was a kid where there weren't guns. We respected them, we knew what they were for, not like now," said Kay Persinger, 43, the homemaker, who lives a few blocks from the Baptist church where the shootings occurred....... The region is an overwhelmingly Christian corner of the country, home to one of the largest Protestant seminaries in the world, where the house next door could easily be a house of worship. Some say they see the massacre at Wedgwood Baptist Church as the making of martyrs and a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. They point to the reports that the shooter shouted antireligious obscenities as he attacked. Like many other Christians, Karla Turner, who is enrolled at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, linked the shootings in the church to the shootings at a prayer group in a school in West Paducah, Ky., and to the shooting of Cassie Bernall at Columbine in Colorado. Bernall is now spoken of by many evangelicals as a modern-day Christian martyr, because she was asked by one of the gunmen whether she believed in God, to which she defiantly answered, "Yes, I do," and was instantly shot. Her story is being passed among many churches and youth groups, her parents have written a book that was just published, and there is a campaign to have students wear T-shirts to school saying, "Yes, I believe in God." Turner said that like Cassie Bernall, those shot at Wedgwood Baptist were killed for their faith. "It is the enemy, conducting spiritual warfare," Turner said. "It's an attack on Christianity in general, on Christians, and it's Satan trying to stop God's work in the Earth. He'll use whoever he wants, whoever he can. The guy who did this was obviously angry. Satan uses anger ...."Why don't they just kill themselves and be done with it, like people used to do. Why do they have to take a whole bunch of people with them? Because then nobody would know their names." ..."

Denver Post 9/19/99 David Olinger "....Colorado police agencies have supplied the consumer market with hundreds of used guns equipped with high-capacity magazines banned from manufacture by the 1994 federal assault-weapons law. The banned weapons delivered to gun stores and distributors by recent police sales range from pistols with 15-round clips to SWAT team assault rifles. One agency also sold handguns confiscated from criminals for as little as $5 apiece. Another agreed to sell 10 rifles classified as machine guns, then canceled the deal upon receiving a request to ship them to a Miami gun wholesaler. "I didn't realize they were selling things that were considered to be assault weapons,'' said Colorado House Minority Leader Ken Gordon, a Denver Democrat who has called for stricter gun controls. "I have a problem with that. They shouldn't be putting them in the stream of commerce.'' ....."

The Regina Leader-Post 9/8/99 Dr Laura Schlessinger "...Sadly, it's time for good Americans to get guns I'm right in the middle of a big change of attitude about a very important subject. And I know a lot of my readers and listeners to my radio program may be shocked. But people who have known me over time know that I'm someone who evolves in public..... The first event that caused me to rethink my position on this topic was the shootings in Atlanta, where a man went into two office buildings and gunned down total strangers, then killed himself in his car later that day. I thought about the difference it might have made - lives saved instead of lost - if someone in one of those offices had been armed. The murderer might well have been foiled in his reign of terror before so many innocent people died. That thought caused me to remember a time several years ago when I felt completely safe in my hometown of Los Angeles. It was after the major earthquake in 1994, and the National Guard was everywhere. There they were, it seemed, on every corner - uniformed, armed, ammunition slung across their chests, ready. As I recall, there was absolutely no crime in Los Angeles at that time - no break-ins, no holdups, no car-jackings. Nada. The bad guys obviously didn't want to risk getting shot...... In thinking about the difference an armed civilian or security guard might have made in Atlanta, I thought back to my trip to Israel this summer and how many people walking around, especially on the West Bank, were armed out of a genuine and persistent need to protect themselves. No one was shooting. There was no display of firepower or anything like that. It was just taken for granted. ..... Even before the horror of the most recent attack on children in a Los Angeles Jewish centre near my home, I was in the process of making up my mind to find a nice police officer or sheriff to teach me how to responsibly fire a gun. I can hardly believe I'm saying this, because I have been opposed to the idea that everyone should be free to bear arms. But the unpredictability of where danger strikes next, coupled with the frequency with which it happens, has led me to think that we "good guys" need to have more of the mentality of the beleaguered Israelis. And, of course, we need to have their attitude as well. No one is gun-happy over there. They don't show off, do stupid things. ....."

Los Angeles Times 9/23/99 Nicholas Riccardi Jeffrey Rabin "....Attorneys for what is billed as the nation's largest gun show filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday to stop a ban on the sale of firearms on county property, arguing that it infringes on their free speech. The Board of Supervisors passed the ban last month after a gunman killed a postal worker and fired into a day-care center in the San Fernando Valley. The ordinance targets the Great Western Show at the Pomona Fairplex, where hundreds of vendors sell antique guns, Civil War memorabilia and modern fire-arms and ammunition..... In its lawsuit, the Great Western Show 'alleges that the ordinance "irrationally criminalizes" gun sales in violation of the Constitution's guarantees of equal protection , due process and free speech. The argument is similar to one used successfully in Santa Clara County.. ...."

Congressional Record 9/22/99 James Rogan "....Mr. ROGAN. Mr. Speaker, first I want to say to my friends on the other side of the aisle who have been reading a list of names: I think that is entirely appropriate that we remember the names of children who died by gun violence at the hands of criminals. But that tells part of the story. Perhaps it would be appropriate today if we also read the names of liberals in this Chamber who have consistently voted against building more prisons to house violent criminals; the names of liberals who consistently vote against tough-on-crime measures, the names of liberals who today support a President of the United States who grants clemency to terrorists. We ought to read the names of innocent victims who have defended themselves against gun violence over the years. Let us read the names of women who have defended themselves against rape, or defended children in their home. Let us remember the names of the Founding Fathers who intended every law-abiding American to have that right of defense against gun violence. Let us hold people accountable for illegal actions, and let us hold politicians accountable that talk about gun control out of one side of their mouth, then consistently refuse to do anything about crime control. ..."

CNSNews.com 9/22/99 Susan Jones "....Last week's deadly shooting at a Baptist church in Fort Worth, Texas is prompting a new gun-crime initiative from Texas Governor George Bush - who's come under fire from Vice President Al Gore and others for opposing tighter gun controls. Under the Bush plan, the state will spend $1.28 million to pay for the appointment of eight special prosecutors who will more vigorously prosecute criminals who use guns. Another $360,000 will be used on an advertising campaign that will spread the word that "Gun Crime Means Hard Time," in Texas. At a news conference Tuesday, Bush repeated his contention that new laws are not the way to reduce gun violence. "The best way to protect our citizens is to vigorously enforce the tough laws we have on the books," Bush said. ....."

Los Vegas review-Journal 9/19/99 Vin Suprynowicz "... One year ago, Australian gun owners were forced to surrender for destruction 640,381 personal firearms (including semi-automatic .22 rifles and shotguns). This program cost the Aussie government more than $500 million and produced heart-stopping photos as veritable boneyards full of Browning A-5 shotguns and other beloved collector's items were surrendered up to be crushed by steamshovels in a kind of steel-and-walnut charnel field. Now, Keith Tidswell of Australia's Sporting Shooters Association reports the results are in. Drum roll, please. Mr. Tidswell reports, based on a full 12 months of data: Australia-wide, homicides up 3.2 percent. Australia-wide, assaults up 8.6 percent. Australia-wide, armed-robberies up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent.) In the state of Victoria, homicides-with-firearms are up 300 percent. (Up until the government gun grab, figures for the previous 25 years had shown a steady decrease in homicides with firearms, as well as armed robberies, Mr. Tidswell notes.) Although at the time of the victim disarmament order, the Aussie prime minister decreed "self-defense is not a reason for owning a firearm," there has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the elderly, now left with no means to protect themselves. (One wonders whether the prime minister's personal bodyguards gave up their military-style weapons.) ....Mr. Tidswell reports: "Australian politicians are on the spot and at a loss to explain how no improvement in 'safety' has been observed after such monumental effort and expense to successfully 'rid society of guns.' " ....."

Associated Press 9/26/99 Adam Gorlick "….Before Columbine High School, before the Atlanta day trader offices, before the Jewish community center in Los Angeles, there was Matthew Beck. In March 1998, the 35-year-old accountant went on a suicidal shooting spree in his offices at the Connecticut Lottery headquarters. Four people died before Beck put the gun to his own head. Lawmakers reacted with one of the toughest gun-seizure laws on the books. Starting next month, Connecticut police will be allowed to confiscate guns from anyone determined to be an immediate danger to himself or others. The law is rooted in the notion that rampages such as Beck's are preceded by a detectable descent into madness. Critics say the law tramples the Second Amendment and fear it could lead to unwarranted searches and seizures. Supporters say the standards for seizing guns are so high the law will seldom be used. …… Legally seizing a gun will require more than suspicion, said state police Lt. Robert Kiehm. There must be evidence that the person recently tortured animals, threatened to kill himself or others or acted violently. A police investigation must conclude there is no other way to keep the person from doing harm, and a warrant must be issued by a judge. The law also requires a hearing within 14 days to determine whether the gun should be returned….."

Associated Press; FOX Peter James Spielmann "….The U.N. Security Council on Friday endorsed sweeping gun-control measures, including a ban on private ownership of assault rifles, in a bid to curb civil wars, ethnic massacres and terrorism. At the end of the first ministerial debate on small arms, council members unanimously supported a report by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on ways to reduce the global stockpile of some 500 million handguns, rifles, shotguns and assault weapons. While not legally binding, the action is intended to increase the pressure on world government to impose stricter gun control measures and reduce the arms trade. At least 200 million firearms are owned by American citizens….."

Providence Journal 9/24/99 Mackubin Thomas Owens "….Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas has now joined Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado as well as schools in Springfield Oregon, Edinboro, Pennsylvania, Jonesboro, Arkansas, West Paducah, Kentucky, and Pearl, Mississippi as a tragic site of carnage and death. As in the earlier cases, politicians and pundits have fingered the culprit--guns and the gun culture. If only there were fewer guns, goes the argument, things like this wouldn't happen. The identification of guns as the source of all this mayhem has the virtue of simplicity, a single concrete factor apparently common to all these cases. But while all these tragedies involved the use of guns, to blame the proliferation of such violent incidents on the availability of guns alone is not so much simple as simplistic. Basic logic bears this out. For example, access to firearms was once much greater than today, and not just in rural areas. High schools in many large cities had shooting clubs as late as the 1960s. It was not unusual for participants in these clubs to take their weapons to school on the subway on shooting days. Additionally, there were far fewer gun regulations and laws than there are now. But such events as Columbine were unheard of. These facts call into question the claim that greater restrictions on firearms will prevent such tragedies as Wedgwood Baptist Church or Columbine High School. Indeed, the young murderers who ran amok at Columbine were in violation of nearly two dozen federal and state firearms laws. Perhaps we should enforce the laws on the books against those who commit crimes with guns before we rush to restrict further the rights of law-abiding citizens. …"

Providence Journal 9/24/99 Mackubin Thomas Owens "….For example, the conventional wisdom notwithstanding, studies cannot establish any positive causal relationship between private gun ownership and the crime rate. Indeed, some studies show a negative correlation between gun ownership and crime--areas with high gun ownership often experience less crime than comparable areas with low firearms ownership. This makes sense. What criminal relished the prospect of confronting an armed citizen? It is much easier to prey on the defenseless. Similarly, there turns out to be no consistent global correlation between gun availability and violent crime rates. Finally, there is little to support the contention that gun control laws reduce the rate of violent crime. Indeed, the 28 states and the District of Columbia with the most stringent gun control laws still account for 73 percent of all violent crime and 70 percent of murders in the United States. The reason for this is that gun control laws do not get at the "root cause" of crime, which is criminals. Gun control affects only law-abiding citizens, not the very small percentage of the population responsible for committing the vast majority of crime in the United States.

This brings us to one of the most important reasons for treading carefully when it comes to gun control-the right to protects one's person, family, and property. In 1993, Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz conducted the landmark National Crime Self-Defense Survey which documented that between 1988-1993, American citizens used guns in self-defense between 2.2 million and 2.5 million time per year, saving between 240,000 and 400,000 lives each year. On the basis of their research, the authors estimated the defensive uses of guns to be three to four times that of illegal gun uses. …."

NRA 9/23/99 Wayne LaPierre "….The monster began killing his two small children and his wife while they slept. Mark 0. Barton smashed their heads with a hammer, inflicting blunt trauma. But the massive skull and brain injuries were not enough. Barton carried his little son, little daughter and wife into the bathroom where he held their faces under water in the bathtub until he felt life flow from their bodies. The kids were named Mychelle and Matthew. She was 8. He was just 11. …… He went on to murder others-this time, using a handgun. A trader in high-risk stock ventures, a loser at gambling, Barton went on a shooting rampage at two brokerage houses, then killed himself. An Associated Press dispatch on Barton never mentioned the bludgeoning deaths. The murdered mother, the murdered children didn't fit the story. It was all about hardware- about which guns to ban. It was the same with The New York Times and with news outlets all over the country. You read all those stories and you can't even find the names of the kids. It's as if nobody in the media cares about them. The lives of two kids and an innocent mother were swept aside. Their existence, their suffering, the loss to their friends, schoolmates and family just didn't count with the national media and the politicians. Nobody called for hammer control……"

NRA 9/23/99 Wayne LaPierre "….They blamed NRA. They blamed all of us. They screamed about 200 million guns. It was the same old ghoul show. The deepest shame on them. No law would have stopped Barton, and they know that. Hammer control wouldn't have stopped him. Neither would any form of gun control ever dreamed of. Right after the Littleton school murders, there was another assassin of school children who took the life of little kids. It was brutal. Bill and Hillary Clinton didn't talk about it. There was no Rose Garden speech. No national outrage. No laying blame on hardware. The story got just a passing nod. Just like the Barton family killings, it served no larger cold-hearted political purpose. Ask just about anybody the name of the school or the name of the man who intentionally crashed his automobile through a playground fence killing a 3-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl, and maiming four other children ….. Nobody remembers, because they never heard about it in the first place. Those things are not on the lips of news anchors, nor will they likely be the next time a madman kills kids with anything but a gun. So that you know, the man charged in the May 4,1999, killings in Costa Mesa, California, was Steven Allen Abrams. The name of the school was South coast Early Childhood Learning Center. Abrams was charged with two counts of murder and four counts of assault with a deadly weapon. His weapon of choice-a Cadillac.

Why did Abrams do it? Abrams reportedly told police, "I was going to execute these children because they were innocent." Nobody said all Cadillac owners should pay the price. Nobody said the car was the cause. Nobody demanded people stop driving. Nobody said every car owner was at fault. Nobody called for a ban on heavy, full-sized luxury automobiles. By the way, the car was registered and the driver licensed. Nobody said the Triple-A was at fault. No law envisioned by anyone could have stopped that act of madness…..And no one can stop the next act of madness-be the weapon of choice a Cadillac or a hammer or a gun. …."

Wall Street Journal 9/24/99 "….High at the top of media orthodoxy is the idea that opposition to gun control is a loser at the ballot box, especially in wake of high-profile killings like Columbine. But a special House election in California should help pop this liberal balloon. The race was between Marta Macias Brown and State Senator Joe Baca. Both sought the Democratic nomination for the seat held by Mrs. Brown's husband, liberal icon Rep. George Brown, until he died in July. Though Mr. Baca was well known, Ms. Brown had going for her the longest winning streak in American politics: 35 out of the last 36 widows who've run to succeed their husbands in office have won. She also brought her own qualifications to the job, having worked as a close aide to her late husband for a decade.

It soon became clear, moreover, that the two candidates agreed on almost every issue except one: gun control. But Mrs. Brown's constant mailers attacking Mr. Baca as "the radical gun lobby's favorite Democrat" quickly transformed her into a media darling. According to her campaign manager, Bobi Johnson, the "No. 1" point in her platform was "reducing gun violence." Though Mr. Baca muted his staunch support for gun rights slightly, and sensibly voted to ban unaccompanied minors from gun shows, the National Rifle Association stood by him.

National reporters touted the race as a leading indicator of how the gun issue would affect the 2000 election…… As it turned out, the anti-gun frenzy was all for naught. Even though the Tuesday election came within a week of the senseless shooting of churchgoers in Fort Worth and a day after voters received a Brown brochure with photographs of assault rifles and a school crossing sign shot up with bullets, Mr. Baca prevailed. He will face Republican Elia Pirozzi in a November runoff. But you won't see many headlines about Mr. Baca's victory, because it goes against the liberal belief that gun control is a winning issue. And the media buys into the myth because polls consistently provide incomplete data……In 1994, for example, just before the stunning GOP takeover of Congress, polls found 89% of Americans backing the Brady Bill's five-day waiting period for gun sales. But a closer reading found that only 33% thought the Brady Bill would reduce gun-related crimes. The point is that gun owners are highly motivated voters, and when given the chance to make them, their arguments are often persuasive. They cite studies such as those which have found that states with concealed-carry laws show greater decreases in crime, which helps explain why 31 states have passed them in the teeth of liberal opposition……"

Wall Street Journal 9/24/99 Paul Barrett "….Efforts to settle litigation against the gun industry are intensifying, as representatives of the industry and the municipalities that have sued it prepare for a meeting scheduled for Monday in Washington. Also at the table, either in person or by means of a representative, will be public officials who have threatened to sue the industry but so far have held off, saying they would prefer to negotiate curbs on the marketing and distribution of handguns….."

Libertarian Party, IL 9/17/99 "…Today, Chicago Libertarian Party Chairman Matt Beauchamp sued Cook County Sheriff Michael F. Sheahan in Federal Court for illegal gun trafficking. Beauchamp alleges that Sheahan's Gun Buy Back Program conducted under the so-called "Safe Streets Safe Schools 2000" program, does not have the required Federal Firearms License. Beauchamp further alleges that Sheahan purchases these guns with no requirement for identification and therefore is accepting weapons, many stolen, in violation of federal law….."

Scripps Howard News Service 8/12/99 Bill Straub "….When the 12 major party presidential contenders talk about gun control, they know what they're talking about: all but one has been in control of a gun. Each of the 12 candidates, except for Republican Elizabeth Dole, has owned a gun in private life or used one in the military. Nine of the candidates own a gun now for sport or protection, counting a pellet gun owned by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. …."

American Academy of Family Physicians' website 9/16/99 "….Yesterday, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) adopted a new gun policy, opposing private ownership of assault weapons and supporting background checks and waiting periods for all firearm sales. Meeting today in Orlando, the AAFP Congress of Delegates debated, then adopted a new policy on gun safety…… The following is the final language adopted by the AAFP Congress of Delegates: RESOLVED, That the American Academy of Family Physicians support and encourage legislation targeting the ongoing improvement in firearm safety requirements, and be it further RESOLVED, That the American Academy of Family Physicians support background checks and waiting periods for all firearm sales, and be it further RESOLVED, That the American Academy of Family Physicians develop, promote and distribute patient education materials on firearm safety, and be it further RESOLVED, That the American Academy of Family Physicians adopt policy which opposes private ownership of assault weapons….."

F.R. Duplantier 10/3/99 "....In a recent issue of Foundation Watch, published by the Capital Research Center, editor Patrick Reilly offers "a list of key elements in the anti-tobacco campaign that are repeated in the current campaign for gun control." The first element he cites is the proclamation of a public health crisis. "Americans are generally less suspicious of government programs that appear to address health concerns, even when individual behavior and legitimate business practices are restricted," Reilly observes.....The focus on children is another element borrowed from the anti-tobacco campaign. "Many foundation grants awarded to gun control advocates are used to address the impact of gun violence on youth and children's access to guns," Reilly reports. "In truth," he points out, "the problem of youth access to guns is not as large as it has been portrayed, especially among young children. In 1996, only 40 children under age five died from accidental gun wounds." .....Making their case in courts rather than legislatures is another key element. "Foundations learned from last year's failed effort to pass federal tobacco-control legislation that lawmakers are hesitant to dramatically expand legal and regulatory constraints on major industries," says Reilly. "The courts, however, are not so reluctant..... Blaming the product and its manufacturer, rather than the negligent consumer, is yet another element common to both the anti-tobacco and anti-gun campaigns. "Anti-tobacco lawyers have argued that tobacco companies are guilty of negligent marketing, especially to minors," Reilly remarks. "Anti-gun forces have followed the same strategy, accusing the gun industry of negligence for failing to adequately prevent gun violence and for marketing in high-crime communities." The case against gun makers is patently absurd, of course, but then so was the case against tobacco merchants. Alan Gottlieb takes the threat seriously, and he's responding to it -- by suing the suers! His Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is sponsoring a "damage action" against the NAACP and various anti-gun mayors for "conspiracy to violate civil rights, abuse of process, and undue burden on interstate commerce. The anti-freedom politicians and the NAACP want to blame everyone but themselves for creating all the gun violence," Gottlieb contends. But the real purpose of their lawsuits, he claims, is "to win in the courts what has been rejected at the polls and to destroy gun makers," thereby effectively restricting gun ownership...."

Roll Call 10/5/99 John Bresnahan "....Another tough issue that will face Members in coming weeks is gun control. While the House voted against any new handgun legislation during the fight over the juvenile justice bill this summer, the Senate did approve some new controls on such weapons. House and Senate negotiators have been going back and forth for weeks in search of a compromise, and it now appears the House could see a final juvenile justice bill this week even though the handgun issue has yet to be resolved. House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) said he expects a final deal on the juvenile justice package, which includes the gun control measures, to be unveiled as early as today. ...."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_metcalf/19991004_xcgme_racist_gun.shtml 10/4/99 Geoff Metcalf "....The legislative mania, which is sweeping the country to disarm law-abiding citizens, is fascinating. There is an overwhelming abundance of facts and figures, which document that guns, as tools, are good. Two incontestable axioms are: 1) Take guns away, and make it ponderous to own guns, and crime increases; and 2) Permit and encourage lawful gun ownership, and crime decreases. I have written and talked about those two facts a lot ... as some complain, too much. ..... Notwithstanding the disingenuous, duplicitous tripe we hear from the myopic ideologues about the imperative to disarm America (and if Kofi Annin had his way ... the world), the stark realities of gun control should gag even the most devoted bleeding heart, anti-constitutionalist, socialist liberal. Gun control is racist and elitist. The Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy (Winter 1995) includes "The Racist Roots of Gun Control." The article documents the "historical record provides compelling evidence that racism underlies gun control laws -- and not in any subtle way." The realization that gun control is racist and, tangentially, a means of weakening and making vulnerable to the whim of the power elite any and all "ordinary" people is significant. The vast left wing conspiracy has consistently and routinely positioned themselves as "the protectors of the downtrodden." However, what they inevitably fail to acknowledge is that by denying anyone and everyone the most basic inalienable right to protect and defend self, family and property, the presumed "protectors" are in fact, oppressors..... Can you see a common threat here? Vladmir Lenin, Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Bennito Mousellini, General Tojo, Emperor Hirohito, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, Josef Broz Tito, Nicolae Ceausescu, Ho Chi Min, Deng Zhou-Ping, Idi Amin, Muimar Qadaffi, Saddam Hussein, Zheng Ze-Min, Fidel Castro all were or are despotic rulers. They ALL forced civilian disarmament. Collectively they are responsible for the deaths of over 56 million people. The most recent example of the inherent racism of gun control can be seen in Kosovo. Imagine yourself as a resident of Kosovo when some armed "legal authority" knocks (or kicks) on your door requiring you and your family submit to summary execution. Before you discount the possibility as creative writing hyperbole, consider some Americans already have family experience similar to that "what if." Families of American Jews, Africans and Cambodians have already been there ... done that. Germany, China, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Congo, Turkey, Burundi, Burma, Angola, Somalia, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Argentina, Namibia, Chili, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Columbia, Yemen, Botswana, and soon South Africa have ALL killed their citizens within the lifetime of your grandmother, mother, wife, and children. If you are one of the conditioned, naive sheeple whom would say, "Oh yes, that is all terrible, but it could never happen HERE" -- it already has. Just look back to 1994 and the warrantless searches of PRIVATE residences for guns in Chicago housing projects. Those warrantless searches were eventually blocked by a judge, but the media and our president were obviously unimpressed with the blatant violation of Fourth Amendment protections. Gun control has always been racist and discriminatory. The ultimate objective of gun control is to control an unarmed people by an armed oppressor....."

WSJ Interactive 9/29/99 Paul Barrett "....Colt's Manufacturing Co., the storied gun maker, is restructuring in a way that will shrink significantly its role in producing handguns for the consumer market. The restructuring stems from several causes, but in one sense it is the most drastic response so far by a major gun maker to the wave of municipal litigation pending against the firearm industry. Lawsuits filed by 27 cities and counties across the country specifically target the sort of handguns that Colt's is planning to move away from. Internal company documents show Colt's, West Hartford, Conn., is in the process of spinning off into a separate company its controversial project aimed at producing a high-tech "smart gun" that can only be fired by an authorized user. The documents also indicate the remaining core business will be focused more narrowly on production of military small arms, an area that Colt's has emphasized heavily over the past two years. New York financiers Donald Zilkha and John Rigas, who control the manufacturer, have used Colt's as a vehicle to acquire other makers of small military arms, and the restructuring appears to be another step in that direction. In fact, there are rumors in the gun business that Colt's is close to a new acquisition of a rival, but those rumors couldn't be confirmed......One risk the restructuring creates is a negative reaction from activist gun owners, who could perceive a withdrawal from the consumer handgun market as another indication of Colt's bending to gun-control proponents. Gun owners in New Jersey, California and other states mounted a boycott of Colt's products last year, partly in response to the company's development of the smart gun, which also was seen as a manifestation of weakness in response to gun foes....."

WBAL 10/5/99 Ron Smith "....The October issue of Harper's contains an explosive essay that anybody interested in Second Amendment rights should know about. It is by one Daniel Lazare and is titled, "Your Constitution is Killing You." Lazare, judging from this piece, is fiercely liberal in the worst sense of that ideological identifier; but he's forthright when it comes to understanding that the Second Amendment to the Constitution means what it says. "Liberals cannot bear," he writes, "to admit the truth about gun control: the Right Wing is right. The Second Amendment confers an individual right." He gives us details on the recent shift in scholarly thinking on the matter and concludes that gun control zealots like himself had better chart a new course, which is to work toward overturning the Constitution itself. "Could it be," he asks, "that the Constitution is not the greatest plan on earth, that it contains notions that are repugnant to the modern sensibility?" He certainly thinks the answer is yes, speculating that, "Someday soon, we will have to emancipate ourselves from our eighteenth-century Constitution." He argues that the founding document chains us to the distant past....."

CNSNews.com 10/7/99 Susan Jones "....United Parcel Service reportedly plans to stop delivering handguns through its ground service, because of concerns that some of those firearms shipments may be stolen along the way. The Allentown, Pennsylvania Morning Call reports the new UPS Policy begins on Monday. "We're trying to protect ourselves from employees stealing and criminals stealing," UPS spokesman Bob Godlewski told the newspaper. UPS says it will continue to ship long guns by ground, but starting next week, it will ship handguns only by overnight air service, which would cost about $25 more per gun. ...."

Associated Press 10/7/99 John Nolan "....A state judge today dismissed the city's lawsuit against gun manufacturers, saying it was vague and unsupported by legal precedent. Several other cities across the country also have sued the firearms industry. Today's action was the first dismissal of such a suit, a lawyer for gun manufacturers said. Jim Dorr, a Chicago lawyer for gun makers Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. of Southport, Conn., and Smith & Wesson Corp. of Springfield, Mass., said he hopes to use the ruling by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman in seeking the dismissal of 17 similar lawsuits representing 27 city or county governments. ``These lawsuits filed by the cities have been, in our opinion, nothing but smoke and mirrors with no legal foundation to them,'' Dorr said. Cincinnati had sued the manufacturers, a distributor and three trade associations. The suit demanded reimbursement for the costs of providing police, emergency, court and prison services in connection with shootings in the city, including suicides and accidental shootings as well as homicides....."

www.ups.com 10/7/99 Press Release "....As a responsible corporate citizen, UPS wants to ensure that handguns are transported as safely as possible by restricting handguns to designated handling channels within our system. Effective Monday, October 11, 1999, UPS will restrict the shipment of handguns to its UPS Next Day Air(r) system. This policy does not affect shipments of other firearms, which still may be transported through the UPS air and ground systems. UPS guidelines also require packages containing firearms to carry an "Adult Signature Required" label and ban the inclusion of ammunition in the same package as the firearm. Other carriers also restrict the shipment of handguns and some still offer ground shipment options....."

AP 10/15/99 ".... A federal judge Friday blocked Los Angeles County from banning gun sales later this month at the world's biggest gun show. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the operators of the Great Western Gun Show, which opens Oct. 29 at the county fairgrounds. Great Western Shows Inc. challenged an ordinance that was enacted by the county Board of Supervisors in the aftermath of a shooting rampage at a Jewish community center last summer. ..."

Deseret News 10/11/99 AP "....The Colt's Manufacturing Co., inventor of the six-shooter, plans to stop taking orders for most of its retail handguns so it can limit its liability in lawsuits, according to published reports. Meanwhile, a new Deseret News/KSL-TV poll of Salt Lake City residents shows that most of them don't want the city to sue gun manufacturers. While cities like New Orleans and Chicago have sued major U.S. gunmakers, 59 percent of city residents told pollster Dan Jones & Associates that Salt Lake shouldn't file such suits. The Colt company plans to reduce dramatically the number of commercial weapons it makes and focus instead on selling mainly to the military, law enforcement agencies and collectors, who account for the bulk of its business. ...."

Reuters 10/13/99 ".....The new president of Colt's Manufacturing Co. says the legendary gunmaker will stay in the handgun business and its decision to eliminate seven handgun lines was unrelated to pending litigation against the gun industry. "The lawsuits did not force us into this decision,'' Colt's President William Keys told the Hartford Courant in an interview published Wednesday. The privately held firm, based in West Hartford, Conn., faces more than two dozen lawsuits by U.S. municipalities seeking to punish gunmakers for the cost of gun-related crimes. Keys, a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant general, took charge of the 144-year-old company, whose six-shooters helped define the image of the old Wild West, earlier this month. He said the discontinuation of seven lines was an effort to strengthen the financially struggling company. "We have not been selling these models for years,'' Keys said. "We are going to streamline what we are doing and concentrate on keeping our government contracts up to snuff. We are not going to get out of the handgun line.'' Newsweek magazine reported Sunday that Colt's was quitting the consumer handgun business in order to dodge the liability bullet that could result from the lawsuits....."

San Diego Union-Tribune 10/12/99 ".....The American handgun seems to be taking as many shots as it is firing. One of the most enduring symbols of national strength and independence -- it helped win the West; it looks big even in the hands of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood -- is losing sales and facing increasing legal and social wrath. This week, Colt's Manufacturing Co. -- whose founder, Sam Colt, invented the revolver more than 160 years ago -- announced that it is discontinuing some handgun lines and largely concentrating on sales to the military and law enforcement. The news stunned the firearms industry and got handgun control advocates wondering whether this most storied of gunmakers is a victim of the national anguish over gun violence. Handgun sales are generally declining, and the emotional controversy over ownership has many firearms owners feeling as though they've been turned into social outcasts. ....Gun advocates say the backlash is misdirected in the public's anger over incidents of mass violence. "You can't blame an inanimate object," said Marc Halcon, president of the Kearny Mesa-based American Shooting Center, the range where Volle shoots. "So they put a face on it. And it's the gun owner."

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 10/12/99 Bud Kennedy ".....Maybe I missed something. I don't remember any killings involving a gun bought at a local gun show. I don't remember any public outcry against gun shows. I don't remember a majority of Fort Worth City Council members calling for a vote on gun shows. So why are some council members complaining about gun shows? Nearly a month after four teen-agers and three adults were killed by an intruder at a Fort Worth church -- in a shooting now known nationwide by the single word `Wedgwood' -- the memory is now tailored to fit political agendas. The last I read, the guns used at Wedgwood Baptist Church were traced to legal purchases years ago from two licensed gun dealers at a Grand Prairie flea market: Village Gun Sales and the now-defunct Guns N Such. They were not bought at a gun show. ......Don't get me wrong. I'm not a gun guy. But I'm also not scared of good Texans who -- within reasonable restrictions -- want to carefully own and carry guns. Nor am I scared of reputable gun shows. The last time I toured one of the organized Fort Worth gun shows, it was mostly crawling with law officers, security guards, hunters and seemingly responsible adults. It just didn't look like the kind of crowd that ought to be run out of town......"

Reason Online 10/7/99 "....In 1994, when states started demanding that tobacco companies compensate them for the cost of treating smoking-related illness under Medicaid, critics wondered how many other industries could be sued on similar grounds. Don't be silly, these worrywarts were told. Cigarettes are unique. Yet even before the states had wrapped up their tobacco litigation in a $206 billion package, Round 2 had begun: Last fall, two major cities filed suit against manufacturers of firearms, seeking compensation for costs associated with gun violence. New Orleans claims that handguns are "unreasonably dangerous" because they do not incorporate safety features that would prevent unauthorized people from firing them. Chicago argues that gun makers have created a "public nuisance" by supplying too many firearms to dealers in the city's suburbs. Several other cities, including Atlanta, Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, have filed suits of their own, and still more are expected to join the list. And the NAACP also plans to file a suit of its own......The idea that guns are a public nuisance is closely related to the idea that guns are viruses causing an epidemic of violence, the subtext of research funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the April 1997 Reason, Don B. Kates, Henry E. Schaffer, and William C. Waters IV dissect the misuse of public health concepts by advocates of gun control. By using litigation to raise prices and drive manufacturers out of business, gun controllers can reduce access to firearms without confronting the Second Amendment. In the March 1996 Reason, Daniel D. Polsby considers what might happen if the courts treated the right to keep and bear arms like other constitutional rights. The hostility toward guns expressed in the New Orleans and Chicago lawsuits is shared by most news organizations. In the November 1995 Reason, William R. Tonso shows that sheer ignorance is an important reason for this attitude....... "

Pittsburgh Post Gazette 10/13/99 Ann Belser "....After six people were fatally shot here during two weeks in May and June, U.S. Attorney Harry Litman called Mayor Murphy to see what the city and federal government could do to curb the violence. Yesterday, accompanied by high school students, college professors, victims' advocates, local officials and U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, the two officials unveiled their blueprint to reduce gun violence: Operation Target. The initiative, Litman said at yesterday's news conference at Carnegie Mellon University, is a cooperative venture of federal, state and local officials. "Target" is meant as an acronym for "taking aim to reduce gun violence and end trafficking." As part of Operation Target, two Pittsburgh police officers will be assigned to work with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to trace guns used in violent crimes. The serial numbers will be used to track who sold them, who bought them and how they got into the hands of criminals. Recent research on gun violence has shown that 75 percent of the guns used in crimes were obtained through illegal sales, Litman said. Litman said federal laws, with a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, can be used to prosecute those who buy guns through a straw purchase -- when a person legally entitled to own a gun buys and sells it to someone who is not allowed to possess a firearm, such as a convicted felon. ...."

American Rifleman, 11-12/99 Wayne Lapierre "....Once and forever, there is a definitive answer to the question as to the real purpose of universal gun registration in America. The answer is California, where gun registration has morphed into the only logical next step: confiscation. Those who abided by California law have exposed themselves to criminal prosecution and to the forcible taking of their legally owned private property by armed government agents. It has nothing to do with crime and criminals. The United States Supreme Court long ago--in Haynes v. U.S. (390 U.S. 85, 1968)--declared that because it would be self-incriminating, a criminal cannot be required to register a gun, nor be charged with possession of an unregistered gun. Remember that. It is very important. Especially in California. California is the reply to every sweet-sounding assertion that gun registration is as harmless as registering your car. Next time you hear somebody say that, ask them how successful car registration has been in preventing drive-by shootings, road rage, bank robberies, drug deals or any crime in which automobile use by criminals is a factor. With California nothing can undo the lie of gun registration. Gun registration has been stepped up a single notch to become gun confiscation. It was engineered by Sarah Brady's Handgun Control, Inc. and carried out by a government all too willing to breach official promises and fundamental fairness under the law. Citizens who dutifully registered their firearms are now receiving letters from the state prosecutor telling them they "may be subject to criminal prosecution" because applications for gun registration "previously accepted by the Department of Justice are null and void." The letter orders these law-abiding citizens to "relinquish" their guns to police or face arrest. It says, in so many words, we know who you are and which guns you have, because you told us. There is no escape. ...."

AP 10/13/99 "..... New York City gun owners will have to use trigger-locks or face up to a year in jail under a new law passed Wednesday by the City Council. The unanimous vote closed a loophole in a 1998 law that made gun sellers responsible for issuing safety devices but didn't require gun owners to use them. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani supports the added requirement. ``Every maximum protection we can provide to protect children from guns and any effort to make adults responsible for gun safety are worth pursuing,'' said City Council Speaker Peter Vallone...."

The Daily Oklahoman 10/14/99 ".....Liberals produce one specious agrument after another to foster greater government control over our lives - One of them is their seemingly plausible argument that gun control and an outright ban of certain weapons will reduce crime - T. Marcus Funk exposes some of that nonsense in his article "Gun Control and Economic Discrimination" in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (winter 1995) - Funk points out that murder rates in "gun controlled areas such as Mexico and South America are more than twice as high as those in the United States - Countries such as Israel and Switzerland have household gun ownership rates comparable to ours yet have much lower rates of crime and violence than we do - the Swiss murder rate is 15% of ours - 90 per cent of violent crimes are committed with a handgun - of those committed with a handgun - 93 per cent of the guns used were obtained through unlawful means - a 1986 study revealed 20% of the guns seized by Washington, D.C. policmen were homemade - it is estimated up to 2.5 million instances a year where guns are used for self defense and stop a crime - in Orlando, Fla after the police department setup a program to teach women how to use firearms - the rape rate dropped 88% - in Kennesaw, Ga the city passed an ordinance REQUIRING households to have a gun - within seven months, the burglary rate fell 89 per cent ...."

Conservative News Service 10/14/99 Lawrence Morahan ".....Violent video games and hours of exposure to violence on television anesthetizes children to violence and makes them more likely to kill, a retired lieutenant colonel who taught psychology at West Point told CNSNews.com. The result of depicting violence as entertainment "is a phenomenon that functions much like AIDS, which I call AVIDS - Acquired Violence Immune Deficiency Syndrome," said retired Lt. Col. David Grossman, who is visiting Washington to promote the week of October 18 through 22 as "Turn Off the Violence - Open a Book Week." "AIDS has never killed anybody. It destroys your immune system, and then other diseases that shouldn't kill you become fatal. Television violence by itself does not kill you. It destroys your violence immune system and conditions you to derive pleasure from violence," said Grossman. "And once you are at close range with another human being, and it's time for you to pull that trigger, Acquired Violence Immune Deficiency Syndrome can destroy your midbrain resistance," said Grossman, who acted as lead trainer for counselors after two boys shot dead four students and a teacher at a local middle school in his hometown of Jonesboro, Ark., in March. "The real radical extremists in the U.S. aren't in the National Rifle Association," he said. "The NRA doesn't claim that the Second Amendment gives them the right to market guns to kids. "No, the real sickos in America are the people who will fight to the death, in the name of the First Amendment, to defend the right of kids to practice blowing off people's heads in the local video arcade," Grossman said. ...."

Reason Magazine 11/99 David Kopel ".... Should we treat guns like cars? Handgun Control Inc. has been saying so for years, and this summer Vice President Al Gore agreed. "We require a license to drive a car in this nation in order to keep unsafe drivers off the road," Gore said. "As president, I will fight for a national requirement that every state issue photo licenses [for handgun buyers]. We should require a license to own a handgun so people who shouldn't have them can't get them." Prospective licensees should have to "pass a background test and pass a gun safety test." Gore predicted that his plan would cause the gun lobby to "have a fit."..... Although anti-gun lobbyists who use the car analogy are pushing for additional controls, laws that really did treat guns like cars would be much less restrictive, on the whole, than what we have now. ...."

CNSNews.com 10/14/99 Nicholas Sanchez "....Disturbed by the so-called "whitewashed" programming that is being offered by the major television networks, Mfume has fumed and strutted around, much like George Jefferson of the '70s sit-com, about the lack of black faces on television. (Apparently, the WB Network is not available by his cable operator.) His organization has threatened to sue the television industry for not putting enough black-oriented programming on air. Mr. Mfume's discontent is not limited to the cancellation of "Sanford & Son." The gun industry has also managed to get in the line of fire of the NAACP's outrage, if you'll excuse the pun. It seems that there is a lot of crime that is being committed by black people. These same black people are using guns in the commission of these crimes. So it stands to perfect reason that if we punish the gun manufacturers we will be getting to the root of the crime problem. Going after criminals is so passe....."

NRA 10/14/99 Charleston Heston "...In July, The Economist magazine reported that Michael Bellesiles, a professor at Emory University-who obviously had too much time on his hands-"trawled through more than 1,000 probate records [wills] between 1765 and 1850" and concluded that "at no time prior to 1850 did more than a tenth of the people own guns." The Economist uses that dubious jumping-off point to argue that in Colonial times, "Most militias were a joke, neither adept nor well-armed," and that it was the NRA, over just the past few decades, that "provided political support for the notion that individual gun ownership lies at the heart of American liberty." I've heard the NRA get the rap for a lot of things over the years, but that one's a stretcher. In other words, Western civilization's concept of arms ownership as a key to human freedom isn't the product of thousands of years of philosophical and political thinking-it's a modern-day "notion" invented by the NRA! Amazing. Never mind that the right to keep and bear arms was one of the fundamental rights in English Common Law and guaranteed under the English Bill of Rights long before the American Bill of Rights was even discussed. And never mind that 23 centuries ago-long before firearms existed-the Greek philosopher Aristotle considered popular arms ownership the single most reliable indicator of whether a society was free. No, these researchers just want a way to blame the NRA, even if it means falsifying centuries of history, because they know the national media will pick up their refrain. What's risky about lies in private life is what's dangerous about them in public life: You begin to believe them. Repeat them often enough and the truth is forgotten and history repeats itself. That's the danger we now face from much of the national anti-gun media. ..."

NRA 10/14/99 Charleston Heston "... What's so outrageous isn't that they accept the anti-gun lobby's lies unquestioningly-but that they parrot them relentlessly and hammer them into Americans' brains when they should be presenting a balanced view of what is, after all, a contentious and important debate. For example, on August 2, "The CBS Evening News" mixed opinion with conjecture and cleverly crafted, weasel-worded statements to deceive viewers that the right to keep and bear arms doesn't mean what it says, and that the "militia" in the Second Amendment refers to the National Guard. If they had bothered to do five minutes of homework-and if they were really informing, instead of indoctrinating the American people-they would have known that the National Guard didn't even exist until 116 years after the Second Amendment was adopted. They would have known that even today, all able-bodied males ages 17 to 45 are members of the militia under federal law (10 U.S.C. Section 311). But they don't want to know. They don't want you to know, either, and they'll hide the truth or deny it in any way they can. ..."

New York Times 10/17/99 Fox Butterfield "…. With the homicide rate down sharply since the early 1990s, the number of Americans who commit suicide with guns each year now far surpasses those who are killed by others with firearms, government statistics show. In 1997, the last year for which there are statistics available, guns were used in 17,566 suicides, compared with 13,522 homicides, according to the National Vital Statistics Report. ….Dr. Jamison, a professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, concludes that 90 to 95 percent of people who commit suicide had a diagnosable psychiatric illness and that the number of young people who kill themselves in the United States has tripled since the 1950s. She found that 60 percent of the 30,000 Americans who on average take their own lives each year do so with guns, which works out to about 18,000 a year. By comparison, there were a total of 16,914 homicides in the United States in 1998, according to the Justice Department…… In her new book, Dr. Jamison cites a series of studies in recent years showing that having a gun in the home increases the risk of suicide. "For young people in particular, who have a very impulsive element to their suicide, having access to a means of suicide that is quick and irrevocable like a gun is an unnecessary risk," she said…..Over the last decade, both the annual number of suicides and the number committed with guns have remained remarkably consistent. The number of suicides was 30,232 in 1989, rose to a high of 31,284 in 1995 and then fell to 29,264 in 1998, according to the National Vital Statistics Report, which is published by the National Center for Health Statistics in Washington. The number involving firearms in the same decade has ranged from a high of 18,940 in 1993 to a low of 17,566 in 1997…."

Orange County Register/Liberty On-line 10/21/99 ".....Reorganization was "just the final straw for a company that was financially unable to compete in the civilian marketplace," wrote former National Rifle Association spokeswoman Tanya Metaska in a recent Internet column. Whatever the fate of Colt, and whatever the reason for its marketing decision, this much is clear: Lawsuits, regulations and other attempts to stifle private firearms ownership most certainly will take their toll on the Second Amendment. "The suits are so meritless, but companies can't say for sure that they won't have to pay a penny," David Kopel told us; he is research director for the Independence Institute in Colorado. The gun makers understand the price could be very high for how much money they'll have to pay in litigation costs, plus they must operate under so much uncertainty that it can affect their business decisions. "The cigarette industry withstood 20 years of frivolous legislation before they crumbled (and settled)," he said. "But if you take the whole gun industry in this country and roll it together you won't have one Fortune 500 company." He worries that the industry won't have the money to resist the legal onslaught - even though an Ohio court dismissed one of the many suits cities have filed against manufacturers. The lawsuits are on shaky ground because they target legal products that operate as they are designed. It's not as if gun makers are being sued for producing firearms that explode in the user's face....."

CALNRA 10/16/99 Ralph Weller "....We are beginning to receive confirmations from recipients of letters demanding destruction or turn-in of rifles registered with the California Department of Justice (DOJ). Essentially, certain rifles registered with the Department of Justice after March 31, 1992 that are listed in the 1989 Roberti-Roos Assault Weapon law are the subject of the letter. This is not to be confused with the SKS detachable magazine buyback program currently underway by the DOJ. This is not the same. The new confiscation order covers various firearms registered after March 31, 1992. There is no money allocated by the state to buy back these firearms. This is confiscation, pure and simple....."

New York Times 10/18/99 Fox Butterfield ".... In the clearest evidence yet that recent efforts to reduce gun violence through new laws and police pressure are working, an FBI report released Sunday shows that a 7 percent drop in homicides in 1998 was accounted for entirely by a decrease in killings committed with guns. The report also indicates that a significant drop in robberies carried out with guns helped account for a 10 percent decline in robberies nationwide, the biggest decrease of any one category of crime........ The new FBI report said there were 16,914 homicides nationwide in 1998, of which 10,975 were committed with guns, down from a total of 18,210 in 1997 of which 12,346 involved guns. The reduction by 1,371 in murders involving a firearm was greater than the drop of 1,296 in overall murders....."

The Washington Times (1995) TC Ruthford "..... I remember the Nazis. Let me share a little about them and recall some of their exploits. First of all, "Nazi" was gutter slang for the verb "to nationalize". The Baader-Meinhoff gang gave themselves this moniker during their early struggles. The official title of the Nazi Party was "The National Socialist Workers Party of Germany". Hitler and the Brownshirts advocated the nationalization of education, health care, transportation, national resources, manufacturing, distribution, and law enforcement........ Being a Nazi was politically correct. They called themselves "The Children of the New Age of World Order" and looked down their noses at everyone else. As Hitler accrued more power, he referred to his critics as "The Dark Forces of Anarchy and Hatred". Anyone who questioned Nazi high-handedness in the German press was branded a "Conservative Reactionary". ........"

The Washington Times (1995) T C Ruthford "..... The Nazi reign of terror began with false news reports on the Jews, Bohemians and Gypsies who were said to be arming themselves to overthrow the "New World Order" and Hitler demanded that all good people register their guns so that they wouldn't fall into the hands of "terrorists and madmen". ....Then the Reichstag (government building) was blown up and Hitler ram-rodded an "Emergency Anti-Terrorist Act" through Parliament that gave the Gestapo extraordinary powers. The leader then declared that for the well-being of the German people, all private firearms were to be confiscated by the Gestapo and the Wermotten (federal law enforcement and military). German citizens who refused to surrender their guns when the "jack-boots" (Gestapo) came calling, were murdered in their homes...... When the Policia Bewakken, or local police, refused to take away guns from townsfolk, they themselves were disarmed and dragged out into the street and shot to death by the S.A. and the S.S...... "

The Washington Times (1995) TC Ruthford "..... The Gestapo began to confiscate and seize the homes, businesses, bank accounts, and personal belongings of wealthy conservative citizens who had prospered in the old Republic.......Public schools rewrote history and Hitler youth groups taught the children to report their parents to their teachers for anti-Nazi remarks. Such parents disappeared. Pagan animism became the state religion of the Third Reich and Christians were widely condemned as "right wing fanatics"......Evil was declared as being good, and good was condemned as being evil. World Order was coming and the German people were going to be the "peacekeepers". Yes, indeed, I remember the Nazis and they weren't Republicans, or "right wing", or "patriots" or "militias". They were Socialist monsters....."

Associated Press 10/19/99 "....A new TV commercial from the National Rifle Association has angered some minority lawmakers because of its portrayal of blacks and Hispanics in a series of mugshot photos. The commercial, which asks Congress not to create new federal gun laws until current ones are enforced more aggressively, started airing Oct. 11. It shows dozens of mugshots of criminals prosecuted in Ohio. While there are many whites in the mugshots, a large percentage are minorities......"

Boston Globe 10/19/99 Meg Vaillancourt "....Hundreds of gun dealers in Massachusetts continue to sell firearms from their homes, state officials said yesterday, despite a ban on home gun sales that went into effect Sept. 1. And a new seven-member state Gun Advisory Board, which was charged with recommending technical revisions needed to implement Massachusetts' toughest-in-the-nation gun-control laws, has proposed several changes that advocates say would undermine the law - including a provision rescinding the ban on home gun sales. ''Selling Avon out of your home is one thing, but selling guns in a residential neighborhood is quite another,'' said John Rosenthal, a Newton developer..."

L.A. TIMES 10/16/99 Douglas Shuit "....A federal judge granted an injunction to promoters of the nation's largest gun show Friday, temporarily suspending Los Angeles County's landmark ordinance banning gun sales on fairgrounds and other county property. U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Paez ruled that attorneys for Great Western Shows Inc. had made enough of a legal case to justify suspending enforcement of the new law until constitutional and other issues could be resolved in a trial. ..... At issue is the controversial law passed Aug. 25 by the Board of Supervisors on a 3-2 vote. Drafted to cover gun sales on all county property, the ordinance was specifically aimed at Great Western and the firm's giant arms bazaars. The county owns the fairgrounds and rents it to Fairplex on a long-term lease....."

ABCNEWS.com 10/19/99 A B Stoddard "....One week after Republicans embarrassed President Clinton by defeating his nuclear test ban treaty, he joined congressional Democrats on Capitol Hill this morning to leverage the gun control issue for political payback. Later today, Republican leaders will visit the White House and ask Clinton to extend Thursday's deadline for passing a federal budget. But this morning Clinton reminded them of another deadline: The pledge that "common sense" gun control would be enacted by the start of the school year....."

Washington Post 10/20/99 Daniel LeDuc "....Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran is proposing a wide-ranging package of laws that would make the state's gun control regulations among the strictest in the nation and says his ultimate goal is a ban on handguns. ..."

N.R.A. 10/19/99 Don Kates "...Peaceful societies do not need general gun bans, and violent societies do not benefit from them. Take a look at the facts the gun-grabbers don't want you to know: Americans have been gravely misled about foreign gun ownership and the severity and effectiveness of foreign gun bans. It simply is not true to state that "the U.S. has more gun availability and far less restriction than any other modern industrial nation." That honor goes to Israel where, nevertheless, murder "rates are much lower than in the United States despite ... [Israel's] greater availability of guns to law-abiding civilians," writes Israeli judge Abraham Tennenbaum (formerly an official with the Israeli National Police and then a professor of criminology)......Israeli law requires that a person have a license in order to own any kind of firearm, but the license is readily available to any law-abiding adult who can show he or she has had firearms training. (Israel has universal military training for Jews of both sexes). And if you legally possess a gun, Israel allows... indeed encourages ... carrying it. In effect, Israeli law nearly parallels that of Florida, Pennsylvania and 28 other U.S. states where licenses to carry a concealed firearm are available on application and passing a background check. (Vermonters have the right to carry without obtaining a license)....... the homicide rate in handgun-banning Luxembourg is much higher than in the others: 2.1 per 100,000 population, versus 1.2 and 1.1 per 100,000 for "handgun-ridden" Israel and Switzerland .... which have the lowest homicide rates of all....... Under the Soviet regime, with strict gun control, the weapons used for homicides were largely knives, clubs, and other non firearms. Today, though handguns remain virtually unavailable to ordinary Russian citizens, homicide rates remain high, being committed by those criminals in Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, etc., who seem to have no difficulty acquiring both Russian and foreign-made handguns and suitable ammunition...... Such international statistics show the pointlessness of gun bans. In any society, truly violent people are only a small minority. We know that law abiding citizens do not commit violent crimes. We also know that criminals will neither obey gun bans nor refrain from turning other deadly instruments to their nefarious purposes....."

The New York Times 10/20/99 Eric Schmitt "....President Clinton on Tuesday renewed his call to Congress to approve a far-reaching gun control bill, but prospects for its passage appeared increasingly bleak as lawmakers remained deadlocked over the pivotal issue of regulating gun shows. Clinton used the backdrop of a daylong series of Capitol Hill events on youth violence to scold the Republican-controlled Congress for not tightening gun restrictions six months after 13 people and the two gunmen died in the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. ..."

Ron Smith 10/20/99 "...The dirty little secret of the anti-gun crowd is now right out in the open, which probably isn't good for their cause. To use a football analogy, It is as though one of their linemen jumped offside and stalled what looked like a touchdown drive. The culprit is Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., who has called for an outright ban on private ownership of handguns. In a 58-page report titled "A Farewell to Arms," Curran says such a ban is his long-term goal, needed to end what he calls "an epidemic of violent yet preventable death." Even some of the most fervent of anti-gun sorts were taken aback by this proposal, as it is sure to harden the resolve and foment the organization of many of the millions of Americans who possess handguns and believe they have a constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to do so......Curran, a curious mix of starry-eyed liberal and hard-headed tool of the plaintiff bar, says only law enforcement officers, gun collectors and a small number of people with "legitimate security needs" should be allowed to own handguns. To which I reply, whose security needs are not legitimate?....."

Wall Street Journal 10/21/99 Paul Barrett ".....Not that Mr. Spitzer's ideas have been warmly received by the gun companies. "He doesn't understand the mechanics of the industry," Mr. Zilkha says. After reviewing a draft of the code of conduct, the gun-company owner says, "I told him, 'Your agenda must be political mush."' (Mr. Spitzer declines to comment on this exchange.) Neither side will discuss the substance of the talks, but a draft of the code shows that Mr. Spitzer would require all manufacturers to take some of the steps that Colt's has, including ceasing production of less-expensive handguns and trying to develop a smart gun. Mr. Spitzer would also have gun manufacturers supervise retail sales practices and cut off dealers who allow buyers to walk out of the store with more than one gun. The most controversial proposal is that the industry subject itself to an outside "monitor," similar to the independent officials who oversee wayward labor unions. The gun monitor would have authority to enforce the code and review confidential corporate books....."

WorldNetDaily 10/21/99 Jon Dougherty "....As the story notes, if the state's Democrat attorney general, J. Joseph Curran, gets his way, nearly all Maryland residents will be handed a potential death sentence soon, their only crime being that of trusting state officials like him to protect them because they believed his anti-gun propaganda. This is not a good reason to die for.. ...To begin with, Mr. Curran's suggestion that handguns belong only in the hands of one particular group, the military, is inconsequential when it comes to actually being safe in our homes, on our streets, and in our communities. Since the military cannot, by law, participate in civilian law enforcement, this suggestion becomes a moot point. ....Next, Mr. Curran believes that only police officers need to have the kind of protection (immediate and unencumbered access to a handgun) we all deserve. By suggesting this, he creates a class warfare argument: Police officers are more important than regular folks.....There are only 641,208 police officers and 253,327 civilian assistance personnel "guarding" over 260 million Americans. That's a whopping 2.5 officers for every 1,000 people -- do you feel "safe?" ....... What makes no sense in Mr. Curran's proposals to further limit state residents to handguns is his refusal to recognize one factor that has worked to reduce crime -- access to guns by law-abiding people......So -- in the interest of safety and judging by the FBI's own crime stats -- does it not make sense to allow people the right to protect themselves? Or is it better, as Mr. Curran suggests, to sentence more people to death by making it illegal for them to attain the same level of protection as that possessed by the "protectors"? ...."

Washington Post 10/22/99 David Ottaway Barbara Vobejda ".... Smith & Wesson Corp., the country's leading handgun manufacturer, has told dealers selling its products that they must immediately sign a code of ethics, the first time a gunmaker has attempted to assert formal control over the sale and distribution of its products. ..... The two-page "Stocking Dealer Code of Responsible Business Practices" commits dealers to obey all firearms laws; to only sell Smith & Wesson guns with safety locks; and to closely monitor buyers to avoid illegal purchases......"

Neil Boortz Home Page 10/21/99 "....If you will listen to some of the anti-gun types out there you will hear them make reference to a particular type of gun as a gun "not suitable for hunting or target shooting." The premise here is that hunting and sport shooting are the only legitimate reasons for gun ownership. Contrary to what some liberal commentators might have you believe, our founding fathers wanted us to have the right to bear arms so that we could protect our lives, our property and our freedoms. Not so we could target shoot or hunt deer. You've seen the old (and somewhat tired) bumper sticker "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." The beauty of this bumper sticker is that it is absolutely correct! There are no bona-fide gun control proposals out there that would get the guns out of the hands of criminals or that would prevent predators from buying guns. All of the proposals only restrict the ability of law-abiding citizens to obtain and own firearms. I propose another bumper sticker ... one even more terrifying: If Guns Are Outlawed, Only the Government Will Have Guns...."

AMERICAN RIFLEMAN 11-12/99 Institute for Legislative Action Report "....[Clinton] He demands more gun control laws. He wastes millions of tax dollars on useless gun turn-in schemes. And with a wink, he releases into society criminals convicted of nearly three dozen violations of federal firearms laws, not to mention laws dealing with explosives, arson and bank robbery. Twelve of the terrorists were convicted of possessing "unregistered firearms," meaning, of course, they were caught with firearms regulated under the 1934 National Firearms Act, such as machine guns and sawed-off shotguns. Nine were convicted of carrying firearms during the commission of seditious conspiracy and interference with interstate commerce by violence. Nine were convicted of interstate transportation of firearms with intent to commit seditious conspiracy and interference with interstate commerce by violence. Three were convicted of conspiracy to make a "destructive device" (such as a pipe bomb). And, finally, two were convicted of possessing firearms without serial numbers. ...."

Agence France-Presse 10/22/99 "....A US Congressman who has been a strong gun control advocate was grieving for his son who died Friday, four days after he was critically wounded in a shooting. The 29-year son of Illinois Democratic Representative Bobby Rush lost his battle for life shortly before 1:00 p.m. (1800 GMT) Friday, according to hospital officials at Christ Hospital Medical Center in Oak Lawn, south of here. "Today on the sad occasion of our son Huey's passing my family and I are filled with overwhelming grief," said Rush in a statement. ...."

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 10/24/99 Bob Norman ".....Because of the criminal actions of a few, it has become politically correct to blame gun shows for the ills of mankind, even though the vast majority of guns used in crimes never came from any gun show. Although federal law provides for the unlicensed sale of one's personal gun collection, large or small, it has become apparent that because of the aforementioned criminals, it behooves responsible gun show promoters to take steps to insure that any gun sold at a gun show goes only to a purchaser who has had a background check. Starting with my February 2000 show at the Will Rogers Center, only persons with a federal firearms license will be allowed to sell guns. Although the law allows for the unlicensed sale of personally owned guns, there is no provision in the law for private individuals to conduct the background check. Only those with licenses have access to the checking system and it is illegal for licensees to not do the background check. Will this stop gun crime? Of course not, and I do not fool myself into thinking that it will. Classified ads in newspapers, flea markets, garage sales, notices on bulletin boards and Internet commerce, among other things, will insure that unchecked persons can still buy guns......"

Pittsburgh Tribune Review 11/2/99 Christopher Zurawsky "....In 16 months, nearly 13,000 gun purchases in the state were blocked after computerized background checks, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. Instituted July 1, 1998, the Pennsylvania Instant Check System, or PICS, allows the state police to quickly conduct a check of criminal history, juvenile delinquency, and some mental health records. But gun control advocates say more needs to be done. In Pittsburgh last month, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno called for legislation requiring prospective gun owners to pass a safety and proficiency test before buying a gun....."

GatewayVA 10/31/99 Mark Johnson "....The FBI likely will never receive a police report on what Joe Megerle did during his morning run one day last August. Megerle, a retired electric company worker, was jogging through Devou Park, a Covington, Ky., hilltop that overlooks the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline when a man brandished a pistol and demanded money. Megerle, who holds a Kentucky concealed weapon permit, drew his own pistol and shot the man twice......No government agency, however, is expected to make a record that Megerle used a firearm in self-defense. "There's nothing ever filed when a firearm is used correctly,'' said Assistant Chief Bill Dorsey, of the Covington Police Department, whose officers investigated the shooting involving Megerle and recommended no charges be brought against him.....Police departments, hospitals and federal agencies keep mounds of data about the misuse of firearms: the woundings, killings, suicides and accidents....."

The Boston Globe 11/1/99 AP "…. Police used a new gun law to raid an Old Greenwich house and seize 11 guns from a man they say may be dangerous. But Thompson Bosee says he legally owns the weapons and does not pose a danger to himself or others. The state law, which went into effect Oct. 1, allows police officers to obtain a warrant to search a person's home and temporarily seize weapons if the individual is proved to be an immediate danger to himself or others. Bosee said most of the weapons have been in his family for generations, and he is studying to become a gunsmith. ''This new law says if you don't like guns, you can turn your neighbor in,'' he said. ''The majority of these weapons date back to my great-grandmother.'' ….."

CNN 10/30/99 "….CNN announced today that the city of Atlanta received judicial approval to proceed with litigation against gun manufacturers to recoup costs for violence in their streets. The reason for this post is to encourage boycotting Atlanta and Georgia by ALL second amendment supporters and ALL NRA card carrying members. Pass this word along to all your friends/relatives and let Atlanta's mayor, Bill Campbell, (http://www.atlanta.org/) know that you/your family are not planning to visit their city...."

USA Today 10/27/99 Gary Fields "….Databases maintained by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) store information about scratches and marks imprinted on fired bullets that are found at crime scenes. Police use the information to trace a bullet to a suspect's gun. The databases--which have already solved about 5,700 local and federal crimes--presently store 500,000 computer images of bullets supplied by police departments; several million more may be added when the country's gun manufacturers take part in making these databases available to law enforcement departments nationwide. Gun manufacturers, which have not been identified, are currently working on the slow process of firing and recording millions of bullets.. …."

NY Times 10/28/99 Laurence Tribe Akhil Amar "…. Most advocates of gun control have argued that the "right to bear arms" can reach no further than the Second Amendment's preamble, which calls a "well-regulated Militia . . . necessary to the security of a free State." They conclude that the amendment shields only state militias like today's National Guard from Federal authority. According to these people, the rights of individuals to self-defense or to private gun ownership are not constitutionally protected at all. But the Second Amendment reference to the people's "right" to be armed cannot be trumped by the Amendment's preamble. Besides, the 14th Amendment, which makes parts of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states, reflected a broad agreement that bearing arms was a "privilege" of each citizen. Those on the other side have been even more intransigent -- opposing controls of any kind, with the possible exception of laws keeping convicted felons from acquiring guns. The gun lobby has argued that Second Amendment clearly protects "the right of the people to keep and bear arms," which they regard as giving every citizen a nearly absolute right to own guns for private pursuits like hunting and target shooting. The truth is more complicated. Almost no right known to the Constitution is absolute and unlimited -- not even the rights of free speech and religious exercise. Thus, it has been a terrible mistake for both sides in the gun control controversy to insist that the Second Amendment bans virtually everything or virtually nothing. The fact is, almost none of the proposed state or Federal weapons regulations appears to come close to offending the Second Amendment's core right to self-protection. The right to bear arms is certainly subject to reasonable regulation in the interest of public safety. Laws that ban certain types of weapons, that require safety devices on others and that otherwise impose strict controls on guns can pass Constitutional scrutiny….. "

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 10/27/99 Joseph Perkins "….Sammy ''The Bull'' Gravano has, by his own admission, sent 19 men to their graves. So it's safe to say that the former underboss of the Gambino crime family knows a thing or two (or 19) about guns and violence. That's why his recent remarks about gun control, published in Vanity Fair, have resonance. ''Gun control?'' Sammy pondered. ''It's the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters. I want you to have nothing. If I'm a bad guy, I'm always going to have a gun.'' ……. ''We need Congress to help us keep guns out of the wrong hands,'' Clinton told a group of more than 300 high-school students from around the country, who were in the nation's capital to attend a two-day youth violence conference sponsored by House Democrats…."

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 10/26/99 Vanessa O’Connell Paul Barrett "….. The gun business is losing customers. Hunters and target shooters -- the industry's core market -- are gradually walking away from those sports. Subdivisions have encroached on land once used for hunting. Bicycling, kayaking and other hobbies are luring people away from firing ranges. Most ominously, gun companies' efforts to cultivate new buyers among women and teenagers have failed to stem the erosion. And gun manufacturers face a dramatic shakeout, as recent high-visibility killings have made guns less socially acceptable in many people's eyes. "Our future is rather tenuous," says Paul Jannuzzo, vice president of the U.S. unit of Austrian handgun maker Glock GmbH……"

Philadelphia Daily News 10/26/99 Gary Kleck "….If Eliot Spitzer, New York State's attorney general, has his way, more of the nation's gun manufacturers will follow the lead of the Colt's Manufacturing Co. and cut back big parts of their business to please the advocates of gun control. When Colt's announced it would cease making handguns for the civilian market, it cited financial problems attributable in part to pending lawsuits filed by 28 cities and counties against gun makers, including Colt's. New York State has not filed one of these suits, but Spitzer's threat of one has persuaded the gun makers to negotiate with him about his demands that they stop making lower-priced handguns and submit their businesses to oversight by an appointed monitor….."

WND 10/25/99 Jon Dougherty "…..I don't often write about the same subject twice in a week, but I received a pro-gun/pro-safety response from an interesting fellow last Thursday after I wrote a column about the absurdity of disarming all Americans. I thought readers would find it useful in making their case that the gun issue really does revolve around safety, not just rights. This is his message: "Just read your article on Maryland's attorney general wanting to ban handguns for most. Your conclusions are correct. "We have lived for a number of years in Kenya. There ALL guns are banned, including toy guns that look like guns. The only exception is for small bore shotguns for bird hunting, which are owned by a select few. These guns must be stored in the local police station armory. They can be checked out only during hunting season. It takes an act of parliament to get shells. "Yet in Kenya any criminal that wants one can get a gun….. "Make no mistake, when only the police have guns, no one is safe. But even wanton killing by police does not deter crime. The only safety is when you're at home and behind locked bars. Bars everywhere, doors, windows, gates, everywhere. We had to have a security guard, armed with a machete, and a locked gate and wall around our house. Day and night. Terrible way to live. "And there is still no safety. There are home invasions there too, where 20 or 30 thugs come with wrecking bars and break into houses. Happens all the time. The police for the most part had no cars for transportation……"I am a gun owner and don't like the NRA, but when they say, 'when guns are outlawed then only outlaws will have guns,' they are correct. Then, no one is safe." ….."

AP NEWS 11/3/99 "…..Striking a note of contrition, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani acknowledged that he erred by rushing a City Charter revision proposal to the ballot, instead of waiting for next year. "I made a mistake in presenting charter revision this year," Giuliani said after the initiative was overwhemingly defeated Tuesday. "The vote against it makes it clear that it was a mistake, and I accept responsibility for it and certainly respect the views of the voters." …..The charter question had 281,265 voters, or 76 percent, casting "no" ballots and 90,838 or 24 percent voting in favor of the revisions. The charter proposals included creating "gun free" zones within 1,000 feet of schools that would bar even licensed gun owners from carrying a firearm near a school; requiring a two-thirds vote of the City Council instead of a simple majority to hike taxes; forcing gun owners to use trigger locks; and creating an emergency budget fund from city surpluses….."

NRA Alerts 11/4/99 "…..James J. Baker, Chairman of the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund, congratulated voters in yesterday's elections for embracing candidates who stand for tough crime control and in defense of the Second Amendment. According to Baker, available poll returns indicate that nearly 90% of NRA-PVF endorsed candidates were elected to office yesterday, including Virginia Delegates Bob McDonnell (HD-84), Roger McClure (HD-67), Michelle McQuigg (HD-51), Dick Black (HD-32), Bob Marshall (HD-13), and Virginia Senator Frederick Quayle (SD-13) who were viciously attacked for their support of the Second Amendment. "Mainstream America wants a system of justice that focuses on the criminal and ensures swift justice for law-breakers, particularly those who misuse firearms. By the same token, Americans know that gun control laws inevitably fail to fight crime or keep guns from criminals," said Baker. "In Virginia and New Jersey, for example, gun control advocates sought to make firearms a campaign issue. However, when voters are presented with a choice between new restrictions on the rights of lawful gun owners and effective crime control programs such as Project Exile or '10-20-Life,' American common sense prevails. ….."

CNSNews.com 11/4/99 Bruce Sullivan "…..National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston testified before a House subcommittee on criminal justice and pointed to the decrease in gun related homicides in Richmond, Virginia since the beginning of Project Exile. The program involves strict enforcement of existing federal gun laws and has cut that city's murder rate by more than 30% since 1997, according to local officials. "The word is out on the streets of Richmond that if you're a felon caught with a gun, you will go to jail for five years. They're actually changing criminal behavior and saving lives," testified Heston.,,,,,:

11/10/99 A Day In My Life, January, 1990 Linda Prussen-Razzano "….In January of 1990, I had taken a job managing a fast food restaurant in Farmingdale, New York, so that I could return to college full-time. The headlights in the parking lot were the police coming to my "rescue." I was on the job for less than a month when I was robbed. The perpetrators had robbed 14 stores before hitting mine; out of the 14 stores, I was the ONLY person they did not physically harm. One of the detectives indicated that I must have done or said something while the perps were "casing" out my restaurant that made a connection, made them see me as a human being. This connection invariably saved my life. I did not purchase my first gun until 1998. I did not purchase my gun in a knee-jerk reaction to my status as crime "survivor." I purchased my gun because I realized that I am responsible for my own life; there is no guarantee whatsoever that the police will save me in the event that I am again face to face with a criminal. In the true-life experience I described above, they were not called to the scene until after the damage had been done. The gun did not fly out of the darkness to threaten my life, did not order me into my store and take the meager "bank" from the safe, did not order me to the floor and threaten to blow my brains out...THE PERPETRATORS DID. …."

Media Bypass 11/7/99 Pat Shannan "….Handguns in Australia have been banned and strictly governed for decades, but such statutes have not prevented illegal weapons from entering the country and hitting the streets. Devious means of importation have been fooling the authorities for a long time. "There are more guns in the underground in Australia than were ever registered," says Eykamp. Of more than two million known weapons legally in the country, less than 700,000 were voluntarily submitted in the 1996 government buyout. This was provoked by the infamous Port Arthur, Tasmania, mass murder of 35 people and the wounding of scores more by a maniac with an automatic weapon. What followed was a classic textbook example of mass hysteria. Statutes were passed stripping the law-abiding Australians of all weapons with which to protect themselves. The statutes were passed in the several states to buy back the guns, with a price set for hundreds of models, and to destroy them. For a variety of reasons, most did not comply. The greatest outcry of defiance was heard from the country folks - the farmers and ranchers - who need and use their weapons to protect their crops against the wildlife….."

NewsMax.com 11/10/99 Richard Poe "…..In his book That Every Man Be Armed, constitutional scholar Stephen P. Halbrook demonstrates that, during the drafting of the Second Amendment, what worried the Framers most was the danger that our own government might run amok. The Framers differed only in their opinions on how best to counter this threat. The Federalists claimed that the problem would solve itself, since the militia - consisting of all able-bodied men, ages 16 through 60 - would overthrow any tyranny that arose. "The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword," argued Noah Webster, "because the whole body of the people are armed..." The anti-Federalists, however, pointed out that Congress could disband the general militia and replace it with a "select militia", loyal only to the government. "When a select militia is formed; the people in general may be disarmed," warned John Smilie at the Pennsylvania convention. To prevent this from happening, the anti-Federalists demanded a Bill of Rights, which would guarantee, among other things, an unalienable right to keep and bear arms. "The great object is that every man be armed...," declared Patrick Henry. "Everyone who is able may have a gun." Congress would thus be powerless to disband the militia….."

NewsMax.com 11/10/99 Richard Poe "…..In theory, we still have a militia today, which the Supreme Court defined as "all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense" (United States vs. Miller, 1939). But most of our "militiamen" no longer bother to arm themselves or to drill in units. We have surrendered that responsibility to a "select militia" of National Guardsmen, Army reservists, FBI SWAT teams and Delta Force commandos. Just as the anti-Federalists predicted, our failure to exercise our militia rights has resulted in a rapid erosion of those rights. If the current drive to ban assault weapons is successful, U.S. citizens will be stripped, for the first time, of the right to keep and bear military arms. "Well, so what?" argue the gun abolitionists. "Assault rifles are dangerous. If everyone had one, our streets would be war zones." But would they? That hasn't happened in Switzerland. There, every able-bodied man between the ages of 20 and 42 serves in the militia, and is required by law to keep a Sturmgewehr 90 assault rifle at home, ready for action….."

Houston Chronicle 11/9/99 Cal Thomas "…..As National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston testified last week on Capitol Hill, there are currently 22,000 federal, state and local gun laws on the books, most of which are never enforced. He properly asked why more gun laws are the answer when current laws are not being enforced and criminals pay no attention to them at all. Anti-gun people are trying to sell more restrictive legislation on the false premise that fewer guns mean a safer society. Writing in the New York Times, Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, urges Congress to skip "incremental legislation that won't control handgun violence" and "immediately call on Congress to pass far-reaching industry regulation" that would effectively "ban" handguns…….Whether such legislation would make us safer is no longer a matter of conjecture. Evidence in countries where gun laws tougher than ours exist show more, not less, crime. In Australia, where strict new gun legislation was passed following a 1966 shooting rampage by a man who killed 35 people and wounded 19 others, gun-related crime has increased. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of armed robberies went up 39 percent last year and assaults involving guns rose 28 percent. Gun murders increased 19 percent. In addition to laws so strict that Olympic shooters must leave the country in order to practice, an expensive gun buy-back program resulted in 640,000 guns being turned in to authorities. The cost of the program averaged $57 per Australian. Still, gun crime is up. Prior to the new gun laws, crime in Australia was in decline……"

Los Angeles Daily News 11/10/99 Phillip Browne "….Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks said Tuesday he supports a proposed citywide ban on ammunition sales, but Police Commission members voiced doubt that such a ban would be legal. The commission delayed voting on the proposal, which the City Council's Public Safety Committee is expected to consider next week. Parks told the commission such a ban would help battle gun violence. "We are going to support this," he said. "It is consistent with the city's policy of no tolerance against firearms." …."

Las Vegas Review-Journal 11/7/99 Vin Suprynowicz "….Never reluctant to wade into the blood of the innocent if it offers an opportunity to advance the police-state agenda, Attorney General Janet Reno, Butcher of Waco, seized her latest opportunity after Honolulu Xerox repairman Byran Uyesugi walked into work Tuesday morning and killed seven male co-workers with a handgun. Such crimes demonstrate why Congress needs to pass stiffer gun-control laws, the attorney general said. Only problem is, Hawaii is one of the most gun-restrictive states in the nation. Honolulu already has in force most of the very "gun-control" laws the attorney general now proposes as a national "solution." ….."

Los Angeles Daily News 11/9/99 Rick Orlov "..... Legislation to require the testfiring of all guns to develop a "technological fingerprint" of every weapon was suggested Monday as well as closer collaboration among law enforcement as ways to reduce gun violence. During a nearly five-hour Southern California Gun Law Enforcement Conference at City Hall chaired by Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer, local, state and federal law enforcement officials boasted of stepped-up efforts to enforce gun laws. And, as a result, they said that crimes involving weapons have dropped over the past several years. ..."

Chattanooga Free Press 11/9/99 "..... In Honolulu last week, a copy machine repairman named Bryan Uyesugi inexplicably opened fire on his fellow workers, killing seven. Police have no clue as to what set him off and why he did such a terrible thing. In Seattle last week, a man wearing camouflage and sunglasses walked into a boat repair shop and calmly killed two of the workers, and walked out again. What could possibly have motivated such a horrible act? Predictably, Vice President Al Gore Jr. and some other politicians began to call for more "gun control" laws. "How many tragedies does it take before the members of the Republican leadership bottling up this legislation get the message," Mr. Gore opportunistically asked. But what gun law could have prevented either or both of those tragic events? There are about 30,000 gun control laws already on the books, at federal, state and local levels. The problem is not that we lack laws. Good people obey them. Bad people don't....."

Los Angeles Times 11/7/99 Robert Cottrol ".... The central premise of the gun control movement is that society becomes more civilized when the citizen surrenders the means of self-defense, leaving the state a monopoly of force. That this premise goes largely unchallenged is the most remarkable feature of our gun control debate. We are ending a century that has repeatedly witnessed the consequences of unchecked state monopolies of force. University of Hawaii political scientist Rudolph J. Rummel, one of the leading students of democide (mass murder of civilian populations by governments), has estimated that nearly 170 million people have been murdered by their own governments in our century........The reluctance of outside forces to intervene is well documented. And yet the obvious question is strangely absent: Would arms in the hands of average citizens have made a difference?....."

WorldNetDaily 11/8/99 Edward Oliver "…. Ominously dubbed the "turn in your neighbor" law, a new Connecticut gun control provision -- which proponents predicted would be rarely used -- has already resulted in police seizing firearms and ammunition from four gun owners since Oct. 1 when the law took effect. Hailed as groundbreaking by gun control advocates, the law reportedly opens up a new frontier for gun laws in the coming election season. As originally written, the provision would have allowed seizure of firearms by police based on unproven allegations by any two persons in an affidavit to a judge. The language was later modified to require that two police officers or a state's attorney go before a judge with the belief, after investigation, that an individual "poses a risk of imminent personal injury to himself or herself or to other individuals," in order to obtain a warrant to seize the subject's firearms. No crime needs to have been committed for the seizure to take place….."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 11/8/99 Manny Gonzales "…. Some pawnshops and stores in Colorado are taking a second look at selling handguns because of delays in background checks and the public backlash against gun violence. State police have been effective in screening gun buyers since they took over criminal background checks from the FBI. But the new system has sellers complaining of added delays. Some pawnshop dealers in the Denver area said they may stop dealing in guns because it's not cost-effective. Also, there's the negative image after the Columbine High School shootings. "It's going to put dealers out of business quickly, and not just pawnshops but the standard dealer as well," said Dudley Brown, a pro-gun lobbyist for Rocky Mountain Gunowners. …."

Wall Street Journal 11/8/99 Robert Tomsho "….Unlike states that rely on federal Brady Law guidelines, there is no such thing as an "instant" background check for firearm buyers in Hawaii. Before taking possession of any gun, a citizen must go to the local police department in person, provide the firearm's description and serial number and apply for a permit. In addition to being photographed, fingerprinted and questioned about past crimes, addictions and psychiatric problems, applicants must provide physicians' names and sign waivers giving police broad access to medical and mental-health records, which are routinely checked. During the ensuing 14-day waiting period, officers also may examine everything from prior arrests to bicycle licenses, traffic tickets and even police reports in which the applicant was complaining about someone else. "We do an investigation," says Mr. Stone. "There is actually no limit to what can be examined." Moreover, police have broad discretion to turn people down. And in Hawaii, the scrutiny doesn't end there. After actually getting a handgun, shotgun or rifle, the purchaser must take it back to the police station to be examined and registered. …."

Wolfe's Lodge 11/5/99 Katherine von Tour "….Most people who support the Second Amendment have probably wondered at one time or another how to change the thinking of anti-gunners. Since I was once a staunch gun-control proponent, including being a member of Handgun Control Incorporated (HCI) in the 1970's, but am today a fervent and virtually no-compromise Second Amendment supporter, perhaps the story of my mental shift will be of interest……. I was a true Sixties liberal, who protested the Vietnam War, sported a "Question Authority" bumper sticker on my Volvo, who was a charter member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and a charter subscriber to Ms Magazine. I voted for George McGovern. I hung out with other earnest liberals, many of whom were also members of NOW. It wasn't that I believed government was perfect - far from it! - but I had blind faith that, with enough effort and money, it could be made so. My idea of a perfect government was one which had a generous welfare program, free medical care for all, lots of benign and helpful social programs, and government-mandated fairness and equality for all. …… I joined HCI because it had convinced me that guns were a root cause of violence and crime, and that only criminals owned and used them….."

Wolfe's Lodge 11/5/99 Katherine von Tour "….I was living in Orange County at the time, but had to go up to LA regularly on business. At that time there had been a rash of violent car-jackings, many of them committed against women who were driving alone. A friend, who knew a great deal about guns and had grown up around them, told me that, because I was a woman living and driving alone, he wanted me to start carrying a pistol in my car. He lent me a .38 Special, and showed me how to load, unload and fire it. One day, just before the riots exploded, I was driving in downtown LA in a scary part of town. It was dusk. As I was stopped at a stop-light, with one car in front of me, two men who had been watching me began quickly and menacingly approaching my car from the sidewalk. One of them was carrying a tire iron. I grabbed the pistol, which I had laid on the seat beside me, and held it up so they could see it. The look in their eyes changed in an instant from threatening to fearful, and they immediately turned around and ran in the opposite direction. The light changed. I drove away. No one was hurt, but a gun in my formerly liberal hand had, I believe, probably saved my life, or at least prevented me from likely injury….."

WorldNetDaily 11/5/99 Jon Dougherty "….I don't know about the rest of you but personally I'm tired of being forced to play the role of "victim." Two recent mass shootings -- one in Hawaii Tuesday and one in Seattle Wednesday -- have forced me to dramatically change my views on guns and gun rights. Which is to say, I would like to see all prohibitions against guns repealed and repealed now. All of them -- against handguns, "assault" guns, shotguns, cheap guns, expensive guns, long guns, short guns, and guns with funny names. All of them. Before this week, I could see the logic in forbidding guns in some public places like courtrooms, businesses, schools, churches, and bars. Not anymore; that's because it's obvious that regardless of where you live or where you go, you're not safe enough….."

New York Post 11/4/99 Rod Dreher "…..PRESIDENT Clinton yesterday took his usual opportunity to exploit a tragedy for partisan gain. He demanded more gun-control laws, although the Seattle killer may have used a legally obtained handgun for his crime. You'd think the president would at least wait for the facts before rushing to demagogue. Clinton's statement was really about giving the appearance of doing something to stop random workplace violence. He knows it's politically important to make voters feel that something is being done, even if it isn't. ….."

Fox News 11/18/99 Reuters "….The rate at which Americans are killed by guns has declined 21 percent since peaking in 1993, but firearms remain the second leading cause of injury-related deaths behind traffic accidents, federal health officials said Thursday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said there were 32,436 deaths from firearm-related injuries in 1997, down 18 percent from 39,595 deaths in 1993. The death rate, or the number of deaths per 100,000 population, fell 21.1 percent during the same period. There were 15.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 1993 and 12.1 deaths per 100,000 in 1997….."

Las Vegas Review-Journal 11/18/99 Michael Brown "….The FBI reports violent crime in the United States is at a 30-year low. Statistics from state governments show citizens who hold concealed weapons permits are among the most law-abiding in our society. States that issue permits exhibit a larger drop in crime than those that don't. Looking outside the United States, strict new gun confiscation laws in Britain and Australia have had no significant impact on crime and a national gun registration scheme in Canada is being criticized as an expensive failure. If not for a few high-profile shooting incidents covered excessively by the media and exploited by politicians and gun control organizations, the gun control debate would be fading away. Media participation in the campaign against guns cannot be blamed entirely on a liberal bias. The ratings-driven media must follow the dictum, "If it bleeds, it leads," so producers and reporters routinely emphasize gun crime coverage, using frightening terms like "assault weapon," "powerful," "deadly" and "automatic," which increase the public fear of guns. Armed criminals of any sort are called "gunmen," regardless of the nature of their crime. …."

Los Angeles Daily News/L.A. Times 11/16/99 Rick Orlov (Daily News) "….From The Daily News: Listening to emotional testimony from the mothers of children shot to death, a city panel on Monday embraced the concept of a ban on the sale of ammunition in Los Angeles. "I say to the National Rifle Association, keep your guns," said Joyce Turner of Los Angeles, whose 19-year-old son was gunned down in 1989 on a street comer only blocks from her home. "Just give us the bullets. It wasn't the gun that killed my son. The bullets did."..."

jointogether.org 11/15/99 "…. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quietly fired Mark L. Rosenberg, its top gun violence researcher, on Sept. 1, the Probe newsletter reported Nov. 1. Rosenberg, who was fired by CDC Director Jeffrey P. Koplan, M.D., initiated CDC's research into gun violence in the early 1980s, looking particularly at the causes and prevention of gun violence. "Mark has been a giant on the world scene in saying that the peril of gun injury is a public health issue that can be approached like any other such issue, by doing research, designing interventions, and then modifying them if necessary," said Rebecca Peters of Australia, an attorney and a gun control advocate who is a visiting fellow in justice studies at the Soros Foundation in New York. She added, "There is a widespread perception among the public health community that the reason Rosenberg was so unceremoniously dumped is because he's been identified by the gun lobby as their enemy. I don't think this ouster is a coincidence, given the upcoming presidential election." ….."

jointogether.org 11/15/99 "…. The CDC's gun violence work has been strongly opposed by Republicans in the U.S. Senate. In 1995, the U.S. Congress cut the CDC's budget by $2.6 million, the exact amount the center requested for research on gun-related injuries. Among the senators who attacked the gun study program were Bob Dole (R-Kan.), Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Christopher Bond (R-Mo.), Ted Stevens (R-Ala.), and Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C). The program also was opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA). According to Peters and other experts, the firing of Rosenberg means the NRA/GOP agenda to stop or curtail research on gun-related injuries has been achieved. ….."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 11/15/99 Michael Race "….A parent who was convicted of taking a handgun onto the grounds of a Cumberland County middle school three years ago has had his conviction tossed out by state Superior Court. In a split decision, a panel of judges ruled last week that John J. Heidler III, of Luzerne County, did not violate a state law banning guns on school property because he did not have "constructive possession" of the weapon when he visited Lamberton Middle School in October 1996 to pick up his son. Heidler admitted the handgun was taken onto school property, but it was in the purse of his girlfriend, who accompanied him to the school. The woman waited in a vehicle while Heidler went into the school to get his son. Both Heidler and his girlfriend had permits to carry a concealed firearm, according to court records. ….."

Las Vegas Review-Journal 11/14/99 A D Hopkings "…. The Nevada Institute for Children, which claims to do "credible research and rigorous policy analysis," did neither in its report "Youth Violence: A Look at Guns, Schools, & Programs." Instead, it provides erroneous statistics, illogical conclusions and complete falsehoods. The report -- which seeks to influence legislators on the issue of guns and children -- lists statistics purporting to show an alarming incidence of firearm-related deaths of children in Nevada. But an independent check of public records by the Review-Journal reveals an entirely different set of numbers, and the head of the institute refused to address the contradictions. For instance, the institute stated that Nevada in 1998 had a firearm-related youth homicide rate of 21.3 per 100,000. But health and population records reveal a rate of only 4.83 -- and that is if one includes, as the institute did, 18- and 19-year-olds, who are legally adults. Exclude those adults and the rate drops to three homicides per 100,000 youngsters. …"

Seattle Times 11/14/99 Erik Lacitis "… All I can tell you is how I personally deal with the issue of guns; specifically, handguns. Another statistic is that 1 in 5 Americans owns a handgun, and that handguns account for an astounding 71 percent of killings involving firearms. Real gun control would mean that if your primal instincts are to regularly cradle a handgun, it'd have to be in the confines of a gun range. Since that's not going to happen, us liberal gun-controllers are left with arguing with Charlton Heston, whose booming actor's voice speaks for the National Rifle Association. The NRA line is that there are plenty of gun laws already on the books, but that Bill Clinton hasn't pushed to enforce them. So gun-toting felons are actually the fault of another liberal administration, see? That's a great strategy on the part of the gun lobby…… But as I said, I've conceded to the NRA. It used to be, I'd recap in gory detail what happens in a shooting. It used to be, I'd quote doctors working in the emergency rooms about what bullets do to you….Having conceded to the gun lobby, I won't dwell on such details. I can only tell you how I personally deal with guns. I've banned them. ….. This is not going to be won in the for-sale corridors of Congress. This is a battle that's going to be won one household at a time….."

Kathy Gambrell, Associated Press 11/13/99 "….The NAACP has filed a second lawsuit against the gun industry, calling for oversight of gun sellers in an effort to identify those involved in illegal sales. A lawsuit the civil rights organization filed in July alleges that manufacturers negligently market handguns and that such action has led to disproportionate numbers of injuries, deaths and other damages among minorities…..The lawsuit names distributors AccuSport, of Ohio, Ellett Brothers of South Carolina and RSR Group of Florida as representatives of the defendant companies. Lawyers hope to win class-action status and sue 122 distributors….."

WORLD Magazine 11/20/99 Cal Thomas "….Rash of gun crimes shows that enforcing the current laws is better than enacting new unenforced laws The latest shootings by two maniacs with grudges in Honolulu and in Seattle produced the predictable cries for more gun laws from Attorney General Janet Reno, Vice President Al(pha) Gore, the big media, and the usual suspects in the anti-gun lobby who won't be satisfied until the only people with access to guns are criminals. As National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston testified earlier this month on Capitol Hill, there are currently 22,000 federal, state, and local gun laws on the books, most of which are never enforced. He properly asked why more gun laws are the answer when current laws are not being enforced and criminals pay no attention to them at all…..In Great Britain, where massive firearms-confiscation programs were enacted following a widely publicized shooting in Scotland, gun-related crimes have increased, including "hot" robberies, meaning those conducted while the victims are at home. Criminals apparently believe their odds have improved since many of the law-abiding have been disarmed. Even the liberal-leaning Democratic governor of Vermont, Howard Dean, said after last summer's synagogue shooting in Los Angeles: "Gun laws wouldn't have helped.... Better enforcement would have helped." That was Mr. Heston's point when he testified before a congressional committee. Only a fraction of laws on the books is enforced, so why pass more laws? Mr. Heston quoted Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, who told USA Today, "It's not the federal government's role to prosecute" gun cases. Then why pass the laws in the first place? ….."

The Wall Street Journal 11/22/99 Collin Levey "…. It's the year of Littleton, "smart guns" and city lawsuits against gun makers. So where are the law professors speaking up for gun control? In the past few years, many of the premier constitutional experts of the left have come to a shocking conclusion: The Second Amendment must be taken seriously. Back in 1989, the University of Tennessee's Sanford Levinson became something of a maverick by writing an article in the Yale Law Journal called "The Embarrassing Second Amendment," in which he maintained that the amendment guaranteed an individual right to own guns. Mr. Levinson's argument flew in the face of the interpretation that had prevailed since a 1939 Supreme Court ruling, which held that the amendment's reference to a "well-regulated militia" meant it only guaranteed a "collective" right to bear arms……The most prominent of the converts is Harvard's Laurence Tribe, once touted as a potential Supreme Court appointee in a Democratic administration….."

Original Sources 11/22/99 Mary Mostert "…Side-by-side two front page stories announce: "Crime falls to lowest level in 25 years, FBI Reports" and "Teens Increasingly Find Drugs 'Uncool.'" As we might expect, President Clinton and Janet Reno quickly took the credit for the lowered crime statistics….What seems to be carefully ignored in stories of this nature is the correlation of crime to certain age groups. In a word, senior citizens are much less apt, as a group, to commit violent crimes than the 18-25 age group. This is probably due to two factors: age and the possibility that younger criminals either die young or grow old in prison. So, naturally, the larger the 18-25 age group the higher the crime rate is apt to be. That being the case it perhaps is logical to compare today's crime rates to yesterday's birth rates. The FBI report shows a 13 percent decline in murder; Violent crime fell 8 percent; property crime was down 10 percent. Today's 18-25 year olds were born from 1974-1981. This was when America's birthrate hit rock bottom. As one young woman of that age pointed out, "One third of my generation were killed by their parents before they were born." …."

Las Vegas Review-Journal 12/5/99 Vin Suprynowicz "…..One of the staple mantras of the gun grabbers -- we're not supposed to think about it (since statistics show it's 99 percent wrong), just chant it until it lulls us into a feeling of sweet repose -- is that, "If you own a firearm you're just as likely to have it taken away and used against you." Right? I guess that's why I took so quickly to a new book which Floyd Coons at Master Shooters handed me the other day. "The Best Defense: True Stories of Intended Victims Who Defended Themselves With a Firearm," is by Robert A. Waters, a retired vocational rehabilitation counselor from Ocala, Fla. I defy anyone to dismiss these 14 harrowing, true-life accounts, often told in the words of the very crime victims who survived their ordeals due to one common factor: The fact that in America, we have a right to bear arms……"

Denver Rocky Mountain News 12/5/99 Carla Crowder "…..Guns have sent Shari LeGate to the Pan American Games and World Cup Championships. They have landed her a new career, even led her to a husband. She looks at a shotgun like Brandi Chastain looks at a soccer ball, or Bob Vila a hammer. Sporting equipment. Tools. But as director of the Women's Shooting Sports Foundation, LeGate, 44, has been thrust onto an uncomfortable podium. The foundation is based in Colorado Springs, less than 60 miles down the highway from the country's most notorious case of kids gone bad with guns. Talking about her sport now means defending guns against an avalanche of anti-gun sentiment. This makes no sense to her. "If someone was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat, would you talk to Mark McGwire?" LeGate asks….."

Washington Post 12/1/99 Bill Miller "….A national gun rights group filed suit yesterday against the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the mayors of 23 cities, contending that a flurry of recent lawsuits against gun manufacturers have harmed firearms consumers…… The foundation's suit, filed in U.S. District Court here, accused the mayors of conspiring to illegally interfere with interstate commerce and to violate the gun-buying public's constitutional rights to bear arms and engage in self-defense. The Shooters Committee on Political Education Inc., a New York-based gun advocacy group, joined the foundation in filing the lawsuit. The suit names the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the mayors of Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland and 18 other cities, which have either filed suit against the firearms industry or are on the verge of doing so.. …."

Capitol Hill Blue 12/1/99 Jim Burns "….Before leaving for Seattle and the embattled World Trade Organization meeting, President Clinton commended the sixth anniversary of the Brady Law for having a profound impact on public safety. In a statement from the White House, Clinton cited data from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that showed the Brady Law, since its passage in 1993, has helped "block over 470,000 sales by licensed gun dealers to felons, fugitives, stalkers and other prohibited from purchasing firearms" Clinton also said, "In the last year alone, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System created under the Brady law has blocked sales to over 160,000 of these restricted buyers. These numbers, of course, are not just numbers. They represent lives saved, injuries avoided, and tragedies averted. They are a measure of what we can do to reduce gun violence and a measure of what still needs to be done." ….."The fact", according to Powers, "that there are only some 300 or so referrals to prosecutions out of those denials is disturbing. Essentially, this administration has been allowing criminals to walk in and out of gun stores, forcing them to the black market, where they obtain their firearms illegally and then are free to go outside the realm of federal regulation and commit their violent crimes' Powers also believes it's disturbing "on one point, the will to enforce the law and prosecute the rare felon who does go into a gun store...(is needed...and...) that will is lacking with this administration." ….."

Providence Journal 12/5/99 Col Theodore L Gatchel (USMC Ret) "….. A FOREIGNER in the United States who was following such disparate events as recent school shootings and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's feud with the Brooklyn Museum of Art might be excused for failing to understand that the First and Second Amendments to the Constitution are part of the same Bill of Rights. The problem is not that people disagree over the meaning of the two amendments. The problem is that many influential Americans, including no small number of politicians and members of the media, apply wildly different standards in interpreting the two amendments. The individuals in question interpret the Second Amendment as narrowly as possible. Many of them even argue that the amendment was never intended to afford individual citizens the right to own firearms. Basing their argument entirely on the first clause of the Second Amendment that states, ``A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state,'' they assert that it merely authorizes the states to maintain National Guard units. To reach their conclusion, these individuals either ignore the amendment's second clause, ``the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,'' or rely on different definitions of the term ``the people'' for different parts of the Constitution. While interpreting the Second Amendment as narrowly as possible, these same individuals view the First Amendment so broadly that their concept of ``speech'' includes such decidedly non-speech-like activities as flag burning, nude dancing, and fashionable new forms of ``art,'' including sawing dead pigs in half and placing crucifixes in bottles of urine….."

AP 12/2/99 Jr Ross "….A gun dealer agreed Thursday to stop selling handguns and pay this violence-plagued city $10,000 to get itself dropped from Gary's lawsuit accusing the gun industry of putting weapons into criminals' hands. The settlement is believed to be the first in which a defendant in one of a series of lawsuits brought against the gun industry around the country has agreed to pay money. Mayor Scott King said Fetla's Trading Co. of Valparaiso will stop selling handguns once its current inventory is depleted….."

Springfield (MO) News-Leader 11/18/99 Sarah Overstreet "…… All Jesse Creviston wanted to do was go deer hunting with her husband. Better luck next year, Jesse. If she is ever allowed to buy a gun, it won't be this time around. By the time the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigates her case, the season will be over. How the Springfield woman lost her rights to buy or possess a deer rifle is a travesty. But just finding out what she found out about why she was denied - which isn't all that much - took several days: ….."

The New American 11/22/99 Thomas Eddlem "…. It's open season on the right to keep and bear arms as UN globocrats gear up for international gun controls. The United Nations is very troubled that the United States has retained its Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Radical new UN proposals treat free people with the means to effect their own self-defense as a vital threat to the United Nations and its quest for what it calls the "peace-building process."…."

NY Times Magazine 11/21/99 Amanda Ripley "….. New 'smart' guns might be activated by your voice, fingerprints or secret code. They also might keep gun makers out of court. "Gun manufacturers have not changed their products very much in the last 100 years . . . [except] to increase the lethality of their guns," says Stephen Teret, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research. That is until now, with manufacturers staring down lawsuits from more than 25 cities and counties filed in the last year that seek to recover the costs of gun violence. In an effort to appear more responsive to public concerns -- and avoid large settlements against them -- major manufacturers, including Smith & Wesson, O. F. Mossberg & Sons and Colt's Manufacturing, are eagerly investing in the new technology. ….."

Heads Up 11/28/99 Doug Fiedor "…… Liberal law professors supporting the Constitution? Shades of misunderstanding! What the hell is going on nowadays? But, such are the rumblings in the liberal media. Actually, it's mostly just Laurence Tribe of Harvard. Evidently, someone pointed out to him that Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, and other Founders had opinions that were 180 degrees out of phase with his on the right to keep and bear arms. So was James Madison's, the man who actually wrote the bill of rights and would probably know what was intended. George Washington said that: Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's Liberty teeth and keystone under independence." Washington instructed that "the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. ... The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference -- they deserve a place of honor with all that's good. Thomas Jefferson inserted into the Virginia Constitution: "No Free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." Jefferson had good reason, as he later stated in a 1787 letter to William S. Smith: And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. ... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. ……"

Soldier of Fortune 11/94 "…. Notice To All Politicians It is time to speak plainly for the good citizens and patriots of this nation who believe unbendingly in the Constitution of the United States of America. Though foreign governments may disarm their subjects, we will not go down that road. We will not disarm and see our freedoms stripped away. The lessons of history are numerous, clear and bloody. A disarmed population inevitably becomes an enslaved population. A disarmed population is without power, reduced to childlike obedience to - and dependent upon - the organs of a parental state. A disarmed population will lose - either piecemeal or in one sweeping act - those basic rights for which the citizens of America risked their lives and fortunes over 200 years ago. We will not disarm. The right to self protection - the internal directive of every living creature, be it mouse or man - is the most fundamental right of all. It is the right that must be exercised against the predators of the streets, against the predators hidden within agencies of law enforcement, and against the most dangerous predators of all - those to be found in government, whose insidious grasping for power is relentless and never-ending. We will not disarm. Not in the face of robbers, rapists and murderers who prey upon our families and friends……"

Los Angeles Times 11/30/99 George Ramos "…. Aficionados of films and the arts might pay almost any price to attend a recital by the man who played Moses in the movies. But one organization says no one should go to see actor Charlton Heston perform--at least at the Skirball Cultural Center. Women Against Gun Violence, a group dedicated to stringent gun control, has fired off a letter to the center, a leading Jewish institution in Los Angeles, protesting its invi-tation to the 75-year-old actor to do readings , for some of Skirball's biggest donors on Thursday. Ann Reiss Lane, a former Los Angeles police commissioner who heads the group, said it is particu-larly inappropriate for a Jewish center to invite Heston, president of the National Rifle Assn., in view of the August attack at a Jewish community center in the San Fer-nando Valley. Several people were wounded, and a 39-year-old postal worker was shot to death later, allegedly by the same man. ….."

Washington Post 11/26/99 Sharon Walsh "…. As gun companies fight to survive an onslaught of city lawsuits and renewed interest in gun control, they have encountered yet another powerful adversary--their own insurers. With cases against the industry going forward in 28 cities and states, the legal defense costs already are in the millions of dollars and climbing. Gun companies, like any insured business, looked to their insurers to pay for their defense and contribute to any necessary legal settlements or judgments. But many firearms makers and sellers have been notified by their insurers that they have no intention of paying what could be astronomical legal bills or any judgments associated with the suits……"

Accuracy in Media 11/26/99 Reed Irvine Cliff Kincaid "….. John Lott, author of "More Guns, Less Crime," spoke at the recent AIM 30th anniversary conference and delivered a devastating rebuttal to the anti-gun propaganda emanating from the White House and the media. He said he was concerned about the fact that "a lot of what we think we know isn't true" and that various myths about guns may be endangering lives. In 1997, he said there were about 440,000 violent crimes and 9,000 murders committed with guns. By contrast, there were over 2 million violent crimes prevented through the use of guns. The media, Lott said, focus on the former category because it produces an actual victim or a dead body. The latter usually produces no rapist or murderer or actual crime. He said the media's emphasis on the bad things that happen with guns causes the public to think that guns are more of a problem than a solution….."

Freeper Brian Mosely 11/23/99 via email "…Over the past few days, I've noticed a number of posts from various Freeper about being faxed a Gun Control poll that appears to be rather one sided. Well, sometime last night one of them paid one of my e-boxes a visit. Here the e-mail: ……"Please help us with this survey. It is the most ambitious survey ever undertaken on the subject of GUN CONTROL IN THE US. Please allow us to apologize up front for this method of delivery, however in today's world, this is the most efficient way to reach the more than 5,000,000 Americans that we need to contact…… A charge of $1.99 will appear on your local phone bill to pay for the survey. PROCEEDS IN EXCESS OF THE COST OF THIS SURVEY WILL BE DONATED TO AID VICTIMS OF GUN VIOLENCE…… Copyright, 1999. American Tabulation & Tracking Co-op, surveying the American public on current issues and and sending the results to the President and Congress of the United States so that they will understand the true feelings of the American People…." Brian Mosely continues:

CNSNews.com 12/6/99 Edwin Feulner "….Cars are a menace to society. Every year they lead to thousands of deaths. Criminals use them in committing crimes. And when mixed with drugs or alcohol, their deadly potential increases. In short, cars should be banned. Sounds crazy, right? But substitute "guns" for "cars" and you have the gun-control argument in a nutshell……"

Boston Globe 12/5/99 "…..Some legislators say the repeated use of a new state law allowing police to take guns away from potentially dangerous people is evidence of the prevalence of threats of violence. Police officers armed with court-approved search-and-seizure orders have taken pistols, assault rifles and a submachine gun on at least seven occasions since the law took effect Oct. 1. Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, one of the law's architects, said the number and types of cases so far surprise him. "I thought it would only come up two to three times a year," said Lawlor, co-chairman of the legislature's judiciary committee. "I have read some of the affidavits. From reading them, it is clear that police are confronted with these kinds of disturbing situations more frequently than I thought." …."

Enter Stage Right 12/6/99 Charles Bloomer "…… The framers of the Constitution did, in fact, expect that if the nation were threatened, armed citizens would defend it. Based on their knowledge of history of Europe, our founding fathers were opposed to the concept and principle of a standing army. They realized that standing armies were the armed enforcers of the ruling class, thereby making disagreement or dissension difficult or impossible. The alternative to a standing army was a population proficient in the use of guns that could be called upon in case of need. But the "security of a free State" goes beyond defending the nation from external attack. In order to be truly free, a State, or more precisely, its citizens, must be willing and able to defend against all threats, external and internal. The reasons for choosing the particular wording for the Second Amendment can be gleaned from the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. " A free state was considered one in which citizens had inalienable rights, government derived its power from the governed, and the people had the right to alter or abolish the government if it became tyrannical….."

worldnet daily 12/6/99 Joseph Farah "….There's a reason the Founding Fathers considered the right to bear arms fundamental in a free society. A couple of recent unrelated incidents should bring this home to all of us. In Seattle last week, the local government, faced with widespread civil disobedience over the city's hosting of the World Trade Organization conference declared a state of emergency, a curfew and even went so far as to ban the use of gas masks by anyone except police. Now, in case you hadn't considered this before, gas masks are not weapons. They can only be used to defend oneself, usually from tear gas fired by government police. Now imagine you lived in Seattle and had some urgent business. Perhaps you have an asthmatic son or daughter with a doctor's appointment. You live outside the immediate area of protests, but as a precaution against what could be a life-threatening attack to your child, you feel compelled to break out the gas mask collecting dust in the basement. In Seattle, you would be treated as a criminal….."

NY Times 12/8/99 David Stout Richard Perez-Pena "....In a move to force the firearms industry to adopt safer ways of making and selling weapons, the federal government said on Tuesday that housing authorities around the country were planning to file a class-action lawsuit against gun makers. The White House and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have been laying the groundwork in recent months for the suit on behalf of the three million people who live in public housing projects, where shootings have taken a heavy toll for years. The move is being undertaken in the hope that the threat of such action will intensify pressure on the gun industry. The administration is throwing its weight behind suits filed by more than two dozen cities against gun companies in the hope that a far-reaching settlement might be achieved, said Housing Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo and Bruce Reed, President Clinton's domestic-policy adviser....."

World Net Daily 12/8/99 Jon Dougherty "..... The Ft. Worth Fire Department has issued a citation to a national military surplus distributor after prohibiting the company from stocking bulk amounts of small arms ammunition -- even though city fire codes actually allow it. In a Nov. 18 letter, Asst. Fire Marshall Chief Paul Rider told Michael Tenny, CEO of Cheaper Than Dirt, Inc., a Ft. Worth-based company that sells ammunition and military surplus gear nationwide, that the distributor had to limit the amount of ammunition carried in his store because he was in violation of Article 77 of the city's fire code, which addresses the storage of explosives. .....However, the provision -- a copy of which was provided to WorldNetDaily -- listed "small arms ammunition, when packaged in accordance with DOT (Department of Transportation) packaging requirements" as a covered exception. Also exempt under the provision are the armed forces, fireworks, and limited amounts of "sporting black powder." Tenny said all commercially-packaged ammunition meets Department of Transportation specifications......."

USA Today 12/8/99 Gary Fields "".....Gun manufacturers and wholesalers are giving the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms direct access to gun records, so agents can more easily trace guns used in crimes. At a time when manufacturers are at the center of the legal battle over firearm violence, five of the nation's larger manufacturers and wholesalers have created various computer links that allow the ATF to track weapons directly from manufacturer to retailer. A sixth company, Beretta USA, is creating a link. ''It's about the technology,'' says Bryan Tucker, president and owner of Davidson's Supplier in Prescott, Ariz., a wholesaler that has made available nearly 1 million records in its system. ...."

www.foxnews.com 12/8/99 Anne Gearan ".....The Clinton administration hopes the threat of a new, national lawsuit will persuade gun makers to negotiate with cities that accuse them of negligently allowing guns to fall into the hands of criminals. ...... "It's the traditional liability theory that is applied to every other product - negligence and product liability," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity...... Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Bellevue, Wash.-based Second Amendment Foundation, said if the housing authorities sue, his group likely would file another countersuit on behalf of gun makers. Gottlieb claimed that the administration was encouraging suits against the gun industry in hopes of bankrupting gun companies. The idea, he said, was "file as many suits as possible. The industry can't fight hundreds of lawsuits - it would bankrupt them." ....."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 12/5/99 Michael Romano "..... The National Rifle Association is credited by even its fiercest foes with the biggest political victory of 1999 -- steamrolling gun-control advocates with a powerful mix of political savvy and cold cash. Gun-control proposals, a top priority for Democrats, remain bottled up in the legislative limbo of a conference committee. And it's not certain whether those measures, including three-day background checks on gun-show sales, will be seriously addressed anytime soon....... "

Worldnetdaily 12/7/99 Joseph Farah Stephan Archer and Sarah Foster "…..Since the end of the Cold War, the disarmament community has brought small arms and light weapons within its sphere of interest, placing them and their "proliferation" on a par with such long-standing concerns as nuclear missiles and bio-chemical weapons. Though the terms tend to be used interchangeably, the United Nations defines small arms as weapons designed for personal use, while light weapons are those designed for several persons operating as a crew. Together, they account for virtually every kind of firearm from revolvers, pistols, rifles, carbines and light machine guns all the way to heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, mortars up to 100 mm caliber, and land mines. On Sept. 24, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, of Ghana, called on members of the Security Council to "tackle one of the key challenges in preventing conflict in the next century" -- the proliferation and "easy availability" of small arms and light weapons, which Annan identified as the "primary tools of violence" in conflicts throughout the world……"

AP 12/7/99 Anne Gearan "….The White House is helping prepare a class-action suit against gun makers, alleging that guns and how they are marketed have contributed to violence in public housing projects, administration officials said Tuesday. The class-action lawsuit by some or all of the nation's 3,100 local housing authorities would be patterned on suits filed against the industry by 29 cities and counties, the officials said. Those suits claim that gun manufacturers have sold defective products or marketed them in ways that increase the likelihood that they will fall into the hands of criminals. The new legal effort was made known Tuesday and was described by some officials as more of a threat aimed at bringing gun manufacturers to the negotiating table than an effort to take them to court……"

Pittsburgh Post Gazette 12/9/99 "…..America is gun-crazy and lawsuit-happy. That's a combustible potion when government tries to regulate an industry by threat of litigation. There are legitimate methods for controlling gun-manufacturing, a business that has profound consequences on crime, safety and life itself. The chief method is legislation by Congress and state assemblies. The Post-Gazette, in fact, has been a staunch supporter of many gun-control measures. But we draw the line at using the courts to harass a legal industry into submission. That has been the intent and tactic of two dozen cities around the country, and now it will become the policy of the Clinton administration as well. Under the guise of seeking compensation for costs incurred by city police departments, public housing programs and other agencies affected by the use and misuse of guns, governments are attempting to accomplish through protracted legal warfare the kind of regulations and limits that should be imposed by the nation's elected representatives…."

Associated Press 12/7/99 "….A judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit alleging that gun makers' marketing tactics contributed to three Chicago deaths, a decision gun opponents hope is part of a trend. Columbia University law professor John Coffee says it will take more than one or two state court judges' rulings to set a trend. "THIS IS A home run," said Lawrence Rosenthal, a lawyer for the city of Chicago, which is among at least 28 U.S. cities and counties that have filed their own separate lawsuits against gun makers. "We now have a neutral party in a black robe with no ax to grind and this is what she sees looking at Illinois law." …."

Reuters News 12/15/99 ".... ``The gun bill passed by the Illinois Senate on Tuesday night gives gun owners the green light to pack heat,'' according to Mark Karlin, Chairman of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. ``Instead of working to make our streets safer, the Senate GOP has given a holiday gift to the gun toters and malcontents. As a result, we will see more people carrying loaded handguns into schools, churches and grocery stores, because the Senate GOP has promised them nothing more than a slap on the wrist if they are caught.''....."

MSNBC 12/15/99 "....Though none of almost 3,000 guns bought during this year's amnesty buyback program were found to be connected to crimes, D.C. police call the program a success and are setting aside funds to repeat the program next year. THE DISTRICT SPENT approximately $300,000 to get 2,900 guns off the street during the seven-day August amnesty period. Police officials say it was money well spent and took more guns off the street than are usually recovered in a year. ..."

The Boston Herald 12/15/99 Don Feder "….In the tapes (one made just days before the Columbine High School massacre) covered in the current issue of Time magazine, Klebold said he hoped to take the lives of hundreds of his classmates in a nihilistic act that would settle the score for every slight he had ever suffered. After each school shooting - Littleton, Jonesboro, Ark., West Paducah, Ky. - calls for more gun control go forth from the president and other ritualistic liberals. President Clinton is aiding a class-action suit against gunmakers by local public-housing authorities…… I'm old enough to recall what the world was like before students came to school armed and dangerous. What's changed since then? When I was in high school in the early 1960s, there was no shortage of firearms. There are more today, but the percentage of households with guns has actually declined from 48 percent in 1960 to 42 percent in 1997. Access to guns was much easier 40 years ago. You could buy them through the mail, and there were no federal regulations on sales or transfers to minors. Most of our gun-control laws were a response to the assassinations and urban riots of the late '60s. There were lots of guns then; there are lots of guns now. What's changed - dramatically, for the worse - is the culture. We live in a society awash in drugs, where violence is extolled and kids are habituated to homicide…… The American Medical Association says the ``link between media violence and real-life violence has been proven by science time and again.'' Of the 657 major motion pictures released last year, two-thirds got an ``R'' or ``NC-17'' rating for violence, sexual content or both. Youth are the major consumers of Hollywood's savagery. Americans aged 12 to 24 make up 20 percent of the population but constitute 37 percent of moviegoers…… On one tape, the Columbine killers muse that Quentin Tarantino may direct a movie about their lives. ``Directors will be fighting over this story,'' Klebold boasts……. Shock-rocker Marilyn Manson is particularly popular. Kip Kinkel, who murdered his parents in Springfield, Ore., absorbed Manson's message (``I'm dying; I hope you're dying too''). Luke Woodham, who killed his parents and classmates in Pearl, Miss., was another Manson fan. ……. In one survey of fourth- to eighth-graders, half said their favorite games feature violence. ``Doom,'' ``Mortal Kombat'' and ``Duke Nukem'' teach the joys of annihilation. …… David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, notes that Eric Harris (who refers to ``Doom'' twice in one tape) had customized his favorite shoot-'em-up game to serve as a dress rehearsal for the Columbine killings. A gun is an instrument, no more. It doesn't shape thoughts or incite emotions. A killer has murder in his heart long before he takes a gun into his hand. In school shootings, the culture is the smoking gun. ….."

Philadelphia Inquirer 12/14/99 "…. On Friday, John Lott was at it again, taking aim at another gun control proposal. This time the target was trigger locks, which, Lott argued, on the basis of crime statistics from the 15 states that have enacted laws requiring them, would have a very small benefit and significant costs in terms of increased levels of violent crime. Remember, a trigger-lock requirement is one of the principal provisions in the gun control legislation Gov. Ridge is expected to sign into law later this week, and it has been much debated in Congress. Lott, of course, has gone much further than bashing trigger locks. He was speaking at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington as part of a two-day conference dealing with his earlier research indicating that the only gun-related laws that reduce crime are those making it easier for citizens to carry concealed weapons. His thesis is neatly summarized in the title of his 1998 book, More Guns, Less Crime. …."

CALNRA 12/14/99 Bob Evans "…. News Release …. The National Rifle Association today hailed a Connecticut Superior Court decision to dismiss the City of Bridgeport's lawsuit against firearms manufacturers, as evidence of a growing trend against efforts to hold a legitimate industry liable for the criminal actions of third parties. The decision to throw out of court the Bridgeport suit follows last October's ruling to dismiss with prejudice a similar suit filed by the municipality of Cincinnati. ….."

Reuters 12/13/99 "….Internet filtering pioneer SurfWatch Software, a division of JSB Software Technologies plc., announced today that the company has expanded its filtering criteria to block Web sites related to the sale of weapons. SurfWatch blocks sites in five core categories including sexually explicit, violent, hate, drugs/alcohol and gambling…."

Daily Telegraph, Sydney (Letters Section) 12/14/99 John Kayes, Telopea, Syndney "…. A youth walks into his classroom in Holland and starts massacring the others with a firearm, but where are the blazing banner headlines illustrating the story? Are they absent because the deed was done in a country which has gun laws so strict they make Australia's look weak, or is it because this crime is becoming so common in society, that we are beginning to accept it as normal behaviour? Ever since teenage role model Leonardo DiCaprio, starring in the movie Basketball Diaries, walked into a school class and started shooting his mates with a pump-action shotgun, children all over the world have been imitating his behaviour. ….."

USA Today 12/14/99 Martin Kasindorf "….The West's largest gun show is moving to Las Vegas from its longtime home at the Los Angeles County fairgrounds, even though a federal judge has temporarily blocked the county from enforcing an ordinance banning firearms sales on its property. Chad Seger, manager of the 31-year-old Great Western Gun Show, said Monday that shows at the Las Vegas Convention Center will begin March 31. A court injunction issued in September by U.S. District Judge Richard Paez had allowed the last of 1999's four shows to be held last weekend at the fairgrounds, known as Fairplex, in Pomona, on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors enacted the ordinance in August on a 3-2 vote. Publicity over the ban on firearms and ammunition sales enlarged the weekend crowd to 18,000 from an expected 10,000, Seger said. The four shows have drawn 100,000 visitors a year. The show's $7 million civil rights suit against the county goes to trial in early spring. The injunction allows gun sales to continue at Fairplex gun shows until the trial. However, Seger said the show is relocating because ''Fairplex refused to issue contracts to us for next year.'' …."

CNN 12/13/99 "….A judge dismissed Miami-Dade County's lawsuit against gun makers Monday, agreeing with the industry that the county has no standing because it has not suffered any direct injuries from guns. Mayor Alex Penelas said he will appeal. "This is not unlike what happened in the early stages of tobacco legislation," he said. "And we know where that stands now." Miami-Dade was one of about 30 cities and counties suing more than two dozen gun makers. The other lawsuits have had mixed success. A judge rejected a suit in Bridgeport, Connecticut, last week, and Cincinnati's suit was dismissed in October. But judges in Chicago and Atlanta have allowed suits to proceed and ordered the industry to open its files….."

Independence Institute 12/10/99 Dave Kopel "…. "Close the gun show loophole" demands Handgun Control, Inc. The major obstacle to Congress complying with HCI's wishes appears to be the desire of many Democrats to preserve gun shows as a campaign issue in the 2000 election. But if the voters learn the facts about gun shows, they will discover that there is no gun show loophole, no gun show crime problem, and no reason to adopt federal legislation whose main impact would be to infringe First and Second Amendment rights. Despite what some media commentators have claimed, existing gun laws apply just as much to gun shows as they do to any other place where guns are sold. Ever since 1938, persons engaged in the business of selling firearms have been required to obtain a federal firearms license. If a dealer sells a gun from a storefront, from a room in his home, or from a table at a gun show, the rules are exactly the same: he must call the FBI and get authorization for the sale, after the FBI runs its "instant" background check (which often takes days to complete). As a result, firearms are the most severely regulated consumer product in the U.S.-the only product for which FBI permission is required for every single sale. Conversely, people who are not engaged in the business, but who sell firearms from time to time (like a man who sells a spare hunting rifle to his brother in-law), are not required to obtain the federal license for gun dealers, or to call the FBI before completing the sale. …..Similarly, if a gun collector dies and his widow wants to sell the guns, she does not need a federal firearms license because since she is just selling off inherited property and is not "engaged in the business." ….. If you walk the aisles at any gun show, you will find that the overwhelming majority of guns offered for sale are from licensed federal dealers. Guns sold by private individuals (such as gun collectors getting rid of a gun or two over the course of the weekend) are the distinct minority. ….Yet HCI claims that "25-50 percent of the vendors at most gun shows are unlicensed dealers." This statistic is true only if one counts vendors whoaren't selling guns (e.g., vendors who are selling books, clothing, or accessories) as "unlicensed dealers." ….."

Washington Post 12/15/99 Charles Babington "…. The Clinton administration, convinced that Congress has badly underestimated the public appetite for new gun regulations, will convene a meeting of top aides today "to prepare an all-out offensive on guns in the coming year," a senior White House official said last night. The plan will include extra spending by the Justice and Treasury departments for various gun-control measures, the official said. It underscores a growing fervor for gun regulation in the administration, which last week announced it was joining forces with several cities that have sued or threatened to sue the gun manufacturing industry over safety and distribution issues….."

Houston Chronicle 12/10/99 H Sterling Burnett ".... TRIAL lawyers, anti-gun activists, mayors and the Clinton administration's Department of Housing and Urban Development have a "simple solution" to the complex problem of gun violence: sue gunmakers for the public costs of criminal, negligent and self-destructive gun misuses. In the words of H.L. Mencken: "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong." The lawsuits threaten democracy because they would replace the will of the majority as expressed through the legislature with the determinations of an unelected judiciary. In our democratic republic, Congress, and Congress alone, is constitutionally empowered to regulate interstate commerce. But lawsuit proponents have given up on democracy. Unable to convince legislators that removing guns from the hands of law-abiding citizens will reduce crime, activists, trial lawyers, mayors and HUD are attempting to use the courts to impose their views on a skeptical public. Popular products cause harm, too. Thousands of people die or are injured yearly in automobile accidents and vehicular homicides, via faulty medical procedures and the misuse of prescription drugs, from eating fatty foods and as a result of alcohol abuse. If the civil law embraces the principle that companies like Anheuser-Busch, Bayer, Ford and McDonald's are responsible when people voluntarily use legal, nondefective products and bad results occur, then consumers will have fewer goods to choose from....."

MIAMI (AP) 12/13/99 Mark Long "….A judge dismissed Miami-Dade County's lawsuit against gun makers Monday, agreeing with the industry that the county has no standing because it has not suffered any direct injuries from guns. Mayor Alex Penelas said he will appeal. ``This is not unlike what happened in the early stages of tobacco legislation,'' he said. ``And we know where that stands now.'' Miami-Dade was one of about 30 cities and counties suing more than two dozen gun makers. The other lawsuits have had mixed success. A judge rejected a suit in Bridgeport, Conn., last week, and Cincinnati's suit was dismissed in October. But judges in Chicago and Atlanta have allowed suits to proceed and ordered the industry to open its files. …."

Denver Post 12/13/99 "…..It's not good news that the Clinton administration has decided to join a class-action suit against the nation's gunmakers. True, the administration has offered a lot of reasons why the suit is necessary, but we don't find them impressive. Lawsuits already have been filed by about 30 of the nation's cities, and under the White House plan this litigation would be joined by the nation's 3,100 local housing authorities. The contention of these plaintiffs, he says, would be that gun manufacturers have sold defective products or marketed guns in ways that increase the likelihood that they will fall into the hands of criminals. ….. Put another way, the administration admits it doesn't want this case to go to court. What it wants is to frighten the gun industry into submission so that it will agree to changes the administration wants….."

Daily Herald via Yahoo 12/13/99 Don Thompson "….State lawmakers convene today for what was once supposed to be a brief emergency session, but has now turned into a shoot-out between gun-control advocates and those backing gun-owners' rights. The debate puts Senate President James "Pate" Philip of Wood Dale in a familiar position: balking at proposals backed by his fellow Republicans in the House and governor's office, not to mention opposition Democrats. Philip, reflecting the views of some conservative members, opposes re-enacting a law passed in late 1994 that makes carrying a concealed weapon an automatic felony even for first-time offenders. Philip has significant support. The Illinois State Bar Association is among those who say the law goes too far to punish citizens who innocently violate the law, for instance by improperly transporting a hunting weapon, or otherwise law-abiding business owners who carry a gun while depositing the day's receipts. ….."+

CNSNews.com 12/13/99 Jim Burns "…..A criminal justice expert and author of the best selling book More Guns, Less Crimes argues that a possible lawsuit by public housing authorities against gun manufacturers may do more harm than good. Dr. John Lott told CNSNews.com, "I think these suits are going to result in more deaths rather than fewer deaths. . . . It's an abuse of the legal system." President Clinton, during a White House news conference last Wednesday, said the public housing authority litigation against gunmakers has a good grounding in fact…… "Poor people who live in high crime urban areas like these public housing units benefit the most from having the option to be able to protect themselves. . . . Raising the price of guns through these suits is merely going to be price those people out of the market for being able to defend themselves," said Lott……."The question I have for him (Clinton) is what advice does he give to someone who's living in one of these poor, high crime areas. What are they supposed to do when they are confronted by a criminal and there's no police around?" Lott said……"

Reuter Health 12/10/99 "…..A study of Los Angeles suicides and homicides indicates that individuals under the age of 21 and males are more likely than others to use a firearm to kill themselves or someone else. The findings suggest that ``reducing (young people's) access to firearms'' may be an important means of reducing gun-related deaths and injuries, according to Drs. Susan Sorenson and R.A. Berk of the University of California, Los Angeles...."

NewsMax.com 12/13/99 Richard poe "…..I stumbled across two disheartening statistics. The first were nationwide poll results showing that 83 percent of African Americans would support a ban on all gun sales, except by special police permit. The second came from a Department of Housing and Urban Development survey of public housing residents, indicating that 68 percent believe that allowing police to conduct random searches for guns, without warrants, would improve safety in their projects. Like those elderly tourists in Moscow, black Americans are clearly fed up with crime. And who can blame them? Fully 50 percent of all murder victims in the U.S. are black. But, like those short-sighted tourists, many African Americans appear dangerously willing to tolerate police-state tactics, in exchange for safer streets. An authoritarian crackdown might well succeed in curbing crime. Did not Mussolini get the trains running on time? But African Americans would be naive to expect our government to continue working in their best interests, once it has stripped them of their liberties. With the NAACP suing gun manufacturers and Jesse Jackson stumping for stricter gun laws, black leaders seem to have fixed their cross-hairs squarely on the Second Amendment. But not all African Americans are jumping on the bandwagon….."Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety," chided Benjamin Franklin. In the end, history will judge whether our generation cared more about saving its freedom or saving its skin. Should we manage to retain any semblance of our constitutional liberties, it will be thanks to the courage of men such as Roy and Niger Innis, who dared to speak out when all around them were silent……"

Denver Post 12/13/99 Mike Soraghan "…..Requiring criminal background checks at gun shows is, arguably, the one piece of Gov. Bill Owens' gun-control package that could have changed the course of the Columbine High School massacre. But it's also the piece that has the least chance of winning legislative approval next year. No Republican has stepped forward to sponsor a bill to close the "gun-show loophole," as some call it, for the legislative session that starts Jan. 5. ..."

Wall Street Journal 12/13/99 Paul Barrett "…. The gun industry won a round in its legal battles, as a Connecticut state judge dismissed a suit filed against handgun manufacturers and retailers by the city of Bridgeport, Conn. Superior Court Judge Robert McWeeny said in a 35-page ruling Friday that the city lacked authority to file such a suit. The judge didn't address the merits of whether the industry has been negligent in the manufacture or distribution of handguns. But he indicated that individual victims of gun violence would be more appropriate plaintiffs to make these legal claims. Although judges considering similar suits filed by 27 other municipalities around the country aren't bound by Judge McWeeny's decision, gun-industry lawyers said they would try to use Friday's ruling to bolster efforts to kill the other suits….. The Bridgeport defeat puts the early score at 2-1, favoring the gun business. In October, Cincinnati's suit was dismissed, while Atlanta's was allowed to proceed. More preliminary rulings are expected in coming weeks….."

WorldNetDaily.Com 12/13/99 Stephan Archer Sarah Foster "…. For nearly 40 years, a few groups on the political right have sounded the alarm over a seemingly absurd scenario -- that gun control legislation was actually a key part of a plan for total national disarmament and the eventual replacement of United States troops by a United Nations army as part of the law enforcement arm of a one-world government. The idea that such an improbable plan could exist, if only on paper -- or even more improbable, that people were working behind the scenes to implement it - has always been dismissed by the mainstream media and government officials as a paranoid, right-wing delusion. So where exactly does the truth lie in this decades-old controversy - the cause of great alarm for some, and for others, an occasion to heap ridicule and contempt? At the center of this issue is a 20-page State Department pamphlet published in 1961, titled "Freedom From War: The United States Program for General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World" - Department of State Publication 7277. The program outlined was presented by President Kennedy to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 25, 1961, and offered "specific objectives toward which nations should direct their efforts." ….."

Executive Summary Chicago Tribune 12/10/99 Rick Pearson "…..Illinois Senate President James "Pate" Philip said Thursday that a controversial provision in the Safe Neighborhoods Law, which made illegal possession of a firearm a felony, should not be restored next week when legislators try to put the law back into the state statutes. The General Assembly has been called back to Springfield to re-enact the law, which was ruled unconstitutional last week by the Illinois Supreme Court. But the DuPage County Republican's vehement opposition to the provision could drag out what some had expected to be a quick special session. It also sets the stage for a political showdown between the powerful Senate president and GOP Gov. George Ryan, who was elected the state's chief executive last year in part because of his advocacy of gun control. Philip said reinstating the felony provision should "absolutely not" be part of any reconstituted Safe Neighborhoods Law passed by the General Assembly. …."

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/gun05.html 12/5/99 Shu Shin Luh Abon M Pallasch "….While prosecutors comb through their cases, Illinois legislative leaders are wondering what to do now that the state Supreme Court has overturned a law that cracked down on gunrunning. A thousand people either suspected or convicted of gun crimes in Chicago and the suburbs could be freed from prison thanks to the ruling throwing out the Safe Neighborhoods Act. One of them is James Jackson, the man police say sold the gun used to kill Chicago police officer Michael Ceriale. Jackson sits in Cook County Jail on $80,000 bond, charged with gunrunning and five counts of felony unlawful use of a weapon. In Cook County alone, State's Attorney Dick Devine says his office is reviewing at least 20,000 cases. Prosecutors from Joliet to Woodstock likewise say they are reviewing their files. ….."

The Arizona Republic 12/10/99 Yoji Cole "…..Phoenix-area police departments have teamed with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to develop a central system for tracing ownership records of guns used in crimes. The purpose is to root out people who sell firearms to criminals and minors. "There was no question that there was a need to find a unifying approach (across the Valley)," Phoenix ATF firearms inspector Marvin Richardson said. A survey Richardson conducted indicated that in fiscal 1998, law-enforcement departments across the Valley recovered 8,579 guns used in crimes, but traced the ownership of only 1,397 of them. "That tells you that roughly 84 percent of the information that could have offered new leads was not obtained," he said. ….."

Chattanooga Free Press 12/10/99 "…..President Bill Clinton has proved he can be relied upon to be honest about virtually nothing. But if he were honest in his opposition to "guns," why wouldn't he seek to amend the Constitution to eliminate the right of American citizens to own and bear arms? Why wouldn't he demand that Congress enact laws to make the manufacture, sale and ownership of guns illegal? He doesn't try to do those things because he knows he would fail. But he is dictatorially using the power of the federal government to threaten a harassing lawsuit against the law-abiding and legal gun industry to force it to surrender to his will. Instead of going after criminals who use guns in violations of the laws, Mr. Clinton is going after law-abiding Americans who are engaged in legal commerce. ….."

Denver Post 12/10/99 Mike McPhee "….With public attention still keenly focused on the gun trade, federal authorities in Colorado have set their sights on gun shows and the federally licensed dealers who buy and sell weapons there. But gun dealers have a vastly different interpretation of the laws governing such shows than does the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Both sides are looking at a pending federal court case as a way to resolve the differences. A grand jury last month returned an eight-count indictment against James Gowda, a licensed gun dealer nicknamed "Trader Jim.'' Charges include selling firearms to outof-state residents, selling firearms to convicted felons and failing to file the necessary documents required by the Brady Act. Each count carries a maximum five-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine. ….."

NewsMax.com 12/9/99 "....Shot down in Congress, his tenure running out, President Clinton is trying to get the drop on the gun industry in the courts. His administration makes no bones it is a deliberate attempt to bring about, by litigation, the gun-control regulation it has failed to obtain by legislation. And makers and sellers of guns, as more than one newspaper headline put it, are up in arms. Adding to their bafflement and outrage is the Clinton administration's sudden decision to sue at the very time it is in the middle of negotiations with the gun industry to reach some sort of compromise, short of going to court or back to Congress. ....Gail Laster, general counsel for HUD, had assured Congress earlier this year that her agency "does not plan to bring any action on its own against the gun industry." In fact, she testified, "HUD has no authority on its own to bring action." That prompted Rep. Robert L. Barr, R-Ga., to suggest Congress should take action against her for either misleading or lying to it......"

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 12/9/99 Paul Barrett "....The leader of the gun industry's main trade group voiced striking receptivity to the Clinton administration's desire to forge a settlement of municipal litigation against firearms makers and distributors. But some individual gun-company executives, as well as the National Rifle Association, condemned the White House for threatening to file a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of 3,200 public-housing authorities. During a broad-ranging news conference Wednesday in Washington, President Clinton reiterated his decision to use the threat of a massive federal suit to pressure the gun industry to accept marketing and manufacturing restrictions demanded by 28 cities and counties that have already sued the industry. Mr. Clinton said his goal wasn't to "bankrupt" gun companies, but to reform them. Still, a threat of additional litigation also entails the possibility of more legal expenses, as well as possible court judgments down the line. Industry representatives have held tentative talks with the municipalities that are suing, but there hasn't been any substantive agreement......"

The Washington Times 12/8/99 "....A few months ago, California passed a law requiring the owners of certain semi-automatic rifles to register those guns with the state. They were assured this was not a first step toward outlawing the guns. Guess what? The state lied. Shortly after thousands of honest gun owners complied with the new law they were notified that their rifles were now illegal. The state ordered the gun owners to turn in their guns and even offered to pay for the rifles. A few turned them in. Most refuse to comply. Of the more than 15,000 illegal rifles that are estimated to exist in the state, less than 5% have been turned in. 453, to be exact. The Washington Times reports, "Thousands of California gun owners are refusing to turn in illegal assault rifles, even though the state is offering to pay more to buy the guns than owners originally paid for them." Overnight, thousands of hard working, law-abiding, God-fearing citizens were made criminals simply due to the type firearm they own. "I'm not going to turn in my gun just because some jerk in government tells me to, and I don't care how much they'll pay me for it," one man is reported to have said. "Let's see them come out and take it away from me."....."

Chicago Tribune 12/15/99 AP "...Prosecutors would decide whether to lodge a felony or misdemeanor against someone charged with unlawful weapons possession in an anti-crime compromise wending its way through the Statehouse. Gov. George Ryan said tonight that he supports the idea, pushed by Senate President James "Pate" Philip (R-Wood Dale) if it meets a constitutional test and has lawmakers' support. ..."

The Washington Post 12/16/99 Petula Dvorak "…..Most of the nearly 3,000 weapons exchanged for a $100 bill during this summer's gun amnesty program were about 15 years old, many were cheap revolvers barely worth $30 on the street, and none of the ones tested so far had been used to kill anyone, according to an analysis by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms...."

The Wall Street Journal 1/5/00 Paul Barrett "….Gun retailers, worried that their interests aren't being represented by manufacturers in industry talks to settle municipal litigation, are forming a new trade group to demand a place at the table. The move is sure to stir controversy, because the dealers have hired an industry operative whose pragmatic approach has put him at odds with a number of major manufacturers and the National Rifle Association, which represents gun owners….. The operative, Robert Ricker, has already arranged for his new clients to meet Thursday with staff members at the White House….. Gun foes began a coordinated legal assault on the industry in late 1998. Since then, 28 municipalities have sued gun makers, distributors and retailers, seeking to recover the public costs of gun violence -- a demand that industry lawyers have branded improper, saying blame lies with those who misuse guns, not those who lawfully make and sell them. The real goal of the litigation isn't large damage awards but a settlement under which the industry would agree to more stringent regulation in an effort to keep guns out of the wrong hands. There have been several rounds of preliminary settlement talks, without a substantive accord….The choice of Mr. Ricker as a consultant is significant. He was effectively pushed out of a Washington-based industry-lobbying job last spring, after he angered the NRA and some gun manufacturing executives by trying to forge compromises with the White House and Congress on various legislative gun-control proposals….."

Los Angeles Times 1/6/00 Carl Ingram "…..Fearful that they could be accused of selling outlawed assault weapons, two major California gun dealers said Wednesday they have indefinitely suspended the sale of many popular hunting rifles. Executives of Turner's Outdoorsman, a big retail sporting goods chain in Southern California, and Trader Sports Inc. of San Leandro, a Northern California firearms retailer, said hundreds of rifles had been removed from sales shelves on Jan. 1. In interviews, they charged that recent administrative regulations by Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer to implement California's new assault weapons control law were so narrowly drawn that they would ban the sale and possession of many legal guns used for hunting deer, bear and wild pigs. Rather than risk potential arrest or other legal liability, spokesmen for the two dealers said the businesses decided to indefinitely suspend the sale of such popular hunting guns as the Remington 7400 and the Ruger Mini-14….."

***Media Research Center Study Alert*** 1/6/00 "…..At a press conference Wednesday morning at the National Press Club MRC Chairman L. Brent Bozell released a new MRC study of how network TV coverage of guns is slanted overwhelmingly in favor if pro gun control arguments. ……. Below is the Executive Summary of the special report researched and compiled by MRC Senior News Analyst Geoffrey Dickens: …..In a study of 653 morning and evening news stories on ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC from July 1, 1997 to June 30, 1999, MRC Senior Media Analyst Geoffrey Dickens documents how:

-- 1. TV News Has Chosen Sides. Stories advocating more gun control outnumbered stories opposing gun control by 357 to 36, or a ratio of almost 10 to 1. (Another 260 were neutral.)

-- 2. Evening News Shows Favored the Anti-Gun Position by 8 to 1. Almost 60 percent of stories (184) favored one side. While 89 percent of those (164) pushed the liberal, anti-gun position, only 11 percent (20) promoted the pro-gun position. ABC's World News Tonight (43 anti-gun stories to three pro-gun) and CNN's The World Today (50 to 7) were the most slanted evening shows.

-- 3. Morning News Shows Favored the Anti-Gun Position by 13 to 1. More than half of morning news gun policy segments (208) tilted away from balance. Of those segments, 93 percent (193) pushed the liberal, anti-gun position, while only six percent (15) promoted the pro-gun position. ABC's Good Morning America (92 to 1) was the most biased morning show.

-- 4. News Programs Are Twice as Likely to Use Anti-Gun Soundbites. Anti-gun soundbites were twice as frequent as pro-gun ones-412 to 209. (Another 471 were neutral.)

-- 5. News Programs Are Twice as Likely to Feature Anti-Gun Guests. In morning show interview segments, gun control advocates appeared as guests on 82 occasions, compared to just 37 for gun-rights activists and 58 neutral spokesmen.

-- 6. Pro-Gun Themes Were Barely Covered. Themes like the decline in federal gun prosecutions under the Clinton administration, the positive use of guns in self-defense, and successful pilot prosecution programs like Project Exile in Richmond, Virginia, drew tiny story counts in the single digits in the 653-story sample.

Freedom Network News via IWR.com 1999 Mark Valverde "……Samuel L. Blumenfield, writing in WorldNetDaily (July 7) noted: What is most disturbing, however, is the growing awareness that the increased violence among school children may have more to do with the drugs than with the guns they use to carry out their violence. Kelly O'Meara, writing in the June 28, 1999 issue of Insight magazine, (and cited by Blumenfield) reports that there are now over five million school children on psychotropic drugs, most of which are prescribed and administered in the government schools themselves. The December 1996 Teacher Magazine (also cited by Blumenfield) reports that there are four million on Ritalin alone, while Alexander Cockburn, writing in the Los Angeles Times (July 6), reports that Ritalin is being given to about two million American school children…….. Eighteen-year-old Eric Harris, who with his friend Dylan Klebold, 17, massacred their classmates and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, had been taking Luvox for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. T. J. Solomon, 15, who shot and wounded six fellow students at Heritage High School in Conyers, Georgia, on May 20 was on Ritalin for depression. Also on Ritalin for Bi-polar Disorder was fifteen-year-old Shawn Cooper, who fired two shotgun rounds, narrowly missing classmates and teachers at his high school in Notus, Idaho. Kip Kinkel, 15, who first killed his parents and later killed two students and wounded 22 more in his Oregon school's cafeteria, was on Ritalin and Prozac. Mitchell Johnson, 13, who, with his friend, Andrew Golden, 11, shot several children and a teacher at Westside Middle School in Jones-boro, Arkansas, was being treated by a psychiatrist and is presumed to have been on some sort of medication…… "

Freedom Network News via IWR.com 1999 Mark Valverde "……Jack Wheeler, writing recently in Strategic Investment, observed that Prozac and Luvox are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): Serotonin is a brain chemical or neurotransmitter that conducts messages in the brain's serotonergic nervous system. As an inhibitory transmitter, it inhibits or slows down other nerves from firing. Thus it is essential for impulse regulation, for inhibiting acting without thinking first. Serotonin-deficient people are more prone to depression, impulsive violence, and committing suicide by violent means . . . .. A SSRI like Luvox or Prozac blocks or slows down the transport mechanism, leaving more serotonin in the gap. This causes an increase in production of the enzyme to eat it up. People feel more optimistic, and less depressed and prone to go out of control, with more serotonin in the receptors. But note that an SSRI doesn't enable the brain to produce more serotonin - rather, it causes what serotonin there is to be used up faster……Wheeler, insists that the "FDA is far more to blame than the NRA" for the recent incidences of school violence, not because the FDA approved these drugs, but because the FDA legally prohibits a nutritional alternative….."

The Tampa Tribune 1/9/00 Ed Raciborski "…. The kneejerk reaction by some politicians (and pushed by gun conrol proponents) every time there is a multiple shooting by a deranged nut is to scream for stronger antigun laws. Many of these politiians and antigunners have praised the restrictive gun laws put into effect in Australia in 1996 just weeks after a tragic multiple shooting there. Before being panicked into following Australia's lead, our leaders should take a closer look at what has happened in Australia since the new antigun laws came into being. Just one year later, homicides increased 3.2 percent. Nothing really to get excited about unless you're one of the extra 3.2 people per 100 killed. Armed robberies, however, shot up a startling 44 percent and assaults were up 8.6 percent. Burglaries, expecially against the elderly, have risen dramatically. What is especially disturbing about these burglaries, as revealed by a comprehensive study at the University of Chicago, is that almost 50 percent occurred while the resident victims where home, which greatly increases the danger of violence, injuries and death…..Compare that with the burglaries in the United States, where resident victims are home in only 13 percent of the cases. Why the big difference? Ask any U.S. burglar and he will tell you it's because his biggest fear is to be blown away by a law-abiding armed citizen whose home he is attempting to burglarize….."

Washington Post 1/9/00 Rene Sanchez "…..Picking up where they left off last year, California's lawmakers are charging back to work vowing to pass another batch of tough gun-control laws. But this time, as a high-stakes election season begins to unfold, it seems they have lost their most important ally, Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.. . Now, lawmakers across the Golden State say they want to take another potentially significant step: Imposing more extensive registration and new licensing requirements on prospective gun owners. An array of proposals already is being developed in the legislature, which reconvened last week. Most would force gun owners to take more safety tests, pay higher fees and renew a firearms license every year or few years…..But Davis sounds worried that the legislature is going too far, too fast. His caution, his aides say, is both practical and political. He wants to give law enforcement officials and the public a chance to adjust to and assess the new gun laws without creating still more rules. He also apparently fears that approving another wave of gun laws could galvanize conservative voters at a time when the looming presidential race in make-or-break California looks quite competitive. Some early polls of hypothetical election matchups show Vice President Gore, whom Davis has endorsed, in a dead heat with Texas Gov. George W. Bush…."

San Francisco Chronicle 1/8/00 Charlie Goodyear, Bill Wallace "….The bloody shootout that ended in the deaths of two people and the wounding of two others in Alamo this week has reopened the long-standing debate over whether homeowners should use firearms to try to defend themselves. The shooting, which occurred during an alleged home-invasion robbery on Tuesday night at the residence of Dr. Kim Fang, 49, a retired surgeon, ended when Fang traded shots with the two armed robbers, Soknoeum Nem, 21, and Mesa Kasem, 22, both of Stockton ...

Constitution Front Page News AP 12/27/99 Laurie Asseo "….More than 1 million background checks were conducted nationwide for prospective gun buyers during each of the past two months, FBI officials said Monday. The 1,045,799 checks by federal and state officials so far this month is up from 1,004,333 in November, said Daniel Wells, acting operations manager for the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check system based in Clarksburg, W.Va. In December 1998, there were 871,644 background checks, he said. ``We expect a December spike based on Christmas sales,'' said Daniel Wells, ``It's a bit larger than we expected.'' ... "

Los Angeles Times 1/7/00 Carl Ingram "….Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer denied Thursday that his enforcement of California's newly toughened ban on military-style assault weaons extends to sporting rifles commonly used by hunters. Lockyer accused critics of the 6-day-old law, including the National Rifle Assn. and two of the state's firearms dealers, of launching a campaign to confuse the public and undermine the controversial statute. "We are not going to interfere with [a citizen's] right to hunt, to target shoot, to protect themselves in their homes. Nobody wants to do that. But we are trying to get military-style weapons out of the market," he said…… Lockyer insisted that he did not go beyond what the Legislature in tended and that his rules do not apply to "hundreds of forms of rifles" that "hunters are accustomed to using." In an attempt to make California safer, the new law banned certain semiautomatic arms that contained such military characteristics as a pistol grip, flash suppressor and folding stock. But NRA lobbyist Stephen Helsley charged that Lockyer's implementation regulations were written so tightly that they also prohibit a wide range of semiautomatic center-fire sporting rifles with detachable ammunition magazines….."

USA Today 1/7/00 Gary Fields "….The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are a step closer to a nationwide computer system that will let them identify and trace guns and bullets in much the same way individuals are identified and tracked by fingerprints. The agencies have been trying to make their systems compatible for more than a year. Last week, they said they had succeeded. "We now have an advanced tool," Treasury Undersecretary James Johnson says. "The next step is to make sure everybody who needs that tool has access to it." More than 230 crime labs and police departments will be able to use it . …… The FBI's Drugfire system and the ATF's Integrated Ballistics Imaging System have helped solve about 5,700 cases, from street shootings in the USA to war atrocities in the Balkans. In both systems, bullets and cartridge cases are photographed with a digital camera. The images are computerized, and the system is used to measure microscopic imperfections. The images are then compared with other bullets and shell casings in the system . The two systems had been incompatible because each used a different method to photograph and measure images. They now are compatible because they use the same software, among other changes….."

Saturday Evening Post 2/2000 Charleston Heston "…..For those of us who've lived through the last half or three-quarters of the 20th century, the new millennium promises an entirely new world. We've seen a lot of changes world- wide and within our country, and much of what has defined us as a culture and a nation is being lost. The one American cultural touchstone that's being disparaged and diminished most today is the tradition of gun ownership in general and the constitutional right to own firearms in particular. This is a dangerous development. Those who wish to do away with that freedom are focusing on young people as their primary target audience. ultimately, future generations may have to pay the price for that loss of freedom with their liberties and their lives. That's why I urge you as fellow parents and grandparents not to let the American tradition of firearm ownership perish. …… Over 2,300 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle considered arms ownership the single most reliable indicator of whether a society was free. On the other side of the coin, Plato considered ordinary people too reckless, too ruled by emotion, or not intelligent or judicious enough to be trusted to conduct their own affairs. For Plato, the common people needed an elite class of "philosopher kings" to rule over them and protect them from their vices. Unfortunately, it's tough to relate to "the little people" when you live in an ivory tower. No matter how benign "Plato's republic" might have seemed in theory, in practice it would have amounted to a police state. …… There is no such thing as a free nation where police and the military are allowed the force of arms but individual citizens are not. nose of us who've seen the terrors visited upon the human race this century know: From Hitler and Stalin, to Mao Zedong and Pol Pot, every genocide we've seen began with the denial of the right to keep and bear arms…."

The Boston Herald/AP 1/6/00 "….The television networks are so badly slanting the gun control debate they have become the ``communications division of the anti-gun lobby,'' says the head of a conservative media watchdog group that studied the issue. The Media Research Center, chaired by Brent Bozell, released a study Wednesday on two years of television news stories on gun control. The study analyzed the morning shows and evening newscasts between July 1, 1997 and June 30, 1999 on ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC. In many cases, the study claimed, pro-gun themes were not covered and gun proponents were not given air time. ….. Bozell's group says it examined 653 morning and evening news stories on gun policy issues and found that stories advocating more gun control outnumbered stories opposing gun control 357 to 36 or a ratio of 10 to 1. The group said 260 stories were neutral….."

Msnbc 1/6/99 Reuters "….Some California legislators want handguns treated the way cars are: licensed and registered.Handgun owners in California would have to register their weapons and get licenses to use them, just as they do with their automobiles, under proposed legislation that would give the state some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation….. DEMOCRATS WHO control both houses of the legislature have proposed at least four separate bills in an aggressive effort to make California the first state to require handgun owners to face yearly background checks and new buyers to go through a hands-on safety training course. But Democratic Gov. Gray Davis is on record as saying he wants a moratorium on new gun control legislation this year because it is an election year….. But gun control foes say stricter measures are unnecessary and will eventually lead to confiscation of handguns. CRIMINALS DON'T CARE "No criminal is going to stand in line registering their guns. We think their efforts would be better placed in prosecuting criminals who have violated existing gun laws," said James Baker, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, which estimates there are 7 million to 10 million handguns in California…."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 1/10/00 William Goldcamp "…..No one can say we live in humorless times. The Clinton administration's threat to use the power of the federal government to blackjack concessions from the gun industry or hit it with a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's 3,200 housing authorities comes hard on the heels of new evidence supporting the claims of the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights organizations that the Second Amendment confers upon individuals, not only militias, the right to keep and bear arms. A Nov. 22 article in the Wall Street Journal dealt devastating body blows to the gun-control lobby's efforts to strip the Second Amendment of its meaning. The article cites that in 1789 James Madison, the father of the Constitution, made "the right of the people" the first clause in early drafts of the amendment, indicating his belief that it is the right of the people to keep and bear arms that makes a well-regulated militia possible….."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 1/10/00 Rowan Scarborough "….An internal study appears to rebut the argument of Pentagon leaders that officers are fleeing the military for better paying private-sector jobs in a robust economy. "Pay is not a major factor in career intent," says the Army survey, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times. "The decision to leave is based on multiple reasons . . . a strong civilian economy enables career change, but does not cause it." The Army survey reinforces the findings of a study released today by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which concludes that "readiness and morale" have "slipped" in recent years. The Army survey was conducted at Fort Benning, Ga., home of Army infantry training, by the Army Research Institute. An Army spokesman declined to comment because the report is still a "working document." …. The most often-cited reasons the captains gave for leaving were high-operational tempo, a "dissatisfaction" with the Clinton administration's peacekeeping missions, "excessive micromanagement" by superiors, and insufficient time and equipment for realistic combat training…."

Associated Press 1/11/2000 Laurie Asseo "…..The Supreme Court confronts crucial questions of federal versus state authority in a case that asks whether rape victims can sue their attackers in federal court. Lawyers for a former Virginia Tech student who says she was raped by two football players are asking the justices in arguments today to reinstate a key provision of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act….. The law ``displaces state prerogative in areas of traditional state authority,'' lawyers for one of the football players contended in court briefs. Allowing Congress to regulate non-economic conduct would ``authorize Congress to regulate virtually anything,'' they added. The Clinton administration and 36 states are siding with Christy Brzonkala and asking the court to reinstate the federal law……. The court in 1995 threw out the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act, which made it a crime to possess a gun near a school. The justices said the law was insufficiently linked to interstate commerce and usurped states' authority over such crimes. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals relied heavily on that ruling when it threw out Brzonkala's lawsuit against the two football players. The appeals court said Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce and assure all citizens of equal protection did not authorize it to enact the portion of the Violence Against Women Act that let rape victims sue their attackers….."

WND 1/10/00 Jon Dougherty "....Surprisingly, the Associated Press ran a story last week based on a new study about gun control bias in the press authored by the Media Research Center. Surprising, I say, because the establishment media rarely faults itself for coverage that is obviously biased; however, readers of the article will conspicuously note that the AP neglected to include itself as a news agency that routinely toes the anti-gun line. To underscore MRC's point, most of the linked articles on the Yahoo! News site containing the article about the Center's research were pro-gun control. How's that for validation? But Paiss and others -- oblivious to reality and to their own "scare-posturing" about the "evils" of guns -- ignore the evidence. Well, they ignore it at their own risk. Make no mistake about it -- if this country ever becomes gun-free, Paiss and others like her will be infinitely more at risk to violence perpetrated by criminals than they are now. Only a moron with an agenda cannot see that -- especially for women -- guns are the great equalizer in a confrontation with a criminal, even when the confrontation doesn't turn out as well as one had hoped....."

AP 1/10/00 Steven Paulson ".....Last April, Gov. Bill Owens was sitting in his office, ready to sign legislation to expand the right to carry concealed firearms. Then gunshots rang out at Columbine High School. The Republican governor didn't sign the measure on his desk, and asked lawmakers to take all gun legislation off the table, which they did. Now, nine months later, Owens has come out in support of gun-control measures. And despite some opposition from Owens' party, which controls both houses of the state Legislature, the measures have a pretty good chance of passing......"

Washington Times 1/20/2000 Bill Sammon "….Settlement talks between gun makers and municipalities that are suing them have broken off because the gun makers objected to White House intervention in negotiations that had been scheduled for tomorrow in Las Vegas. Gun manufacturers are blaming White House meddling for the cancellation of tomorrow's talks, saying President Clinton injected politics into the negotiations…… The cancellation will not necessarily prompt the administration to press forward with a federal lawsuit against gun makers that it threatened last month, he said. "We still want to give responsible voices in the industry a chance to explore an agreement," Mr. Reed said. "But we've also said from the beginning that if we can't reach a good settlement, we're prepared to go to court."…. The lawsuit would be modeled on the cities' suits, which accuse gun makers of selling defective products or marketing them in ways that increase the likelihood they will be used to commit crimes. The suit would parallel the massive federal litigation filed by the Justice Department against the tobacco industry. But unlike Big Tobacco, which has the resources to fight such litigation, the gun industry has narrow profit margins and might be overwhelmed by the cost of defending itself against various suits. Some gun makers have already closed up shop or reduced operations, rather than pay the hefty costs of defending themselves…."

East Valley Tribune, Mesa, Arizona 1/21/2000 "… It's not hard to appreciate why Valley firearms dealer Kenny Woodward is skeptical about more gun controls. He has proof that existing gun laws aren't being vigorously enforced. Woodward's Caswell Shooting Club in Mesa has been burglarized repeatedly - by the same crook who's been caught repeatedly. Woodward says Joseph Alsip III has stolen about 50 guns worth $30,000 from his business in four burglaries over the past five years. You'd think this guy would have been sent away for a long time after the second or third offense. Maybe prosecuted with tough federal laws. But no. Time after time he's gotten little more than a slap on the wrist. No wonder he kept coming back for more. Finally, Maricopa County's judicial system has been prodded to issue more than just another slap. Alsip was sentenced recently to 16 years in prison for his latest heist……"

Los Angeles Times 1/21/2000 Maura Dolan "….The California Supreme Court has decided to review a landmark ruling that would open the way for gun makers to be held legally responsible when their products are used in crimes. The court, acting on a petition by a gun manufacturer, agreed to review a Court of Appeal decision handed down in September that left gun makers vulnerable to negligence lawsuits in criminal shootings. The appeals court ruling is the only such decision by an appellate panel in the country so far. The state high court's ultimate decision in the case will affect several pending lawsuits filed against gun makers by Los Angeles, San Francisco and other California cities and counties. In addition, the justices already have agreed to review several other gun-related cases, including one challenging the constitutionality of the state's ban on assault weapons. Because of that, the court is likely to have a significant impact on gun control in California over the next year….."

NRA Institute for Legislative Action data compiled by Michael Caldwell 1/21/2000 "…Anti-Gun Individuals & Celebrities [Actors, Entertainers, Producers and Comedians removed from the list]

Cleveland Amory - Author
Herbert Block - Cartoonist
Robert E. Brennan - Financier
Jimmy Breslin - Columnist
Steven Brill - Author
Dr. Joyce Brothers - Psychologist/ Author
Bishop Edmond Browning - Espiscopal Leader
Art Buchwald - Columnist
Julia Child - Author/Chef*
Phil Donahue - Talk Show Host
Amitai Etzioni - Teacher
Michael Gartner - Columnist
James Glassman - Editor
Bob Herbert - Columnist
Molly Ivins - Columnist
Maynard Jackson - Mayor, Atlanta*
C. Everett Koop - Former Surgeon General, National Safe Kids Campaign
Ann Landers - Columnist
Leonard Larson - Columnist
Norman Lear - Producer and Pres. People for the American Way
Mike Luckovich - Cartoonist
Colman McCarthy - Columnist
Mary McGrory - Columnist
Abner Mikva - Former Judge
Norval Morris - Law Professor
Steven Rockefeller - Financier
Neil Simon - Playwright*
Lyle Elmer Strom - Federal Judge
Tom Teepen - Editor
Garry Trudeau - Cartoonist
Herman Wouk - Author

* Denotes membership on HCI's National Committee …"

Houston Chronicle 1/21/2000 Matt Schwart "…. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that shot down a city ordinance requiring show promoters to remove firing pins and install trigger locks on all weapons displayed at city-owned facilities. In doing so, the court also affirmed a jury verdict ordering the city to pay more than $383,000 in lost profits and attorneys fees to a Houston gun show operator. The operator of High Caliber Gun and Knife Shows Inc., Todd Bean, sued the city in 1996, claiming the 1993 ordinance all but banned gun shows from the convention center. City officials said the intent was to protect public safety, but Bean said the ordinance provisions were too onerous for a small operator to be able to put on a profitable show….."

The Associated Press 1/18/2000 Kevin Galvin "…. The new measures Clinton seeks - 500 new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents and inspectors and creation of a program to track guns through ballistics testing - represents a subtle shift in administration strategy…… The administration already has announced a request for $10 million to develop ''smart guns'' that fire only when held by their owners. A similar request died in Congress last year. The new plans for the budget for fiscal year 2001, which begins Oct. 1, represent an effort to invest more in enforcement of existing laws on the illegal use and possession of firearms, a priority for Republicans and groups such as the NRA…… As for enforcement steps, Clinton said he would ask Congress to hire the new ATF agents and inspectors and 1,000 more federal, state and local prosecutors to focus on gun-related crimes. He also will seek to expand an existing gun-tracing program from 38 to 51 cities and ask for $30 million to create a ballistics information network to track ballistics data of guns used in crimes. By maintaining records of unique markings each gun barrel leaves on bullets, investigators could track firearms used in crimes to their purchasers, even if that person had passed the weapon to another individual….. Boston's homicide rate dropped to a 38-year low in 1999, thanks in part to a program that allied law enforcement, the clergy, community leaders and gang members against crime. The Boston Pilot Project is credited with the homicide toll dropping from 153 slayings in 1990 to 31 in 1999. A strong economy and declining use of crack cocaine also contributed to improved neighborhood security…."

The Associated Press 1/18/2000 Robert Macy "… James Maupin checked out the sight on a new Smith & Wesson handgun at the world's largest gun show Tuesday and offered his assessment on President Clinton's newest gun legislation proposal. ``It means spending a lot more money on feel-good projects,'' said Maupin, owner of JDM Enterprises, a Green Valley, Calif., gun dealership. ``This will solve no problems. It will just create a new bureaucracy and do nothing. It's nonsense.'' ….. Maupin, a Los Angeles County police officer for 30 years before opening his gun shop, was one of some 30,000 people attending the 22nd annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show. The event is billed as the world's largest gun show, with a Who's Who of gun manufacturers exhibiting their weapons. Participants greeted Clinton's latest initiative with the same response often advanced by the industry. ``We have plenty of gun laws,'' said Ken Jorgensen, director of media relations for gun manufacturing giant Smith & Wesson. ``We certainly need to see those laws enforced. Communities who have enforced gun laws have seen crime decrease.'' …."

NY Times 1/19/2000 Michael Janofsky "…. Feeling pressure from a succession of lawsuits against gun makers, the trade organization that represents them is collecting millions of dollars from its members for legal defense and this week announced plans to support candidates and to lobby at all levels of government to fight greater gun restrictions. Until recently, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, representing companies that make all manner of outdoor products as well as firearms, had steered clear of political entanglements over gun laws and elections, leaving the fight to the National Rifle Association, an organization of gun owners that has long taken the lead on such matters…… And now, recent lawsuits filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and more than two dozen municipalities, the first major assault on gun makers, have forced the foundation to assert its own political agenda rather than to rely on the rifle group. As part of an initiative, many members are contributing 1 percent of their gross sales to help the gun makers defend themselves in the lawsuits, which are trying to force the companies to make safer guns. The money has been coming in since the program was announced at last year's trade show, and in an interview, Mr. Delfay predicted that the donations could reach as much as $10 million a year. The recent threat of a federal lawsuit by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to force the companies into an omnibus settlement with the N.A.A.C.P. and municipalities has spurred further action by the industry group. For the first time, Mr. Delfay said, the foundation has formed a political action committee to influence elections in November….."

News Max 1/20/2000 Dr Michael Brown "…. Many advocates of gun control point to Great Britain as an example of a gun free paradise where violence and crime are rare. Well, there may be trouble in paradise. Our friends across the Atlantic did tighten their already strict gun laws, with the Firearms Act of 1997, making self-defense with a firearm completely impossible for ordinary people. Obedient British subjects generally maintained a stiff upper lip as they surrendered their guns and their rights. How much did crime drop as a result of this sacrifice? It did not drop at all. In fact, according to the local newspapers, England is being swept by a wave of crime, including plenty of gun crimes. The London Times published a story on January 16th that sums up the situation rather well. The headline reads, "Killings Rise As 3 Million Illegal Guns Flood Britain". Armed crime rose 10% in 1998 and the numbers for 1999 may be even more dramatic. The British experiment with gun prohibition has resulted in the same outcome as other forms of prohibition. Since guns are banned, every criminal wants one and it is very profitable to smuggle them in….."

NRA News Release 1/20/2000 "….NRA Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre responded to today's announcement that the District of Columbia will file a lawsuit against lawful gun makers. "Today, the mayor of Washington, DC announces the most cowardly of solutions to gun crime: sue the firearm manufacturers," said LaPierre. "What they are NOT announcing is that gun criminals have a thousand to one advantage over their innocent victims here. Out of 2000 violent crimes committed in 1998, only TWO people went to jail under ALL federal gun laws. "Criminals are winning one thousand to one against tourists, families, citizens, and children in Washington, DC. It has become the criminals' winning casino where nine-hundred-ninety-nine times out of a thousand they go free. Should any family on vacation put their lives in that kind of danger? Should any family in the District of Columbia send their children out to play against those kinds of odds? "Americans need to know that in the cradle of freedom, criminals are freer than anyone….."

Denver Pest 1/23/2000 Jason Blevins "….Dave Anvers rocked back on his heels and surveyed the dozens of pistols and rifles that lined his display tables at Saturday's Tanner Gun Show. Among the rows of black and chrome handguns at the Denver Merchandise Mart event were several Rugers, made by the country's top gun manufacturer. Earlier this month, the company said it would distribute its rifles, shotguns and handguns only to dealers who sold the guns at stores, not gun shows. If Anver was anxious about Ruger's rule, it didn't show. "It could be hard to enforce. In my opinion, and I talked to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on this, a gun show is a legal extension of my licensed premises," said Anver, as passing shoppers weighed Ruger pistols in their palms. "Selling a gun here is just the same as selling a gun in my shop." …."

Los Angeles Times 1/20/2000 Carl Ingram "….A new legislative drive to license handgun owners and register their weapons with the state Department of Justice was defeated in the state Assembly on Wednesday. Gun control advocates dismissed rejection of the bill by the Assembly Appropriations Committee as a minor setback, and promised to pursue the issue in what they believe is a friendlier state Senate. "This buys me time. It allows the issue to continue to develop," said Assemblyman Kevin Shelley (D-San Francisco), author of the controversial bill, AB 1607. …."

The Boston Globe 1/17/2000 Jeff Jacoby "….The labels ''lobby'' and ''special interest group'' are rarely used by journalists to describe lobbies or special interest groups like the American Association of Retired Persons, the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP, or Handgun Control Inc. But when they refer to the National Rifle Association, ''lobby'' is frequently the first word that springs to mind. That is one of many anomalies documented by Brian Patrick, a University of Michigan scholar who spent a year comparing the coverage of the NRA in several prestigious newspapers - The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Christian Science Monitor - with the coverage of the four other groups. He dissected some 1,500 published articles, columns, editorials, and letters, and his findings are striking….."

The Boston Globe 1/17/2000 Jeff Jacoby "…. The NRA, Patrick shows, is less likely than the others to be identified by its proper name but much more likely to be tagged with some variant of ''lobby'' or ''special interest.'' The ACLU will typically be labeled a ''civil liberties group,'' ''abortion rights group,'' or ''leading liberal champion.'' Handgun Control Inc. is usually identified as a ''citizens' lobby,'' ''nonprofit organization,'' or ''public interest group.'' The NAACP is referred to as a ''national civil rights group,'' ''venerable civil rights organization,'' or ''the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.'' ….But when the NRA is in the news, the tone and terminology are often very different. ''Semi-automatic caucus.'' ''Lobbying juggernaut.'' ''Powerful gun lobby.'' ''Gun organization.'' ''Radical gun lobby.'' ''The classic Washington superlobby.'' ''Arrogant lobby.'' ''The gun lobby consisting of everything from neo-Nazis to nature-loving hunters.'' ''Most feared lobby.'' ''The Beltway's loudest lobby.'' ''A rich and paranoid organization.'' The use of negative or positive labels was only one of 16 different categories Patrick devised for measuring bias in newspaper coverage of the NRA. Many of his yardsticks are shrewd; all are revealing….."

The Boston Globe 1/17/2000 Jeff Jacoby "….More than 27 percent of stories about the liberal interest groups - the NAACP, AARP, ACLU, and Handgun Control - were accompanied by photographs of the groups' officials or events. Only 6 percent of the NRA stories were similarly dressed up…… When NRA officials were quoted, they were identified by their proper titles less than 20 percent of the time. For Handgun Control, by contrast, the proportion was 64 percent; for the NAACP, 73 percent. Thus Sarah Brady is the ''Handgun Control president,'' while Wayne LaPierre becomes merely an ''NRA lobbyist'' (he is the group's executive vice president). ….."

The Boston Globe 1/17/2000 Jeff Jacoby "….When information comes from the AARP, the papers use verbs like ''reported,'' ''indicated,'' ''concludes,'' ''documents.'' When the NAACP is quoted, the stories note that it ''spoke out,'' ''vowed,'' ''declared,'' ''announced.'' But when the NRA speaks, the papers often choose verbs that imply doubt: ''claims,'' ''asserts,'' ''likes to portray,'' ''contended,'' ''alleging.'' …… On no other issue is there a wider gulf between mainstream America and the media. There are more than 225 million civilian firearms in the United States. Some 45 percent of US households own at least one gun. To tens of millions of Americans, guns mean safety and peace of mind; they know intuitively what statistics prove: gun ownership reduces crime. Yet in the nation's eminent newsrooms, it is axiomatic that guns are nasty, that more guns mean more crime, and that those who defend the Second Amendment are ''gun nuts.'' …."

The Boston Globe 1/17/2000 Jeff Jacoby "….A detailed new study by the Media Research Center finds that in the 24 months ending June 1999, the morning and evening news shows on the major networks aired an astonishing 653 stories dealing with gun policy. Of those, 393 clearly went beyond straight reporting into advocacy - and nearly 91 percent pressed an anti-gun point of view. For instance, ABC's ''Good Morning America'' aired 93 segments on gun policy; 92 had a progun control slant. CNN's nightly show, ''The World Today,'' broadcast 98 soundbites urging more gun restrictions, but only 40 opposing them….. This bigotry against guns is irrational. It convinces millions of Americans that the media cannot be trusted. Someday the networks may figure out that in a land where almost one household in two owns a gun, demonizing gun owners makes no sense. But by then, who will be tuned in? ….."

Lingua Franca 2/2000 Chris Mooney "….As a self-described liberal Democrat and supporter of many gun-control measures, the University of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson has mixed feelings about having his academic work cited in Shotgun News and posted on Internet sites that link to the Montana militia. "I am in some very unattractive neighborhoods," he says of his Web presence. Levinson owes his popularity with the heavily armed to his 1989 Yale Law Journal article "The Embarrassing Second Amendment," which tentatively argued that the amendment guarantees a right to bear arms not just for state-militia members but also for individual citizens. Now endlessly cited by scholars and distributed by the National Rifle Association, Levinson's article makes him a slightly reluctant founder of what has come to be called the "Standard Model" of Second Amendment scholarship….."

The Philadelphia Inquirer 1/25/00 Matt Archbold "….In response to a federal study on the number of antique or antique-replica firearms used in crimes, Democratic U.S. Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel said yesterday that he would introduce legislation to include all working firearms under current federal gun restrictions. Hoeffel made the announcement yesterday, just days after receiving a report he requested from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms showing that nationwide, 775 antique firearms were used in violent crimes, including 15 homicides, during the last three years. "These results prove we have a serious problem that requires a serious, sensible solution," Hoeffel said….."

Daily Southtown 2/2/2000 AP "... A principal's decision to keep certain gun-related magazines out of the middle school library has spawned debate about the touchy schoolhouse issues of censorship and violence. Principal Melanie Ogle of Mayo Middle School ordered the magazine Guns and Ammo out of the library, and later rejected a teacher's proposal to replace it with a more youth-oriented magazine about shooting sports. ...."

Associated Press 2/1/2000 ".....A Rutland County legislator suggests there aren't enough guns in Vermont. Rep. Fred Maslack, R-Poultney, introduced two bills designed to get more firearms into the hands of ordinary Vermonters, and to require the military training needed to act as an effective citizen militia, should the need arise. The first bill would require all Vermonters who do not own firearms to register their names with the secretary of state. If they are eligible for military service, they would also be required to pay a $500 fee for the privilege of not owning a gun. The idea, Maslack says, is to create an incentive for buying a gun, rather than coughing up the expensive fee. ''Which would you rather do, pay 500 bucks, or 50 bucks?'' Maslack asked. ''There is a legitimate government interest in knowing who is not prepared to defend the state should they be asked to do so.'' Maslack said he was not advocating an armed insurrection. But he did say that a well-armed citizenry would act as an obstacle to potential or actual excesses by state government. ''Clearly, the framers of the Constitution wanted as many people armed as possible,'' Maslack said. ''The very presence of an armed citizenry checks the possibility of government tyranny.'' ...."

Miami Herald 2/2/2000 Beth Reinhard ".... Wearing American flags on their lapels about 300 gun owners packed a Broward Legislative Delegation hearing Tuesday to protest a bill that would make it a felony to own an assault weapon in the county. As of 10:50 p.m. Broward's state representatives and senators had not voted on the bill. Even with the delegation's approval, the bill would still face what promises to be a rocky battle in the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature, which has rejected several gun control measures in the last few years. The weapons ban would also need approval from county voters in a November referendum. Gun proponents filled the chambers at Hollywood City Hall and spilled out to the lobby and onto the steps outside, waving signs for the television cameras that said ``Don't make veterans into felons'' and ``My gun is my right.'' Busloads had traveled from as far as Palm Beach County to assert their right to bear arms. ``This bill is an encroachment of the second amendment of the Constitution,'' said Thomas Naelon, president of the South Florida Pistol Club and an owner of semi-automatic rifles that he uses in competitions. ``Its purpose is not to deter crime but to propagate the careers of politicians.'' ....."

Denver Pest 2/2/2000 Mike Soraghan "....The Colorado Senate handed the National Rifle Association a defeat Tuesday, endorsing a strong criminal background check that could block some people from buying guns even when they're eligible. The senators weighed what state workers should do during an instant background check when computer records show that a potential gun buyer has an arrest record but don't show whether the person was convicted. Democrats and moderate Republicans decided that SB 125 by Sen. Dave Owen, R-Greeley, should put the burden on the gun buyer to prove he or she wasn't convicted. Other Republicans said the burden should be on the government to keep complete records. ..... It was a victory for Gov. Bill Owens, who put his political muscle be hind the "deny on arrest" provision. Democrats crowed that it was a blow to the NRA's powerful reputation in the Capitol. ...."

Reuters 2/2/2000 ".....Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, in remarks published in the March issue of Playboy Magazine, says gun control advocates are ignorant about human nature. The one-time professional wrestler, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, noted that he had a sign posted in his home reading ``We Don't Dial 911'' -- apparently to warn intruders that he will take care of them himself rather than calling police. ``You think taking away our guns is going to eliminate man's hostility toward man? Not true,'' Ventura said in the interview. ``Gun control people don't know what they're talking about. They're ignorant. They believe things without researching or understanding.'' ``I hear (talk show host) Rosie O'Donnell say, 'Why should you be allowed to have a gun that shoots 20 bullets a second?' You can't,'' Ventura said. ``An assault weapon doesn't shoot 20 bullets a second. It's semiautomatic, the same as a deer rifle.'' ``She's perpetuating a lie that half of the ignorant people out there are going to believe,'' he added. ....... "

USAJournal.com 2/2/2000 ".....A bankruptcy measure that gun makers said would have been catestrophic to their industry was defeated in a roll call vote on the floor of the Senate this afternoon by a vote of 68 - 29. Gun Owners of America, which had done an analysis of the measure, said the measure offered as an Amendment by Michigan Democrat Carl Levin to S. 625, the Bankruptcy Reform Act, said it would have taken "a major step toward eliminating the manufacture and sales of firearms in America." The Senate is considering other amendments to the bill. At issue was the Michigan Democrat's attempt to prohibit gun makers from declaring bankruptcy if courts found them liable in one of dozens of lawsuits filed by about 30 municipalities nationwide. Embattled by the suits, GOA said many of the manufacturers have already encountered trouble with insurers who said they will refuse to help many manufacturers defend themselves. "The Levin amendment would provide that, if a...[judge] entered an enormous judgment against a firearms manufacturer or dealer, the manufacturer or dealer could not avoid the judgment by declaring bankruptcy, even if the judgment massively exceeded the total assets of the manufacturer or dealer," the GOA said in a published statement......"

The Hill 2/2/2000 Betsy Rothstein "....As President Clinton pressures Congress to pass "commonsense" gun control measures, outside conservative groups are mounting an offensive aimed at convincing some pro-gun Republicans to derail any gun control legislation. In his final State of the Union Address Thursday, Clinton called on the House to follow suit on last year's Senate-passed gun safety bill, and to also fund research for "smart gun" technology. The former would require background checks at gun shows, child safety locks for new handguns and a ban on the import of ammunition clips. In a surprise move that energized the gun lobby, he also proposed that all new handgun buyers be forced to obtain a state photo license before they can purchase a gun. "It's ludicrous and dangerous," John Velleco, spokesman for Gunowners of America, said of Clinton's proposal. However, he added, "[Clinton's] not our biggest problem. Our biggest problem is Republicans."....."

AP 2/2/2000 "....Partisan clashes over gun makers and anti-abortion protesters is marking Senate debate on legislation that would make it tougher for people to sweep away their debts through bankruptcy. An amendment proposed by Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., would prohibit gun makers and dealers from erasing debts in bankruptcy that arose from successful lawsuits against them. Conservative GOP lawmakers have protested the amendment as anti-business...."

Boston Globe 2/1/2000 Ellen Barry "aking 200-year-old constitutional provisions for the creation of a ''well-regulated militia'' to their most extreme conclusion, a Vermont lawmaker has proposed a crackdown on Vermonters who do not own guns. Harkening back to the days of town square militia musters and citizens' armies, House bill 760 would require residents over 18 who do not own guns to register with the secretary of state's office and pay a $500 penalty. Hot on its heels was House bill 763, also introduced Friday, which would make military training a prerequisite for a high school diploma in the state. The man behind both bills is state Representative Fred Maslack, a two-term Republican legislator and quarry worker from East Poultney. Maslack, a longtime proponent of gun-owners' rights, does not expect a mass uprising or to see his bills voted into law......"

CNN 1/31/2000 ".... A meeting between gun industry representatives and municipalities involved in lawsuits against the firearms industry was canceled after members of the Clinton administration said they, too, would attend. The meeting had been scheduled for January 21 in Las Vegas after the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show -- an annual event known as the "Shot Show." Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo said Monday he had planned to attend the meeting in Las Vegas, but it was called off when some of the gun manufacturers backed out. Bob Delfay of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry group, said the meeting was canceled because gun industry representatives did not want administration officials involved in the discussions. "It was the White House insistence on getting involved which has caused the discussions to be placed on hold," Delfay said. ....."

Washington Times 1/31/2000 John Lott Jr "....The concern about violence in public schools has quickly turned into hysteria. Fanned by politicians, notably President Clinton, and the media, what may have begun as misguided but reasonable concerns over safety has ignited into an implacable and unreasoned hatred of guns, or indeed anything that looks like a weapon. Across the nation, those entrusted with the care of children have transformed firearms into a symbol of menace and evil, attempting to purge guns from the consciousness of kids, even when all admit doing so would in no way improve safety. I had a firsthand glimpse of the hysteria last fall, when I took my four boys to the Yale University Health Service for their annual medical checkups. Prominently displayed posters on the walls warned about having handguns in the home. Along with the normal questions about medical histories, the nurse practitioner asked us whether we owned guns and whether they were locked up or loaded. Her tone made it clear she disapproved of our answers, and she was unmoved by the fact that the Centers for Disease Control could only identify 21 children under age 15 dying from accidental handgun deaths in 1996. But the hospital had no signs warning parents about 5-gallon water buckets, in which 40 children under the age of 5 drown every year, or about bathtubs, which claim 80 lives. No questions were asked about whether we kept our buckets stored away or our bathroom doors locked. Yet the hysteria Americans may face when they walk into their pediatrician's offices pales when compared to what is going on in our schools. Under a "zero tolerance" policy, students face suspension or expulsion for even carrying around pictures of guns or other weapons. Students ranging from elementary school to college have even been expelled for even bringing water pistols to school, though no one believes brightly colored plastic water gun can be confused with a firearm. ....."

NRA-ILA 2/1/2000 Sturm Ruger "..... Sturm, Ruger does not sell its products directly to dealers or individuals; we only sell to a select group of independent wholesale firearms distributors. They, in turn, sell our products to independent licensed retail dealers, for resale to legally qualified individual purchasers. We have always formulated our sales policies to support stocking retail gun dealers, thousands of whom sell our products nationwide. Since 1985, our "Distributor Terms and Conditions" provide that distributors of Ruger firearms purchase them from us with the condition that they will resell Ruger products only to legitimate, licensed retail dealers with a storefront business, a resale tax number, and who comply with all federal, state and local laws. We feel that a true gun shop or sporting goods store is the best place for Ruger firearms to be promoted and sold, their operating features explained, and their safety features demonstrated. All this is very important, and our 15-year old policy has obviously been successful. Why did we do this in 1985? At that time, there was an increasing number of FFL holders who were not gun dealers. There was nothing intrinsically wrong with that, since all of them had to obey the thousands of firearms laws, and many law-abiding citizens had FFL's. ......Was our policy directed at gun shows? No! It was directed at certain distributors and storefront dealers who advertised and occasionally sold Ruger firearms to individual FFL holders via mail order through certain trade publications. ...... Please don't be misled by what ignorant or willfully biased anti-gun media may say. Gun shows were not mentioned in our sales policy. ......"

Associated Press Writer 1/31/2000 Jim Abrams "…..President Clinton's final budget proposal will include $30 million to help local communities track gun violence and promote gun safety, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo said Monday. Cuomo said the HUD-administered program, which needs congressional approval, would fund local efforts to computerize the mapping of gun violence and chart gun-related incidents in a community. Funding would also go toward education and outreach programs to promote gun safety, he said. The president is to announce his year 2001 budget proposal on Feb. 7. Cuomo said the spending initiative was part of a three-track administration campaign against gun violence, joining legislative efforts and possible litigation against gun manufacturers……"

Un-Common Common Sense 10/97 Freeper seadevil "….Enshrined within the Constitution and reaffirmed by over two centuries of Supreme Court rulings, the first 10 amendments were specific, literal enumerations of rights granted to individuals (amendments One through Nine) and the individual states (the Tenth Amendment) without regard to the designs of those who would attempt to build a strong Federal Government. The intent of The Bill of rights, as these first 10 amendments are called, was to grant citizens and individual states specific rights over the Federal Government that were never to be voided. These rights, along with the rest of the enumerations within the Constitution, make many promises. However, the Founding Fathers knew that unless the common man had a guarantee that these promises were never voided, the tyranny that they had fought so long and so hard to eradicate could and would again raise its ugly head. Within the Bill of Rights, the Founding Fathers included an amendment that would grant the common man the means to ensure all of those constitutional promise were kept: The Second Amendment. Contrary to the elitist, self-serving and self-righteous blathering of today (Sen. Feinstein, Rep. Schumer, several Presidents, Handgun Control, Inc., the Justice Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, et al), the only purpose for this amendment, as witnessed through the writings of the Founding Fathers, was to prevent the erosion of individual rights and to allow the common man the means to defend himself, his property and his loved ones against all unconstitutional intrusions of a tyrannical central government. They sought to provide in writing for future generations of Americans the same implicit right that made it possible for the American Revolution to take place at all. The wisdom of the Founding Fathers in dictating that the general population be armed as well as their clear understanding of the cancerous tyranny that inevitably infects a powerful central government devoid of any real belief in individual freedom and liberty are never more evident than today. ……"

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 1/27/2000 Dennis Chapman "….Firearms manufacturers and dealers would get sweeping immunity from lawsuits seeking to hold them responsible for gun deaths and urban violence under a bill endorsed by an Assembly committee Thursday. "These lawsuits have to stop," said Rep. Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem), chairman of the Assembly Judiciary and Personal Privacy Committee, which voted 5-4 along party lines to recommend passage of the bill. "Those of you who want to overturn the Second Amendment, it's not going to happen in Wisconsin," Huebsch warned...."

AP 1/28/2000 "….Gun manufacturers and dealers would have limited immunity from lawsuits when the weapons they market are used to injure or kill people under a bill an Assembly committee has endorsed. The state Assembly Judiciary and Personal Privacy Committee on Thursday voted 5-4 along party lines to recommend passage of the bill. Supporters of the bill said it is necessary to stop what they consider frivolous lawsuits. " Those of you who want to overturn the Second Amendment, it' s not going to happen in Wisconsin, " said committee chairman Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem. The Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms. …."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 1/31/2000 Michael Romano "….Attitudes on gun control sharply divide Democrats and Republicans in Colorado's congressional delegation, but personal choice splits them as well. The two Democrats say they don't own a firearm. Four of the six Republicans say they own lots of guns. The two other Republicans, both of whom are staunch gun-rights advocates, claim it isn't safe to say….."

Washington Times 1/31/2000 Valerie Richardson "....Interest in gun-control legislation has boomed since the Columbine tragedy, but so has interest in building student character after the evil unleashed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. With that in mind, the Colorado legislature is considering a proposal to require schools to post the Ten Commandments and offer a moment of silent reflection on our heritage as a free people in one nation under God. "Since Columbine, we're dealing with a new level of concern that value-free education is failing, and in some cases failing fatally," said state Sen. John Andrews of Golden, who sponsored the bill. Among the legislation's supporters is Darrell Scott, whose daughter Rachel was shot and killed in the April 20 carnage. Harris and Klebold murdered 13 persons and injured 23 that day before taking their own lives. Debate over displaying the Ten Commandments has raged for decades since the Supreme Court ruled in a 1980 Kentucky case that posting the Old Testament document in schools violated the separation of church and state....Clearly, however, the Columbine massacre has emboldened supporters. In Tennessee, civic and religious leaders have staged at least two Ten Commandments rallies since November that drew thousands of supporters. In the past year, seven Tennessee school districts have voted to allow the posting of the biblical laws. Similar movements are afoot in Florida, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia......"

Baltimore Sun 1/30/2000 Caitlin Francke ".... Tough gun law, timid enforcement Courts: Nearly three decades after Maryland set strict penalties for gun crimes, the law has had little impact in Baltimore. Three out of four people charged with handgun violence serve less than the mandatory five years. By Caitlin Francke Sun Staff The case against Donnell Harris seemed rock-solid: When Baltimore prosecutors charged Harris with carjacking two men and shooting one of them, they were armed with a confession from his accomplice, testimony from the two victims and a cache of .38-caliber bullets found at Harris' house. ..."

The Detroit Free Press 1/24/2000 Melanie Eversley ".... The first battle in the national legal struggle over who is responsible for gun violence could play itself out in a Wayne County courtroom. The county's lawsuit against a number of gun makers and dealers is expected to come to trial in circuit court in the fall, the earliest trial date for any of 20 such lawsuits by 30 cities and counties. Three of the 20 suits -- by Miami-Dade County, Cincinnati and Bridgeport, Conn. --have already been dismissed by judges; appeals are scheduled. The District of Columbia, which filed a lawsuit against gun makers and distributors Thursday, was the latest jurisdiction to file. Two other lawsuits, filed against the industry by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, are expected to go to trial in federal court in New York before the end of the year. Claims vary. Wayne County and Detroit, in separate claims filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, are each seeking $400 million as compensation for the price of gun violence. No court date has been set for either case, but Wayne County has been pushing for an early trial, Mike Duggan, deputy Wayne County executive, said last month....."

Baltimore Sun 1/24/2000 John Murphy ".....Organizers initially printed 500 tickets, but when demand increased, they printed an additional 3,500. More than 1,200 tickets have been sold to supporters in Maryland and elsewhere. Michael P. Corbett, a single father raising three children in Sudbury, Mass., Richard Facemyer, a chemist living in Columbia, Mo., and Randy D. Hix, a computer technician from Marietta, Ga., don't know each other, but they have a few things in common. They have never set foot in Carroll County and would be hard pressed to find it on a map. But when these gun rights advocates heard about the furor sparked by a Carroll County Republican group's handgun raffle, they reached for their checkbooks and asked: How can I get my hands on a chance? ...."

Denver Pest 1/26/2000 Mike Soraghan "…. The Senate Judiciary Committee has turned into the roach motel for gun legislation: Bills check in, but they don't check out. That could leave the Legislature in a stalemate as the nation watches to see what Colorado will do about guns in the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre. The committee is a funnel through which every gun-control bill must pass before it can be approved by the full Legislature and sent to Gov. Bill Owens. ..."

San Diego Union-Tribune 1/16/2000 david Hasemyer "….The 17-year-old Mt. Carmel High School senior has a record of national and international titles. She also may have another record pretty soon -- a criminal one. That's because the custom-made target pistol Santibanez has used to capture Junior Olympic championships, U.S. National championships and International Junior World championships falls into the category of assault weapon under a new state law. It's an unintended consequence of the law aimed at outlawing certain guns that have a sensational history of violence. But Santibanez's finely crafted competition pistol nonetheless became, at least technically, an illegal weapon on Jan. 1, much like tens of thousands of other pistols and rifles used in competitive shooting throughout the state. The pistol, a German-manufactured Walther .22-caliber, falls into the category of assault weapon because of its design….."

The Columbus Dispatch 1/26/2000 Lee Leonard "….Representatives of gun owners told a state legislative panel yesterday that a proposed safe-storage bill will not keep firearms out of the hands of children but will prevent homeowners from defending their property. A parade of witnesses told the House Criminal Justice Committee that educating children on firearms safety will do more to stop gun accidents than House Bill 526, which would impose penalties on gun owners who fail to properly store their weapons….."

Denver Pest 1/25/2000 Mike Soraghan"…. Round one went to the National Rifle Association Monday in the Colorado Legislature's gun debate. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee defeated the two Democratic gun-control bills they considered. And three Democrats joined with a conservative Republican to weaken the state's criminal background check - another NRA win. It was the first day in a week of marathon hearings that will give an early hint of what the Legislature is going to do on guns in the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre in suburban Denver. Today, the committee is expected to look at gun-rights bills. ….."

Washington Post 1/24/2000 Lee Foullon "….. Half the U.S. population, including 60 percent of handgun owners, live in right-to-carry states. The fact that right-to-carry is both popular and effective in fighting crime flies in the face of the gun-banners' philosophy. States that have right-to-carry laws have lower violent crime and homicide rates on average compared with the rest of the country, including a 24 percent lower total violent crime rate, a 19 percent lower homicide rate, a 39 percent lower robbery rate and a 19 percent lower aggravated assault rate. One key to suppressing crime is to raise the cost to criminals: A Department of Justice study found that 40 percent of felons chose not to commit at least some crimes for fear that their victims were armed, and 34 percent admitted being scared off or shot at by armed victims….."

World Net Daily 1/31/2000 "….Any dude that says guns, gun rights and the ability to carry concealed weapons is strictly a man's business has never met the Second Amendment Sisters but should; they'd make you proud. For one thing, they aren't your average "soccer mom" crowd. Yes, some members may have kids who play soccer, but this group has no time for, nor love of, the liberal anti-gun hysteria usually promoted by the typical soccer-mom mentality. For another thing, these gals -- who believe that women especially are vulnerable to violent (usually male) criminal attacks -- are tired of their liberal sisters (and brothers) making them easy prey. No more, they say; enough already with the stupid gun control laws. They -- like millions of other Americans -- are tired of just scratching their heads, wondering why so many of them get raped, beaten, robbed or attacked violently every year. They know the answer; for the most part, it's because they cannot -- by law -- defend themselves adequately. And adequately means with a firearm. Most big cities, where most of the violent crime in this country occurs, do not allow free moms and other citizens to pack heat. They pass laws preventing reasonable means of armed self-defense so these moms -- and thousands of others -- can be more easily attacked, killed, mutilated and sexually abused……. The solution, mothers are discovering once they examine the alternatives, is firearms. Only a firearm in the hands of a smaller, more frail and susceptible female can "equalize" a confrontation with a 250-pound gorilla in search of his next victim -- or his next victim's children. ….."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 2/4/00 Tillie Fong "….. Angry gun owners and gun rights supporters descended on the Governor's Mansion Thursday night to protest Gov. Bill Owens' "betrayal." "We want Bill Owens and the rest of the world to know: We will not give up our rights, we will not give up our guns, we will not give up the fight," said Bob Glass, owner of the Paladin Arms gun shop. "This is just the beginning. This is a wake-up call." More than 250 people, including 81 from Larimer County and a dozen from Johnston, marched on the mansion.. Matt Burke, 30, of Lakewood was watching over a stroller holding daughter Elizabeth, 4, and son John, 2. Elizabeth held a sign that read: "Empty Mansion, Empty Promises," referring to the fact that the governor and his family continue to live in their Aurora home. Kristina, 8, Theri, 7 months, and their mother Jennifer, 25, soon joined him. ….."We believe in the Second Amendment," said Jennifer Burke. "We want the kids to grow up to be free. All of our kids, except for the baby, shoot and we want them to be able to do that for a long time." ….."

AP 2/4/00 "…..Stepping up pressure on the gun industry, President Clinton today gave federal agents new powers to crack down on dealers and pawnbrokers who sell a disproportionate number of the weapons used in crimes. ``We're beginning the most aggressive effort ever undertaken to insure responsible behavior by gun dealers,'' the president said. ``Dealers whose guns most frequently wind up in criminals' hands will now be subject to intense scrutiny by ATF'' - the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. On another front, the White House said Clinton will ask Congress for a new, 25-cent-a-pack federal excise tax on cigarettes. In addition, he proposed that the tobacco industry be charged $3,000 for every smoker under 18 as part of a campaign to reduce sales to minors and eliminate advertising that could encourage children to smoke. ….Gun control and anti-tobacco initiatives are familiar elements of Clinton's agenda but also are the source of some of his biggest failures in Congress. Last year, for instance, Congress refused his requests for a 55-cent-a-pack tax on cigarettes and tougher restrictions on handgun purchases. Republicans are likely to view Clinton's latest tobacco proposal as yet another tax increase. ….."

The Orlando Sentinel 2/6/00 Charley Reese "…. If you have to obtain a government license to exercise a right, it is not a right. That's all that really needs to be said about President Clinton's desire to require that people obtain a license before purchasing a firearm. Unlike driving a car, the right of the people to keep and bear arms is part of the Bill of Rights. That Second Amendment states that Congress shall not infringe the people's right to keep and bear arms. Don't buy that malarkey that the Second Amendment applies to states or to militias but does not guarantee an individual right. A huge majority of legal scholars today agree that it does apply to individuals. ….. If the government is going to license purchasers of arms, then it should also license the right to speech, to assembly, to religious freedom, to trial by jury. There is no debate that unlicensed journalists through the years have caused far more damage to the republic than firearms. …."

The Columbus Dispatch 2/6/00 Mark Somerson "….. Dr. Jonathan I. Groner is studying patient records for every gunshot victim treated at Children's Hospital in the past seven years. He wants to make parents aware of the dangers of having guns in homes. During the past decade, Children's Hospital physicians have studied injury patterns and issued public health warnings about dangerous products such as trampolines, watch batteries and baby walkers. Yet one product that has consistently wounded, maimed and killed children has gone unaddressed. Until now. "If we can convince people that guns are no different than baby walkers, then maybe we can do something about it,'' said Dr. Jonathan I. Groner, a surgeon and acting director of Children's trauma program……."

Arizona Republic 2/6/00 William Hermann "…..The scene: the 1999 national shooting championships at Camp Perry, Ohio. The event: rifle targets at 1,000 yards, no telescopic sights. The competitors: a crew of the nation's most deadly snipers from the Secret Service, the FBI, the Marines and elsewhere. Oh, and Michelle and Sherri, two teenage girls from Prescott. Guess who won…… Their mother wasn't at all surprised at the girls' success. "I like the Secret Service guys," Nancy Tompkins-Gallagher said, "but they aren't that hot with a rifle. "I've told Michelle and Sherri that if I'm ever in a hostage situation and a sniper is called for, I want one of you girls to take the shot."….."

World Net Daily 2/8/00 David Bresnahan "….With President Clinton dramatically stepping up his war on guns in the past few weeks, Republican leaders are bracing for an increasingly bloody battle over gun control throughout this election year. "I think it's one [campaign issue] that Republicans run the risk of being beat up on pretty bad," North Dakota's Republican Gov. Edward T. Schafer told WorldNetDaily. "You know -- not caring about families, or crime, or these kind of things." "But, he continued, "we do have this fundamental Constitutional right in our country that we're trying to defend. Somehow we're going to bring some balance to it." If President Clinton has his way, individuals who wish to purchase a handgun will soon be required by law to obtain a gun license in the form of a photo ID, as announced in his State of the Union speech. In addition, Clinton wants to increase the size of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in order to conduct a large investigation of about 1,000 gun dealers. ….."

Washington Post 2/8/00 Craig Timberg "…..Bills to ban firearms in schools died in the Virginia General Assembly today as gun-control advocates energized by the Columbine massacre lost out to the growing power of rural legislators devoted to gun rights. The bills, which would have closed several loopholes allowing guns on school grounds, could be revived in the state Senate, but their defeat in a House committee was so resounding that gun-control advocates have nearly given up hope of passing new restrictions this session. They are preparing instead to defend against bills pushed by gun-rights advocates, including one that would prohibit Virginia cities from suing weapons manufacturers……"

Washington Post 2/7/00 Daniel LeDuc "….. It is the headquarters of Beretta USA, one the nation's leading firearms companies and the only gun manufacturer in Maryland. At the Accokeek factory, the company makes the U.S. military's standard side arm and supplies pistols to 2,000 police agencies in North America, including the Maryland State Police. A marquee name in the gun business, Beretta brought hundreds of jobs to the region when it located here in 1977. But now it finds itself fending off a high-stakes gun control initiative in its own back yard. The company has become the leading opponent of Gov. Parris N. Glendening's proposal to mandate that only so-called personalized, "smart" guns be sold in the state after 2003. Those guns require that some sort of electronic lock be disabled before they can be fired. Some prototypes have used radio transmitters; others have employed fingerprint scanners. Even as Beretta officials acknowledge researching how to make a smart gun, they say the technology isn't feasible. "It is something that doesn't exist in the market today," company owner Ugo Gussalli Beretta said in an interview. "We worry about the new legislation." ….."

Boston Globe 2/3/00 Martin Finucane "…..Pro-gun activists say the state's ban on gun sales from people's homes is snuffing out a legitimate business for no good reason, and they're going to fight it. Michael Yacino, executive director of the Gun Owners' Action League, whose group planned to file a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court today, seeking to keep home gun sales alive. ''There's been no evidence provided to us that indicates that these people have done anything wrong,'' he said. ''We're not sure what the problem was that was trying to be solved,'' he said. Attorney General Thomas Reilly told local law enforcement officials in the fall to begin revoking the licenses of dealers who sell guns from their homes. Reilly sent a two-page letter to police chiefs across the state, citing a ban on home gun sales that took effect Sept. 1 as part of the state's tough new gun control law. The move by Reilly in the fall immediately drew howls of protest from pro-gun activists. ……"

Denver Rocky Mountain News 2/9/00 Lynn Bartels "….Have gun, will call, fax, phone, write, cajole, beg, threaten, plead, admonish or whatever else it takes to get Colorado's lawmakers to kill strict firearms legislation. Gun-rights activists stepped up their lobbying efforts this week against a gun show-related bill that a House committee will hear today and other firearms measures scheduled for debate on the House floor Friday. "I'm getting buried by letters and e-mails and I'm for gun rights," said Rep. Gary McPherson, R-Aurora...."

Christian Science Monitor 2/8/00 Tim Vanderpool "….When this city's two daily newspapers recently banned classified ads for private gun sales, the response was fast and unforgiving. "Be a newspaper, not a police officer!" said one letter to the editor. Another called the policy hypocritical. "Since automobiles kill many more people than guns, are you also going to reject classified ads from individuals trying to sell their automobiles...?" The Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Citizen are not the only papers to get letters like these. Eleven others around the US also exclude such ads. The financial costs can be significant - The Seattle Times reportedly loses as much as $400,000 a year for refusing to publish certain ads. Still, as the traditional "firewall" between editorial content and advertising crumbles, the move is becoming a more accepted way of keeping values consistent throughout the paper, media experts say. …."

Ap 2/11/00 John Sarche "….A second component of Gov. Bill Owens' plans to tighten gun-ownership regulations was struck down today. The House Appropriations Committee killed a measure to require non-licensed gun sellers at gun shows to conduct background checks on their buyers. The vote on the background check measure had been delayed twice in the past two weeks as Owens and the bill's sponsor, House Minority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver, tried to persuade Republican members of the panel to send the bill to the full House for debate. In Friday's vote, six of the panel's Republicans voted to postpone the bill indefinitely, meaning it cannot be revived this session. Chairman Steve Tool, R-Fort Collins, joined the committee's four Democrats in voting against killing the bill. …."

Denver Post 2/13/00 David Olinger "….The entrance is on an alley. Two hand-painted signs, Big Timber Taxidermy and Wildlife Recreations Taxidermy, provide the only clues that business is conducted within. But if you open the alley door, walk down a ramp and into a dim, concrete hallway, past the men who sometimes can be found stuffing heads of wild boar or deer, a third sign hangs at the end of the corridor: A&T Specialty Shop. This is the federally licensed location of one of Denver's largest retail gun businesses, a dealership that sold about 800 guns last year. The gun-shop owner, Ash L. Johnson, spends little time here. On weekdays he occasionally meets customers by appointment on the alley side of 126 Acoma St., a business address where he keeps only a handful of guns. But on weekends, he can be found displaying hundreds of weapons for sale at Colorado gun shows. Johnson began selling guns about 40 years ago and says he never entered a gun show during his early years in the business. Yet these days, he guesses, all of the store owners he sees at the gun shows sells most of their guns on weekends. ….."

WorldNetDaily 2/11/00 Jon E. Dougherty "……For too many years, too many Americans have been killed, wounded, maimed and scarred for life because too many politicians are too willing to pass too many anti-gun laws. I admire the work of the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms, and other groups; but one organization that -- to me -- has demonstrated more guts and gumption than many of these groups combined is Citizens of America, the California-based pro-firearms rights group that has produced a number of effective, targeted pro-gun advertisements. That's a pretty powerful statement, but let me tell you something -- the time to be civil and polite and PC when it comes to defending our right to keep and bear arms is over. Here's a clue: The PC crowd, the establishment media and hundreds of politicians nationwide don't care how "civil" and "polite" gun supporters are. They hate us anyway. They hate our guns; and most of all, they hate the fact that they haven't been able to ban all of our guns outright. …… COA also puts the political elite on the spot: One commercial rhetorically asks why ordinary Americans are denied access to firearms while the arrogant political class enjoys armed taxpayer protection in the form of paid bodyguards and police officers. These commercials have impact. They make sense. They leave no doubt that unarmed and vulnerable, average Americans are more at risk from harm by the criminal element than if we were all allowed unfettered use of our Second Amendment rights. COA also supports the latest factual evidence -- studies that show that the more people who own and carry firearms, the safer our society is. Make no mistake, friends -- the fight to take guns away from us is set to heat up again. During his State of the Union undress, President Clinton shocked many gun owners and gun industry executives, as well as several congressmen, when he announced he would be pushing for an expanded role for the BATF and federal law enforcement officers to crack down on illegal guns, which is just political code for finding new ways to take guns away from honest people….."

Washington Post 2/11/00 Craig Timberg "…..Alongside the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the Virginia Constitution could soon be a new one: the right to hunt. The state Senate and Virginia voters must still approve it, but the House of Delegates today voted 72 to 27 for a new amendment giving constitutional protection to hunting, fishing and harvesting game...."

Detroit News 2/12/00 AP "…A judge dismissed part of the city's $433 million lawsuit that seeks to recoup costs stemming from gun violence. Detroit and Wayne County are among other communities nationwide that have filed similar lawsuits against the gun industry -- patterned after states' lawsuits against tobacco companies. The Chicago lawsuit -- filed against gun makers, distributors and dealers -- accused them of negligence for manufacturing, distributing and selling guns that ended up in the hands of criminals. But Circuit Judge Stephen Schiller ruled Thursday that the city's allegation of "negligent entrustment" is mainly used to redress wrongs between two private parties and doesn't apply in this case. "It's a disappointment but it was not the main argument of our case," said Jennifer Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the city's law department. ….."

Denver Post 2/12/00 David Olinger "…..Sixteen firearms dealers in Colorado have been targeted for thorough inspections under a new federal program that focuses regulatory attention on dealers that have sold the most guns traced from crime scenes. But only two will be getting a "demand letter" from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for records of their used-gun sales, an extra level of enforcement reserved for dealers whose guns have quickly ended up in the hands of criminals. The combination of frequent police traces and a short "time-tocrime," which ATF defines as less than three years from retail sale to police seizure, "provides two indicators that something's going wrong here," said Bill Kinsella, an ATF spokesman in Washington. ATF announced last week that 1 percent of the nation's firearms dealers sold 57 percent of the guns traced by police in 1998 - and promised to inspect them to find out why….."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP 2/11/00 "….A judge dismissed part of the city's $433 million lawsuit that seeks to recoup costs stemming from gun violence. The lawsuit -- filed against gun makers, distributors and dealers -- accused them of negligence for manufacturing, distributing and selling guns that ended up in the hands of criminals. But Circuit Judge Stephen Schiller ruled Thursday that the city's allegation of "negligent entrustment'' is mainly used to redress wrongs between two private parties and doesn't apply in this case. "It's a disappointment but it was not the main argument of our case,'' said Jennifer Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the city's law department. …..Lawsuits filed by officials in Miami and Bridgeport, Conn., that contained claims of negligence and public nuisance were dismissed in December. …."

Ohioans for Concealed Carry 2/9/00 "…..Since 1851, the Constitution of the State of Ohio has clearly guaranteed Ohio citizens the inalienable right to bear arms for self-defense and security. In May of 1999 Ohioans For Concealed Carry (http://www.ofcc.net), a non-profit civil rights organization began a statewide petition drive to demand Ohio lawmakers pass pending right to carry legislation (HB165) in the Ohio House of Representatives. This week members and supporters of Ohioans For Concealed Carry, Inc. applaud the actions of Senator Lynn R. Wachtmann, who introduced similar legislation to the Ohio Senate on February 9th. Senator Wachtmann's legislation came after the OFCC website made it possible for angry Ohioans to write their lawmakers email directly from the organization's website to express their concerns over the stalled status of this legislation in the House. ….."

United Nations press release 2/4/00 "….. [04 Feb 2000] GA/SM/149 : ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT STRESSES REFORM, FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT, GENDER EQUALITY, MENACE OF SMALL ARMS AND AIDS AS CORE UN CONCERNS …… GA/SM/149 …… Humanity, as I expected, survived, actually defeated, the Y2K bug. I am, however, afraid that in the critical and challenging fields of nuclear disarmament, human relations, disparities between the haves and the have-nots, organized crime, transfer of technology, financing for development, gender equality, children's rights and protection, the record of the United Nations Member States, industry and academia alike stinks to the high heavens. The global community is integrating and fragmenting at the same time and the United Nations efforts towards peace and development are constantly being frustrated…….. Last year, the Secretary-General produced a comprehensive and thought-provoking and, in some respects, challenging report. I would like to exemplify one issue, among others, which engendered a very robust and passionate debate, on a somewhat divisive issue. This issue, "humanitarian intervention", some delegations felt, put the concepts of State "sovereignty" and "human rights" on equal footing. There is the rub…….. I, myself, said that the idea of "humanitarian intervention" was not only alarming, but it was actually threatening the very existence of the sovereignty of States, as well as undermining the sacred principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations. I concluded by asserting that it did not constitute my idea of "a new world order". Until the jury is back, I still hold that view. …….. Today, at the United Nations, the ongoing discussions and trade- offs are concentrated on the following areas of policy that I have delineated:
First one is the reform, restructuring and democratization of the United Nations system, including the international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others…..
Second, financing for development, in line with the human-centred proposals and recommendations of the major United Nations summits, starting with the 1992 Rio Summit on environment and development through those on human rights, population, women and development, habitat and ending with the Rome Food Summit in 1996. Out of all this, poverty eradication is the ultimate goal.
Third, gender equality, which also links up with children's rights and protection, as well as the restoration of healthy and productive family life.
Fourth, the proliferation and spiralling menace of small arms in the third world where armed conflicts, civil wars and ethnic cleansing are rampant. The call is to put an end to this nasty business.
Fifth, the external debt owed by many developing countries to the industrialized countries. Total debt cancellation is the only answer…..
Sixth, and last, HIV/AIDS. This is, today, the single most devastating crisis facing the modern society and its inhabitants. The most affected regions of the world are the very ones where the poorest of the poor live, with sub-Saharan Africa topping the list….."

Worldnetdaily 2/4/00 Jon Dougherty "…..To hear Handgun Control, Inc. tell it, guns -- specifically handguns -- are the worst killers of both children and adults since the birth of the modern American nation-state. But the reality of the issue is this: Guns, in all applications and under all conditions and circumstances, routinely kill far fewer Americans annually than a number of other unrelated causes. In fact, as Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck has regularly proven, guns actually save about 2.5 million lives a year. Yes, I know -- what can we expect? After all, this is Handgun Control, Inc. and they have no compunction against telling the truth as they want it to be, instead of using documented facts -- all of them -- to present their case to their constituents and the American people in general. The establishment media has a large hand in perpetuating these lies and distortions of truth.. ……."

Worldnetdaily 2/4/00 Jon Dougherty "…..According to the National Safety Council, in 1996 alone, 120,000 deaths resulted not from guns but from accidental medical errors. In 1998, around 41,200 people were killed in automobile accidents; falls claimed 16,600; poisonings killed 8,400; about 4,100 people drowned; and some 3,700 were killed in fires or from burns…….Rather than guns being the leading cause of death in the home -- accidental or otherwise -- falls have that dubious honor. In 1998, home accidents in general accounted for about 28,200 fatalities, and about 6.1 million debilitating injuries. Of that figure, falls numbered 10,700. Most people who fell -- more than 86 percent -- were aged 65 or older. Falls are followed by deadly solid and liquid poisonings, fires and burns, and suffocation by ingested object as the leading killers in the home. Of "Deaths and Injuries in the Community," the NSC said, "the five leading fatal causes are falls, drowning, water, air and railroad transportation." From 1994-96, there were 129,536 deaths from automobile accidents and approximately 350,000 accidental medical deaths. This compares with 47,115 shooting deaths in the same period of time. Obviously we need to outlaw cars, hospitals and doctors as well as guns, eh? ….."

Worldnetdaily 2/4/00 Jon Dougherty "…..As for kids -- the favorite "pull-on-their-heartstrings" line used by liberal anti-gunners -- firearms are a child's (or a parent's) least serious worry. In 1998, motor vehicle accident deaths claimed the lives of 2,600 children aged 0 to 14; 200 suffocated to death; 570 were killed by fire or burns; 850 drowned; 70 were poisoned, 160 died from falls; and 40 died from carbon monoxide inhalation. During the same period, guns "principally in recreational activities or on home premises" accidentally killed 110 kids aged 1 to 14 years. Other methods, including "medical and surgical complications and misadventures, machinery, air transport, water transport (except drowning), mechanical suffocation, and excessive cold," killed an additional 500 children. So, as you can see, guns are not our biggest health problem in this country……"

Philadelphia Inquirer 2/17/00 Jay Seville "…..Far from making America more violent, concealed-weapons permits will counter violence by expanding good people's means of self-defense. There are 240 million handguns in America, and no doubt about it: They're dangerous things. Two hundred children under 15 were victims of accidental gun deaths in 1996. But then, hundreds more died from bicycle accidents. I doubt many want to ban bicycles……..The New England Journal of Medicine reported that "the family gun" is more likely to kill you or someone you know than to kill in self-defense. But this study had defined a "household gun" as any gun in the residence while the crime occurred - even a gun brought into the home by the burglar! Only 4 percent of those deaths could be attributed to the homeowner's gun……"

New York Times 2/17/00 Francis Clines "…..For all the political oratory and legislative proposals prompted by the Columbine High School shooting rampage, one of the few fast-moving firearms bills in the nation's statehouses this year is not a gun control measure. It is a ban promoted by the National Rifle Association against cities suing gun manufacturers for liability in deadly sprees by citizens. "It's one of our top priorities," said Jim Baker, the N.R.A.'s chief lobbyist, who estimated that the ban on urban lawsuits, already enacted into law last year in 15 states, would be approved by 15 to 20 more states this session. "We expect to have two-thirds of the states done by the end of this year," Mr. Baker said of the bill to protect gun manufacturers, which the N.R.A. is finding far easier to pursue state by state than in the federal Congressional arena. ……"

CBSNEWS.com 2/17/00 "…. The National Rifle Association gave thousands of dollars last month to Colorado state legislators in an effort to defeat gun control laws inspired by the Columbine massacre. CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports many of those measures were voted down this week. Only a few token laws, those supported by the NRA, passed. One allows cops to arrest people who buy guns for criminals and children; another re-authorizes a state background check program. Most of the other proposals were shot down. Among other things, these laws required background checks at gun shows, safe storage of guns at home and an increase in the age for buying a handgun from 18 to 21. …."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 1/15/00 Tom Kertscher "…..Town of Yorkville - Over the objections of police chiefs and prosecutors, state lawmakers and a largely pro-gun audience Tuesday extolled the virtues of a bill that would allow Wisconsin residents to carry concealed weapons. With the first public hearing on the Personal Protection Act, Wisconsin embarks on a path that has seen 43 states, many in the past decade, enact "concealed carry" laws. Wisconsin also enters the debate on whether guns in pockets lead to reductions in crime or create a more dangerous society. The bill may not be atop the legislative agenda, but as with many gun issues, it stirred emotions among more than 100 people who attended the hearing in the Racine County community of Ives Grove. "As a law-abiding citizen, I am not allowed to carry a gun in my own defense," said David Hickey of Mukwonago, who favors the bill. "I think that is criminal."…."

USA Today 2/14/00 John Larrabee "…..When gun owners crowd the Newington Gun Exchange during the weekend, the talk turns to the recent police raids on two homes in town. On both occasions, officers searched for and seized legally owned guns and ammunition, even though no one faced criminal charges. Under a new and controversial state law aimed at curbing gun violence, police can confiscate firearms based on nothing more than their belief the owner might be a danger to himself or others. Jason Baltrucki, a target shooter from nearby Marlboro, speaks for a majority of the gun shop customers in his criticism of the law. ''If you're feuding with an ex-girlfriend, what's to stop her from calling the police and saying you're a dangerous person?'' he asks. ''You've done nothing wrong, but the police are at your door and your guns are gone.'' Not all gun owners oppose the law, which went into effect Oct. 1. ''I don't have an objection to a law that takes guns out of the hands of someone who shouldn't have them,'' says Randy Graichen, a gun collector in the Newington shop to buy a replica of a .45-caliber revolver from the Old West. ''I have a number of guns, but this law doesn't worry me.'' Lawmakers had potentially dangerous people in mind when they gave Connecticut police the nation's most sweeping power to seize legally owned guns. Had the law been on the books two years ago, they argue, it might have prevented a rampage in Newington that left five people dead. …..Defense lawyers fear abuse of the new law. ''Anyone can make a complaint to police, even for vindictive purposes,'' says Gerard Smythe, head of the state's public defenders. Law enforcement officials say the legislation is an important tool for saving lives. ''This law allows us to step in before it's too late,'' Strillacci says. ''Whoever predicted it would only be used a few times a year underestimated the number of people who are emotionally disturbed, mentally impaired or substance abusers and who own firearms.'' ….."

The Cincinnati Enquirer 2/15/00 Robert Anglen "….After losing a vote to stop Cincinnati City Council from appealing the dismissal of a lawsuit against gun makers, Councilman Charlie Winburn today will sue the city. Calling the appeal a "wasteful and illegal expenditure of municipal funds in pursuit of frivolous litigation against the firearms industry," Mr. Winburn is asking for a restraining order to prevent the city from spending any more money on the suit. He also wants the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to prohibit further litigation against gun manufacturers. "We are wasting city tax dollars. I want the mayor and City Council to join me in stopping this," Mr. Winburn said Monday. "This is like taking $100,000 in $1 bills and dropping it out of an airplane." …."

New York Times 2/26/00 Raymond Bonner "……The Canadian government said today that it was reviewing all licenses issued for the import of firearms from the United States to be sure that they were for valid business or sporting purposes. A senior government official said that the review was being done at the request of the United States, which was alarmed by a huge volume of import applications for firearms since last April. The official said the review was being conducted on an "urgent basis." On Wednesday, the Clinton administration suspended issuing any future licenses for the export of firearms to Canada. The White House said today that exports themselves had not been suspended, which means that guns can be shipped if they were the subject of past import certificates. It is these certificates that are under review. The Canadian officials confirmed that new licenses had been issued for 115,000 handguns since last April. But they said today that only 1,500 of those had so far entered Canada. Nevertheless, the Canadians said the United States was concerned by the volume of guns that had been licensed for export to Canada, a concern the Canadians share. ….."

AP 2/26/00 David Dishneau "……A 66-year-old woman won a Beretta 9 mm semiautomatic pistol Saturday in a Republican Party raffle that provoked opposition even within the party. Helen Roop, a registered Republican and retired Carroll County finance department worker, opted for the handgun and shooting classes over the alternative first prize of $500. She must pass a background check before getting the pistol. The fund-raiser for the rural county's Republican Central Committee succeeded beyond organizers' dreams..."

The Daily Northwestern 2/25/00 Erin Murphy "….Charlton Heston blasts one-sided "fast-food journalism" "The media has become theater, and I will ask you to do what you can to bring down that curtain," the NRA-supporting actor told Northwestern University journalism students. "Leave the acting to guys like me. Drive out the actors and screenwriters who pose in your classrooms as journalists." …….. "There's so little respect for the written word and so much aversion to free thought that truth causes can't be championed," said Heston, who gave the keynote speech of Conservative Week, sponsored by the Northwestern Chronicle and Young Americans Foundation. ...... Heston accused journalists of presenting only one side of issues and molding stories to show political biases. He said that journalists should investigate and report stories on both sides of political issues……… Heston also blamed television for drumming political correctness into programming and playing to what people want to see. He also said television is increasing apathy among viewers, creating a society that is a "dumbed-down cult." "If 50 years ago you set out to destroy free speech, you would invent television," he said. ………. Despite saying that he was not there "to talk about guns," Heston said media coverage of gun use is an example of biased journalism. Heston said the press extensively covers crimes committed with guns while ignoring instances of people protecting themselves by owning guns. "The press pretends there are no positive social benefits to firearm ownerships," he said. ….."

American Hunter Magazine – NRA 3/00 James Jay Baker "…..Seldom have citizens enthusiastically supported a tax of any type, but the excise taxes collected from hunters and fishermen under two laws set up to enhance the populations and habitats of game animal and sport fish species have been a remarkable success story in wildlife conservation. Beginning in 1937, hunters and shooters have willingly paid excise taxes of 10 and 11 percent on new firearms and ammunition, confident in the knowledge that the funds would be spent directly on wildlife and habitat conservation. That was before Bill Clinton and Al Gore came to the White House and fast outpaced all other previous presidential administrations combined in their attacking the rights of gun owners and hunters. Now, this White House has "spawned a culture of premissive spending" of tax dollars supposedly earmarked to serve the outdoorsmen who pay those revenues, according to one General Accounting Office (GAO) investigator who recently testified before Congress. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) has misappropriated at least $45 million in excise tax funds set aside for game conservation, turning the special accounts into cash cows for pet projects of the Clinton-Gore Administration. According to a GAO report and at House Resources Committee hearings, this latest funding scandal is a Clintonesque twist on another type of "wildlife", with conservation tax dollars paying for trips to Brazil, Holland, and Japan, and reimbursement for lavish meals, liquor, and limousine rentals. In at least one instance, pressue was applied to an employee of the FWS to fund a grant proposal submitted by a zealous animal-rights group, The Fund for Animals, which is dedicated to the elimination of the very hunting heritage that those monies are collected to support. ……"

Las Vegas Review Journal 2/24/00 "……Washington D.C., has "failed to find any murder weapons" among 3000 guns purchased at $100 a piece under a buy-back plan. Meantime a participant in a similar program in Easton, Pa. writes: "I took three old 'top-break' .32s and a Valor .22 with missing parts (I had $15 in each) and a broken 12-gauge. I got $350 total. Bought a real nice sporterized .30-40 Krag for $50 from a woman who got there late and been in line an hour when they ran out of money. Went out and bought a mini-14 with the remainder. A great place to upgrade! ….."

Associated Press 2/25/00 "…..The export of guns and ammunition to Canada has been suspended while authorities look into a surge in requests for handgun licenses, the White House said today. The United States nine months ago began requiring licenses to export weapons to Canada. Since last April, licenses have been issued for 115,000 handguns, 25,000 rifles and 200 million rounds of ammunition, according to U.S. government data cited today by the New York Times. A senior law enforcement official in Canada told the newspaper that the import figures were ``astonishing,'' given the country's strict firearms laws. ``I don't know where these handguns could be going,'' he said. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said exports were suspended after State Department officials who monitor gun sales to Canada noticed a ``large, increased surge'' in requests for licenses for handguns, rifles and ammunition. ….."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 2/25/00 "……A Denver attorney filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the constitutionality of Denver's gun control ordinances. The lawsuit, filed by Donald Trinen, charges that Denver's ordinances barring the open or concealed carrying of firearms violates the constitutional right to keep and bear firearms. No one from the city attorney's office could be reached for comment late Thursday. A person who is under a "direct and immediate threat" falls under an exception to the open-carry ordinance, but hat person would have to prove that threat at a trial, the lawsuit charges. Similarly, Trinen said, a person carrying a gun in a car can avoid crimnal prosecution under the no-concealed-firearms ordinance if he proves he was "traveling away from the area of (the citizen's) residence or business." "What the hell does that mean?" Trinen asked. ……."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 2/23/00 Carla Crowder "….Paula Sacks and Kathleen Hopkins don't want your guns. They just want to have a meeting without gun-rights activists taunting them with bulhorns. That was too much to ask Tuesday night in Fort Collins. As local leaders in the Million Mom March, a national group pushing for stricter gun laws, Sacks and Hopkins spoke to about 40 followers gathered at the Foothills Unitarian Church. The moms were making plans for a Mother's Day March on Washington, D.C. Outside, nearly 200 vocal gun owners circled the building, carrying signs, waving flags and chanting slogans such as "Guns stop rape." "If we have to go underground, if we have to hide our weapons, if we have to have another American Revolution, we will," Bob Glass, a Longmont gun store owner, shouted into a bullhorn. Then he led the crowd into calling Hopkins out for a debate. "We want Kathleen. We want Kathleen." Hopkins owns a gun herself, so she doesn't see a need for Glass to go underground with his……."

WorldNetDaily 2/23/00 Jon Dougherty "…..But don't ever imagine you can challenge their right to say and think what they wish. They're on the side of "righteousness," don't you know -- as defined, of course, by all the leftists. At one point in our country's history, we used to use that line of reasoning to control slaves and other "enemies" of "conventional wisdom." At one point, Hitler used it to control his political opposition. …… For example consider the ridiculous nature of anti-tobacco advertising. It's "against the law" to advertise cigarettes in most venues today, but the same people who have championed this ban don't mind seeing Budweiser lizards or Jack Daniels plastered all over the same venues. ...All guns are bad -- taboo -- Americans are constantly told. Even a large banking conglomerate like Citibank refuses to do business with people who do business in weaponry. But it's OK to do business with other businesses that hype sex and violence -- as if neither of those two vices actually hurt people. ……If you're a Christian and you talk publicly about your faith, you're either branded as some sort of extremist or you're disregarded as unrealistic. Witness the numerous sportscasters who were uncomfortable talking to St. Louis Rams' winning quarterback Kurt Warner who unabashedly credits his skill and performance to the Almighty. …….If you're white -- and specifically a white guy -- then you're inherently racist. But if your skin is any other color in this country, you're somehow immune from being a racist, even though you may espouse anti-white rhetoric and blame "whites" for everything that has gone wrong in your life. Anything "liberal" or associated with the Democratic National Committee is good. Anything "conservative" or associated with the Republican Party, the Libertarian Party or anything right of left is worse than bad -- it's dangerous…….Only kids who are educated in public schools learn the "right" things, while kids schooled at home or in parochial/private settings are considered freakish and disadvantaged. And the list goes on. …."

American Rifleman 2/00 Wayne Lapierre "….. Jennifer Bono is described as "superkid, president of the student body, treasurer of the student fund, choir leader, Coast Guard Academy bound, Ensign-to-be." This Downsville, N.Y. high school senior epitomizes all that is good about American kids. And she proudly counts herself a member of the NRA family. Jennifer, at age 16, became a Master service rifle shooter, and she is justly proud of her accomplishments at Camp Perry.…. Jennifer was called into the principal's office, given a lecture about "assault weapons" and told to withdraw the photo. Her personal accomplishments, her discipline, her values, the pride of friends and family in her abilities were all politically unacceptable. Jennifer's image with her rifle "promoted violence," they said. She called her friend Ray Carney, director of High Power Rifle for the New York State Rifle and Pistol Ass'n, and a truly remarkable process began. Ray posted a personal alert on the Internet, and others picked it up. He told Jennifer's story and suggested people write the superintendent of schools in Downsville. "Keep it civil ... stay on track -- marksmanship is a way of life with Jennifer," he advised…….Ray Carney's leadership inspired hundreds of letters‹testaments to the importance of the history of firearms ownership, to the wholesome nature of marksmanship, to the deep personal qualities that it takes to become a champion in the shooting disciplines. Letters against the school action came from every state in the nation and from as far away as the Philippines and Australia. ......"

Freeper Nralife "….Today's Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper published the names of the 607 Larimer County concealed permit holders. Including, my 21 year old son. They report the "need to know" of the public, as the compelling purpose for the names being published. Well folks, then we need letters demanding every DUI recipient be published. Drunks kill more people every day than all gunowners or permit holders for that matter. We need some righteous indignation. Dave Greiling the editor, should be investigated through CBI to determine he is not an DUI offender. Today's paper had an anti gun message in every section, other than sports. The cry is to defeat the Chlouber bill on CCW privacy and to resurrect the "gun show loophole bill" by initiative. Tom Mauser, Ken Gordon, Bill Owens are all quoted in concert for more gun laws to "save our children." Fine company for a Republican Governor huh? Get a letter off to the paper ,,,, tell your friends,,, the line has been drawn in the sand and they have stepped over it.

reasonmag.com 2/22/00 William Tonso "….... Having whipped up hyste ria about "assault weapons," journalists now point to the results of their alarmist reporting as evi dence that they were right all along. Although big journalism's misleading coverage of this issue can be partly explained by a combination of ignorance and arrogance, it seems clear that hostility toward the right to keep and bear arms has played an important role. From the beginning, stories about "assault weapons" blurred the distinction between semi -automatics and machine guns. Machine guns are automatics: They fire as long as the trigger is held back. The possession of such firearms has been strictly regulated by the federal government since 1934. They have long been banned in some states, and no new automatics have legally entered civilian circulation in the United States since 1986. But semi-automatics, regardless of how much some of them may look like machine guns, fire one shot per trigger pull. Civilians have commonly used them for recreation and self-defense since the turn of the century True assault rifles were developed by the Germans during World War II and adopted by the major post-war powers. Such rifles combine the spray-fire capabilities of the less-powerful submachine guns and the one-shot-per-trigger-pull, aimed-fire capabilities of more-powerful battle rifles. Assault rifles are less powerful than traditional military rifles, which fire cartridges long used for hunting and target shooting. The assault rifles' smaller cartridges are easier for soldiers to carry in large numbers, and they reduce recoil, so the guns can be controlled during automatic fire. Domestic and foreign manufacturers offer semi-automatic-only variations of assault rifles, submachine guns, and other automatic firearms for civilian sale in the United States. Although the label is quite elastic, it is for the most part these high-tech­looking guns that Sugarmann and other gun prohibitionists call "semi-automatic assault weapons." But the hallmark of an assault rifle is a switch that allows the gun to be fired automatically or semi-automatically. A gun that fires only semi-automatically is not an "assault" anything, no matter what people like Sugarmann claim......."

Denver Rocky Mountain News Washington 2/20/00 Michael Romano "…..Congress' Republican leaders may abandon plans for a gun-control compromise this year, dropping weapons restrictions from a measure now before a Senate-House conference committee. Stripping gun-control restrictions is an option under consideration by Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Judiciary Committee chairman who is trying to broker a compromise on the huge juvenile justice bill. The plan was immediately denounced by gun-control advocates who continue to push for the House to adopt the same measures approved last year by the Senate. Provisions of the bill include a 72-hour background check, child-safety locks and a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips. "Talk about shooting yourself in the foot," said Sarah Brady, who leads Handgun Control, a 400,000-member gun-control advocacy group….."

Virginian Pilot 2/18/00 "…..A masked man shot during an apparent robbery attempt at a downtown gun shop was in fair condition Thursday in Obici Hospital, authorities said. The suspect, Antron Brown, 18, was wearing a ski mask Wednesday morning when he leapt over the counter of Southern Gun Works, apparently intending to rob the place, police said. The shop is in the 100 block of Cherry St. downtown. Brown wasn't armed. Unfortunately for him, the clerk behind the counter was. ..."

Denverpost.com 2/16/00 Mike Soraghan "……Someone out there is angry enough about the defeat of gun-control legislation in Colorado to spend a good chunk of money on advertising. The question is who? An advertisement has been running on Denver cable stations since the weekend. The ad shows a bullet piercing a succession of walls in homes. At the end, it is clear the bullet is going to strike a baby in a high chair. The ad then cuts to a black screen with a message asking that the Colorado Legislature "reopen the debate on gun ownership in Colorado." What it doesn't say is who is paying for the ad. The groups known to be working on gun control in Colorado say they didn't pay for the ad. That includes SAFE Colorado, Handgun Control Inc., the Bell Campaign, the Colorado Coalition Against Gun Violence and the office of Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. …….."

ABCNEWS 2/11/0 Josh Gerstein "….. At an event last week, Clinton said his administration was "beginning the most aggressive effort ever undertaken to ensure responsible behavior by gun dealers." Aides who detailed the plan said focused, intensive inspections of gun dealers by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms would be one of the key elements of this crackdown. But Congress has put limits on ATF's ability to inspect gun dealers unless there's reason to believe that a specific dealer is breaking the law. Under current law, ATF can conduct routine inspections only once a year, meaning that some problem dealers might not get a full inspection until 2001. Why does Clinton's staff try so hard to make these half-measures sound so significant? They're under orders. Aides say that Chief of Staff John Podesta has sent down word that, whenever possible, the president's events are to include regulatory or executive actions designed to dispel the notion that he's a lame duck. In an e-mail response to questions from ABCNEWS.com, Podesta acknowledged that he has told the staff to search high and low for unilateral actions that the president can take. "We need to operate in a context which recognizes our authority, sometimes broad ... sometimes more limited," Podesta wrote. …."

WorldNetDaily 2/19/00 Jon Dougherty "…..A new corporate policy at Citibank, one of the largest corporate banks in the world, prohibits "maintaining accounts for businesses that deal in weapons," according to a letter sent from the Las Vegas branch of Citibank to a local pistol club owner. The letter, dated Feb. 7, said the Nevada Pistol Academy would be forbidden from doing business at the Citibank branch as of Thursday, Feb. 17. The "Notice of Account Closure" said the bank was closing the academy's checking account and instructed account holders to refrain from making further deposits or writing checks on the account……. As a result, Lorenzo said he contacted the National Rifle Association who, he said, is looking into the legalities of the case. His NRA contact, Chris Oswald, was out of the office for the weekend when WorldNetDaily contacted the NRA late Friday afternoon. Chris Stark, director of the Texas Gun Owners Alliance, called the action an "outrage," and said it fell "under the category of unlawful restraint of trade." "For Citibank to operate in this manner is a violation of common and ethical business practices and is discriminatory," he added. ……"

NRA-ILA FAX "ALERT" 2/18/00 James Baker "…..The National Rifle Association is backing a legal challenge to Cincinnati's reckless lawsuit against gun makers as a violation of the state's "good government" laws. The lawsuit was filed in Ohio State court on Tuesday, Feb. 15, on behalf of Cincinnati Councilman Charlie Winburn (R). The suit argues that the city's decision to appeal its case after last October's ruling to dismiss it with prejudice (see FAX Alert Vol. 6, No. 39) amounts to a misuse of public funds. A hearing is set for March 3. "Taxpayers have every right to challenge their government when tax dollars are being wasted," said NRA-ILA Executive Director James Jay Baker. "NRA has always maintained that these lawsuits are utterly frivolous, and this is abundantly clear in Cincinnati's case, where the court so thoroughly rejected the city's suit. The very notion of trying to hold a third party, who operates in total compliance with the law, responsible for the criminal actions of another flies in the face of common sense and our system of American jurisprudence, and the city's decision to appeal its case is completely irresponsible." Support of this suit represents just one more step taken by NRA as it leads the fight to put an end to reckless lawsuits faced by the firearms industry. In 1999, the NRA successfully worked to enact legislation in 14 states to prohibit municipalities from wasting tax dollars through reckless lawsuits against firearm manufacturers. Baker said NRA continues this legislative effort and will seek passage in as many as 20 more states in 2000, and will continue to promote U.S. Representative (and NRA Board Member) Bob Barr's (R-Ga.) H.R. 1032. Representative Barr's legislation would prohibit any litigation that seeks to hold manufacturers, distributors, dealers, and importers who deal in non-defective firearms responsible for the criminal or negligent misuse of their products, and is awaiting action by the U.S. House. …."

Denver Post 2/17/00 Bill McAllister "….Legislation that would drastically reduce how much small businesses - including the makers of two of the guns used in the Columbine shootings - would have to pay in civil lawsuits cleared the House of Representatives on Wednesday, largely on a party-line vote. Republicans said the measure was designed to help small businesses survive and was not created for the protection of small gun manufacturers. But Democrats, including Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., charged that bill would do just that by sharply reducing the liability of any firm with fewer than 25 employees. ….."

Bangor Daily News 2/26/00 Emmett Meara "…..Rep. Christopher T. Muse must have felt like Jane Fonda at a VFW picnic on Friday. His proposal to create a commission to study the state's gun laws received about the same level of support from the Criminal Justice Committee. Out of courtesy to the South Portland Democrat who sits on the committee, the measure, LD 2494, was tabled for study. But it had enough bullet holes by the end of the Friday session to be declared dead, for all intents and purposes. Any attempt at introducing gun safety laws in Maine meets immediate opposition. Muse's bill was no exception when an estimated 100 opponents showed up at the public hearing earlier this week to condemn the study commission proposal as one more backdoor attempt at gun control. In fighting his losing battle Friday, Muse said opponents were ''paranoid. I don't want to take their guns away. I just want to make Maine a safer place. If we can stop one murder a year, I would say it was worth 100 times the cost of the commission. We can build a better mousetrap and we can save lives.'' ….."

News Max 3/3/00 Dr Michael Brown "…… Here are seven paradoxes that have developed during the course of this conflict:
1. Women are usually at a physical disadvantage when confronted by a male attacker and violence against women has been a major societal issue. Some women know that a firearm combined with training is a true equalizer….. However, many women reject this opportunity…. Thus, those who could benefit most from gun ownership are least likely to own one.
2. Police chiefs are famous for blaming crime on "guns flooding the streets", and generally support more gun control. However, rank and file police officers are overwhelmingly opposed to stricter laws…..
3. Celebrities and politicians who promote gun control are the ones who don't need to protect themselves. They have access to the best bodyguards that money can buy. Even if the strictest imaginable gun laws are enacted, armed men will still protect them.
4. As a result of state laws passed in recent decades, citizens in 31 states are now entitled to concealed weapons permits if they have a clean record and fulfill various requirements. Data gained from this change has provided important new knowledge for gun law discussions. To the great surprise of anti-gun groups, it turns out that permit holders are far less violent than the general population. Even more significant is the fact that crime decreased in the areas where permits were made available…..
5. Criminals victimize minorities at a much higher rate than the general population, yet many gun control efforts such as buy-backs and neighborhood sweeps of low income areas are aimed at reducing gun ownership by minorities.. .
6….. Liberals, who defend the right of a woman to have an abortion, would generally deny her the use of a firearm to protect herself and her family. Conservatives, who typically feel that the government should allow people to make their own important decisions, want more government control of personal reproductive choices.. .
7. …..Gun control simply does not work as crime control. Case after case shows that when cities, states and nations implement gun control, crime goes up. Washington, Chicago, New York, Australia, Britain; the list is long and getting longer as the seductive appeal of gun control spreads. Criminologists explain that disarming the law-abiding population makes life easier for criminals who are going to ignore the law anyway…."

NRA-ILA 3/3/00 "…..NRA-ILA FAX ALERT Vol. 7, No. 9 3/3/00 "THEY'RE (NRA) BASICALLY AGAINST ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES ANYBODY TO DO ANYTHING AS A MEMBER OF SOCIETY THAT HELPS TO MAKE IT SAFER." This outlandish claim, made by President Clinton during an interview with Katie Couric on Thursday's edition of NBC's Today, makes clear whom Clinton blames for the recent shootings in Michigan and Pennsylvania. This blatant attack on NRA was part of the President's response to a question speculating what NRA's concerns would be over so-called "smart" guns. He took the opportunity to lay the blame for criminal activity squarely at the feet of the National Rifle Association….."

ABC News 3/1/00 Christy McDonald and Chris Pavelich "…..Prosecutors today said the 6-year-old boy believed responsible for the fatal shooting of an elementary school classmate lived in a "flophouse" and used a stolen handgun he found in a bedroom there. Flint television stations reported that the shooter's father and grandfather were in prison on gun-related charges. The boy lived with his mother, a man referred to as an uncle and a younger sibling, Busch said. ……. Police say the boy is too young to face criminal charges and that they instead are focusing on how the child got the gun used in the killing, which may have occurred as a result of a playground scuffle. "We're looking to see how that kid got that gun and if we get to that person we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," Busch told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America, adding that drugs were also found in the house. ….."

The Houston Chronicle 2/29/00 "…..A teen-ager, apparently thinking he was playing Russian roulette, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Rashaad Taylor, 19, was visiting friends Monday evening in the 4900 block of Glengarry in southeast Houston when he began playing with a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, police said. Witnesses said Taylor announced he wanted to play Russian roulette, then held the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. But he had no chance: the .45 pistol -- unlike a revolver -- had automatically inserted a cartridge in the firing chamber when the gun was cocked. …."

Detroit Free Press 3/2/00 Wayne Woolley, Irvin Jackson, David Shepardson and David Josar "….From the home of a taxpayer, to the depths of a drug house and into the hands of a child. The Davis Industries .32-caliber semi-automatic pistol traveled a short, sad path over an 84-day stretch that began when it was stolen from its licensed owner, used as barter for crack cocaine, and then ended when a 6-year-old boy leveled it at a fellow first-grader and pulled the trigger. ..."

Reuters 3/2/00 Sue Pleming "…… Outraged by new deadly shootings this week, President Clinton called on Thursday for a meeting with congressional leaders in an effort to push through gun control legislation stalled in Congress. Clinton said he would invite party leaders from both the Senate and the House of Representatives to a meeting at the White House next week to discuss gun control laws to keep weapons away from criminals and children. …."

Washington Post 2/28/00 Daniel LeDuc "…..Before picking up the gun, slip on the special black wristband. Then, draw a bead on the paper target hanging 30 feet downrange, squeeze the trigger and feel the .40-caliber pistol buck with a satisfying jolt. A round hole is punched in the target, and the silver pistol is ready for firing again. But take off the black wristband, a radio transmitter that looks like a digital watch without numerals, pick up the pistol again, aim and squeeze the trigger: Nothing happens. Without the transmitter held inches from the gun, the pistol is an inoperable lump of metal……"

US House of Representatives 3/7/00 "……- In a letter to President Clinton, U.S. Representative Bob Barr (GA-7) called today's White House gun conference "hypocritical" and urged the President to stop stalling youth violence legislation. The text of Barr's letter follows: "Your meeting this morning to "encourage" Congress to pass youth violence legislation is one of the most hypocritical political displays I have ever witnessed. As you are fully aware, Congress passed legislation to fight youth violence months ago. Sadly, that legislation has been held hostage in Congress by allies following your orders to saddle the package with gun control or block its passage. "It is becoming increasingly obvious you have decided to stall youth violence legislation and allow more deaths to occur, because you believe it may help you achieve more gun control laws that won't do a single thing to stop crime. It is difficult to imagine a more distressing act than sacrificing the lives of American children for political gain, and I implore you to reverse this course immediately. "I don't think you, or any other intelligent person can honestly conclude that having a law mandating trigger locks would have prevented a felony fugitive living in a crack house from storing a firearm unsafely. However, some of the important provisions that have been held hostage on your orders -- such as prosecutorial reforms and new enforcement resources -- might well have addressed the tragedy in Michigan last week. ……."If you are truly concerned about saving young lives, please direct your allies in Congress to release the youth violence package they have been holding hostage in Conference Committee so we can vote on it and get it to you for signature. If you wish an up-or-down vote on gun control, fine; let's tee it up, debate it fairly, and vote on it; but let's not continue to hold school safety hostage to your political agenda." ……"

NRA-ILS ALERT! (GUN RIGHTS) 3/10/00 James Baker "….U.S. Senator Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.) requested early last year that the General Accounting Office (GAO) conduct an audit to examine whether the National Instant Check System (NICS) is efficiently designed and effectively managed by the FBI. The study is now complete, and it shows there are significant problems with NICS that prevent it from operating as Congress intended. The most glaring problems are:
1.2 million, or 28 percent, of all federal firearm checks were not instant.
1,505 individuals were denied the opportunity to purchase firearms as a result of FBI examiner error or misidentification.
As of December 31, 1999, BATF Headquarters reported that 3,353 prohibited individuals had obtained firearms, but only had active criminal investigations on 110 - or 3.3 percent of these individuals. NICS failed to meet its operating accountability standards two-thirds of the time between 11/30/98 and 11/30/99. Although NICS has been operational for 15 months, it has yet to be authorized as secure in accordance with the FBI's own routine requirements for computer security….."

NewsMax 3/9/00 Charlton Heston "…..If you want to own any firearm for any reason anywhere in America, you need to watch a startling television report sponsored by the NRA that's currently airing and tracks the explosion of anti-gun laws worldwide; and now in California. If California, as so often in the past, turns out to be ground zero for the expansion of this movement into America, your rights are clearly in danger. Election Day 2000 is your best opportunity to defend them. So get ready for a fight. You've seen how England, Australia and Canada have passed one anti-gun law after another. What you may not know, unless you've seen the latest NRA report, is that those countries are just a few steps ahead of the United States-and just the most visible victims of a contagion that's spreading worldwide. In 1996, Australian politicians used the hysteria surrounding a media- sensationalized mass murder to impose, in just weeks, a total ban on all semi- automatic and pump-action rifles and shotguns. Since those firearms were all already registered, authorities knew exactly whom to contact to confiscate each gun. In all, they rounded up 640,000 privately owned firearms, which they sawed up in machine shops and sold for scrap steel. Now, any firearms that haven't been banned in Australia must be unloaded, disassembled and sealed in safes with ammunition locked up elsewhere. The result? Now in Australia, gun murders are up, firearms assaults are up, armed robberies are up, and home invasions are up. …."

NewsMax 3/9/00 Charlton Heston "…..That's what this is, as you'll see in the NRA's report. During the past seven years, at least 25 nations have tightened anti-gun laws or banned guns. Now, countries that don't tolerate any freedom are plotting, through the United Nations, to stomp out firearms freedom wherever it exists-especially the United States. California proves it. Last year, Gov. Davis signed five new anti-gun bills into law, including a broad extension of the infamous Roberti-Roos semi-auto ban that's taking ordinary hunting rifles that have been around for nearly half a century-such as the Remington Model 7400 and Browning BAR-off store shelves. Now the Democrats who control both houses of California's legislature want to impose far more restrictions. One proposal, cooked up by Handgun Control, Inc., would require registration of all handguns along with annual renewals, fingerprinting, competency tests and ownership inventories. As one California lawmaker told the Los Angeles Times, "Registration is the next logical step." What's the next step? If California follows the path of England and Australia, confiscation is next. And if California legislation becomes the model for the nation-as it did when the state's 1989 gun bans went into Clinton's Crime Bill of 1994-your rights are in peril now. Congressional and presidential candidates are watching California closely. If you want to keep your Second Amendment rights, you need to listen to their every word, alert fellow shooters, hunters and gun owners of what's afoot and what's at stake-and then vote accordingly on Nov. 7. …."

The PlanetTimes 3/8/00 Dave Duffy "…..The showdown between the Federal government and the American people over gun rights may have tilted in favor of the people recently when the nation's third most popular radio talk show host, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, told her audience she was taking shooting lessons and intended to arm herself with a handgun as a self-protection measure ..."

Associated Press 3/7/00 "……Looking to break a stalemate over gun control legislation, President Clinton invited members of Congress and the mother of a slain 6-year-old to the White House today. Clinton planned to tell Veronica McQueen about his gun control efforts in Congress in a private meeting after a separate session with lawmakers, White House spokesman Jake Siewert said. McQueen's daughter, Kayla Rolland, was killed in her first grade classroom last week, allegedly by another 6-year-old who brought a gun to school. "I think he just wants to talk to her," Siewert said. "He wants to do everything he can to make sure that these kinds of tragedies don't happen again. He'll communicate that to her. He wants to hear what she has to say." ….."

Detroit News 3/7/00 Ron French "……. The next time little Johnny has a sore throat, his doctor may take his temperature, check his heart beat and ask about guns. Spurred by schoolhouse bloodshed such as the fatal shooting Feb. 29 at Buell Elementary near Flint, where a first-grader shot and killed a classmate, the American Academy of Pediatrics has adopted guidelines that encourage doctors to ask young patients and their parents about guns in their homes………"The issue of gun ownership is a particularly frustrating and difficult one," the policy states. "Pediatricians should be prepared for resistance. Maintaining a focus specifically on the risks of hand-gun ownership can help keep the message clear and reduce controversy." ......"

Washington Post 3/8/00 Charles Babington Helen Dewar "……President Clinton's hopes of breaking a congressional impasse on gun control after last week's fatal shooting of a Michigan first-grader met a stern Republican rebuke yesterday, as a key senator refused to convene House-Senate negotiations and accused the administration of trying to eliminate gun shows. "We're poles apart on what can or cannot be done," Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) told reporters after emerging from a White House meeting with the president and three other lawmakers. Hatch chairs the House-Senate conference committee that was established to resolve differences between a Senate-passed proposal backed by Clinton that requires criminal background checks of buyers at gun shows and a weaker House version. Clinton has repeatedly cited last week's shooting of Kayla Rolland by a 6-year-old classmate near Flint, Mich., as a reason for Congress to enact the stalled package of gun restrictions……"

Washington Times 3/7/00 "…..Leave it to Bill Clinton to use tragedy for political gain. In the wake of the recent shooting of a first-grader near Flint, Mich., the president has asked for a meeting with congressional leaders to "break the logjam" that has thwarted his gun-control agenda. How this could have prevented the tragedy caused by a 6-year-old child, whose own life is a story of misery, living in a crack house with multiple felons, is rather hard to see. "I've asked for support on three other vital measures," the president said. These are "to develop smart guns that can only be fired by the adults who own them; to require that new handgun buyers first get a photo license showing they passed a Brady background check and a gun safety course, and to hire 1,000 new gun prosecutors," he continued. This page has considered the issue of so-called "smart" gun technology before and found it wanting. A "smart" gun may not work when desperately needed, because the circuitry has failed or become inoperative. Alternatively, it may take a fraction of a second longer to disengage the safety interlock -a moment that could easily mean the difference between life and death in a self-defense situation. Properly cared for, a mechanical device such as a revolver or semi-automatic pistol can be depended upon to work properly for decades. Electronics, however, are inherently less durable and degrade over time……"

Detroit News 3/7/00 Ron French "……The next time little Johnny has a sore throat, his doctor may take his temperature, check his heart beat and ask about guns. Spurred by schoolhouse bloodshed such as the fatal shooting Feb. 29 at Buell Elementary near Flint, where a first-grader shot and killed a classmate, the American Academy of Pediatrics has adopted guidelines that encourage doctors to ask young patients and their parents about guns in their homes. The policy, published in January, calls for pediatricians to work for "reduced availability or elimination of hand guns in all communities through handgun regulation and public education." ……"

Toronto Sun 3/8/00 Hartley Steward "….. In my mind, the shooting of a 6-year-old girl by a 6-year-old boy puts an end to the liberal argument. The liberal argument has been a fantasy, a wild hope, a fairy tale wish on a star. Dreaming in Technicolor, as my old dad used to say. If I've got it right, the argument goes like this: If a child shoots a child, the child has been let down by his or her parents. If the parents turn out to be a crackhead mom and a rotten dad, already in jail, well, someone did poorly by them as well. If the next generation - the grandparents, or, in this case, grandparent - happen to be in jail, too, then society in general must be at fault. The child, the father, the mother, the grandfather are not at fault. There is no blame, no consequences, only more social engineering to be done. The solution is to work harder for the just society and utopia will be ours……… At best it has been a flawed and misguided philosophy. And it has brought us to this. A little boy, a first-grader who lives in a crack house without a bed of his own to sleep in, shoots a little girl classmate in a Michigan school and nobody knows what to do about it. Do we:
a) Take another look at gun control?
b) Get counselling for the parents, if we can find them?
c) Cluster hug the kid and get him into a good anger management course?
d) Charge somebody - anybody - with leaving a gun in a place where a 6-year-old can get his hands on it? …."

WorldNetDaily.com 3/8/00 Jon Dougherty "…..After intense public pressure and a threatened boycott, following a series of WorldNetDaily reports exposing Citibank's practice of denying banking services to firearms business, the global financial giant has now reversed its "longstanding" policy. Yesterday, Mark Rodgers, a public relations specialist for the New York-based mega-banking firm told WND the corporation "went out and looked at our policies across (all Citibank branches) and found that (they) were inconsistent." After reviewing several policy "areas," Rodgers said, "we decided we must have uniform policies across the U.S." Consequently, he said, Citibank "decided that moving forward the practice of assessing a small business account will apply uniformly in small businesses," including those "engaged in the manufacture or sale of small firearms." Rodgers said the firm would rate firearms businesses "the same as any other small business, using the same standards such as creditworthiness, the number of years in business, and so on."…."

Houston Chronicle 2/6/00 James Pinkerton "…..Some of Texas' biggest and best-known gun store owners in Houston, Austin and Dallas are among 1,000 gun dealers nationwide who have been targeted by the government. They have drawn attention because they sold 10 or more guns last year that were traced to crimes. But critics charge that the new measure is yet another instance of the government harassing legitimate gun dealers while not using existing federal laws to prosecute criminals who use guns. "If you're a big dealer, the percentages are against you that a gun you sell will be used in a crime," said Bobby Nagel, who has run a San Antonio gun shop for nearly half a century. "The bottom line is legitimate dealers have too much at stake. They'd have to be insane to have anything to do with the sale of firearms for illegal purposes," he said, echoing sentiments expressed by other large dealers. ….."

Reuters 3/6/00 Judith Crosson "….``Pack an illegal gun. Pack your bags for prison.'' Advocates on both sides of the gun control divide in Colorado sent out that message on Monday when, in a rare display of unity, they stood on the same stage to back tougher enforcement of existing gun laws in the state still scarred by April's bloody massacre at Columbine High School. The executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the father of a Columbine victim, and gun control advocate James Brady spoke to about 100 people in support of Colorado's Project Exile, which targets gun-law violators for more aggressive prosecution. ``Being a victim, I and many others here today can tell you it's no fun. This is one club for which we don't need new members,'' Brady, who was shot and injured in a 1981assassination attempt on former President Ronald Reagan, said from his wheelchair as Tom Mauser, whose son Daniel died at Columbine, held a microphone for him and gently handed him the pages of his speech. …."

New York Post 3/5/00 Rod Dreher "….. IF the Straight Talk Express had ventured into Mount Morris Township, Mich., The Bronx, or Wilkinsburg, Pa., this past week, it would have had its tires shot out. I'm not literally talking about the John McCain campaign bus, but using it as a metaphor for honest public discussion. Straight talk about race, guns, and culture is an unwanted fugitive in a society that would rather live in denial than face unpleasant truths. In Michigan, a 6-year-old boy shot and killed a first-grade classmate with a handgun stolen from his guardian's house. The usual suspects clamored for more gun control, though it is hard to see how laws can prevent a crackhead uncle from leaving a stolen pistol within reach of a child. The little boy, we now know, is a monster who has been in serious trouble at school from Day¤1. His father is in jail, his mother is an admitted drug addict, and the kid was being raised in a drug den by male relatives. This is not the fault of the National Rifle Association. This is the fault of the boy's family and the degraded, immoral culture they chose for themselves and that poor child. Growing up in a world ruled by gangsta values, which extol the virtues of law-breaking, cruelty, drug use and the power of firearms -- that's what made a murderer of this boy. And that, not specious claims of white racism, or the NAACP's obnoxious accusations against the gun industry, is why African-American males between the ages of 15 and 24 are five times more likely to be wounded or killed by guns than whites in the same demographic group...."

Washingtonpost.com 3/5/00 Juliet Eilperin "…..The National Rifle Association is back. After several years of waning influence on Capitol Hill, the venerable association of shooting enthusiasts and gun rights advocates is enjoying a renewal as it gears up for what could be a watershed election this fall. Membership is on the rise after several years of decline, and the NRA's legislative and political arms have raised more money than ever before. Having so far blocked new limits on gun shows and other controls, the group is expanding it grass-roots network to support favored candidates and maintain the pro-gun majority in the House…."

CBS News.com 3/3/00 Reuters "…..(Reuters) President Clinton slammed the National Rifle Association (NRA) Saturday, drawing a link between the gun lobby's "pressure tactics" and the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old girl. "The only reason Congress hasn't already sent me a bill with comprehensive gun safety provisions is because of the pressure tactics and the threats of the NRA," Mr. Clinton said in his weekly radio address. "But when first-graders shoot first-graders, it's time for Congress to be guided by their hearts and their heads, not by a fear or the pressure tactics of the NRA," he said……"

St Paul Pioneer (de)Press 3/5/00 Joe Soucheray "…..Just a day or so after a 6-year-old boy in Michigan shot his 6-year-old classmate and killed her, President Clinton called for more gun control in the form of mandatory gun safety locks. Mr. Clinton also wants additional background checks at gun shows, but basically he was hammering away at the safety lock issue. Mr. Clinton was not alone. Everytime there is gun violence in the United States the so-called correct-thinking crowd calls for more gun control. I always wonder what they mean when they say more gun control. The Columbine shooters, for example, violated more than two dozen existing gun laws. By "they" I mean the institutions predisposed to do our correct thinking: the media, education and government. Short of suspending a large super-magnet above the earth and sucking up all the guns, I have no idea how you are to achieve gun control. And I don't think the correct-thinking crowd, by gun control, means the Jesse Ventura definition, which is to always hit your target…."

Source: FrontPage Magazine 3/3/00 David Horowitz "….A SIX-YEAR-OLD African American shoots and kills a six-year-old white girl in Michigan. The six-year-old shooter has been suspended before for stabbing another child with a pencil. Police discover that he lives in a crack house with his criminal uncle with outstanding warrants for arrest. The boy's father is in jail. His mother is a drug addict. The President of the United States responds to the tragedy by summoning leaders of Congress to the White House to pass a new law, requiring trigger locks on guns. If ever there was a case revealing the moral bankruptcy (or is it idiocy?) of liberalism, this is it. Of course, Clinton and Democratic leaders are calling for trigger locks on guns because they are planning to make this a major Democrat issue in this year's political campaigns. But that only makes the point stronger. So far not a single liberal has publicly dissented from the idea that gun control is the lesson to be drawn from this tragedy, let alone questioned the Democrats' sick exploitation of it for political ends……"

NOLA Live 2/29/00 AP Alan Sayre "……The Legislature moved quickly last year to ban New Orleans from suing gun manufacturers and sellers. The firearms industry is expected to move just as quickly to ask the Louisiana Supreme Court to reinstate the shield. On Monday, Civil District Judge Lloyd Medley dealt the industry a blow by ruling unconstitutional laws passed by the lawmakers last year to protect the gun industry from local government lawsuits. The Legislature changed the state's products liability law in favor of firearms makers, and barred cities from filing such suits. The laws, strongly backed by Gov. Mike Foster and the National Rifle Association, were passed after New Orleans became the first city to file such a suit in October 1998. The city claimed gun makers should be held responsible for making products without adequate safety devices. ….."

Capitol Hill Blue 3/1/00 Michael Crowley "……The day after one first-grader fatally shot another at a Michigan elementary school, gun control re-emerged as an issue in the 2000 presidential campaign and forced Texas Gov. George W. Bush to strike a delicate balance on the politically sensitive issue of childproof trigger locks. ``I hope people use trigger locks,'' Bush told reporters in Atlanta Wednesday. The Republican front-runner has often said he supports urging gun makers and buyers to voluntarily add trigger locks….."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 2/29/00 Ben Barber "…… International organizations and diplomats this week began a final push for a global treaty to control exports of automatic weapons to terrorists, guerrillas, drug runners and criminal gangs. Advocates of the plan have changed tactics from two years ago, when the U.S. Congress killed a proposed "Code of Conduct" that would have barred U.S. weapons exports to countries that do not respect human rights and democracy. This time, the concerns of American sovereignty advocates are being considered and the National Rifle Association has a representative present while proposed treaty language is being drafted at a U.N. conference in New York. Former French Premier Michel Rocard has been lobbying in Washington for the last several days to build support for the cause. "The mounting death toll of excessive accumulations of small arms poses one of the great humanitarian challenges of our time . . . yet the international trade in small arms remains largely unregulated," he said yesterday at American University. …..Mr. Rocard is co-chairman of an eminent persons group (EPG) of 20 current and former leaders seeking to limit the flow of light machine guns - such as Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles - responsible for most of the slaughter in the world. …."

Associated Press 2/29/00 Edith Lederer "….. - Prominent figures from twenty nations called Tuesday for a global agreement to curtail the supply of small arms, which they blame for the vast majority of deaths in war. Under their proposal, governments would be required to declare their production, stockpiles and transfers of handguns, rifles and machine guns in a new U.N. Register on Small Arms - and to mark all small arms and make a commitment not to export or import any that are unmarked. The proposal also calls for an international code of conduct that would set clear standards on eligibility for arms sales and existing export controls to be strengthened and enforced. "Small arms kill most people in most wars," former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard told a news conference. "Yet, the international trade in small arms remains largely unregulated." He said small arms - including assault rifles, machine guns, and pistols - are responsible for 90 percent of the 200,000 people killed every year in wars. And he said the majority of the casualties are civilians. ….."

Washingtonpost.com 3/2/00 Craig Whitlock "….. Maryland lawmakers are pushing proposals to make it easier to confiscate guns from people accused of domestic abuse in response to a series of well-publicized government failures to protect victims of family violence. House and Senate committees heard testimony last week in Annapolis in favor of two bills that would greatly expand the circumstances under which police or sheriff's deputies could seize guns from people subject to domestic-violence restraining orders. It is illegal under state and federal law for people named in restraining orders to possess or buy firearms. But accused domestic abusers rarely turn in their guns voluntarily, and law enforcement officials just as rarely go looking for the weapons unless they've been used to commit a crime. ….."

TBO.com 3/3/00 Randi Goldberg AP "…..Prosecutors Thursday brought an involuntary manslaughter charge against a man they believe possessed the stolen gun allegedly used by a 6-year-old boy to kill a classmate. "We were not looking for scapegoats in this case; we're looking for justice for Kayla," said Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur Busch. Busch said investigators believe the .32-caliber semiautomatic gun used Tuesday to shoot 6-year-old Kayla Rolland had been left, apparently loaded, under Jamelle James' blankets in a bedroom at the house where the boy stayed. Investigators also found a stolen 12-gauge shotgun and drugs at the house, the prosecutor said. James, 19, was arraigned Thursday on the manslaughter charge, which carries a possible 15-year prison sentence. He simply replied "yes" when the judge asked whether he understood the charge and possible sentence. Judge Richard L. Hughes set James' bond at $100,000. James made an obscene gesture toward news photographers as he was led out of the courtroom. ….."

San Jose Mercury News 3/12/00 Arshad Mohammed "……The leading U.S. gun lobby group accused President Clinton on Sunday of deliberately failing to enforce existing gun control laws and of exploiting the resulting violence for political gain. The comments by a top National Rifle Association official drew a rebuke from the White House, which said the NRA had a long history of rejecting gun control and that its views should not be taken seriously in the current debate over new measures, including a three-day waiting period for gun show purchases. ``I've come to believe he needs a certain level of violence in this country,'' NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre told ABC's ``This Week'' program. ``He's willing to accept a certain level of killing to further his political agenda -- and the vice president too, I mean, how else can you explain this dishonesty we get out of the administration,'' LaPierre said…….``You can't care about stopping crimes with guns and give the country a complete lack of enforcement of the gun laws on the books, which is what this president has done,'' he added. ….."

World Net Daily 3/12/00 Jon Dougherty "……An unofficial organization composed of gun rights activists has been making headlines in Colorado during recent weeks by showing up en masse to protest gun control initiatives. The group, which calls itself the Tyranny Response Team, last made its presence felt when Sarah Brady, executive director of Handgun Control, Inc. and her husband, former Reagan press secretary James Brady, made a stop in Denver on Wednesday to help raise funds for a new statewide gun control initiative. Mrs. Brady began Handgun Control, Inc. shortly after her husband was wounded in a 1981 attack by John Hinckley, Jr. on President Reagan. Reagan was wounded in the attack, as was a Washington, D.C. police officer. About 300 TRT members -- husbands, wives and their children -- picketed the Denver fundraiser, held at the Denver Hyatt Regency hotel, where the Bradys were making a pitch to raise funds for a Colorado initiative sponsored by a gun control group called SAFE. ….."

CBS MarketWatch – UPI 3/13/00 "…..Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who is the chief contender for the Republican presidential nomination, rebuked Monday the National Rifle Association's attacks on President Clinton. The NRA and Clinton have been involved in a war of words over gun control. When asked about NRA Executive Vice President Wayne La Pierre's statement about Clinton, Bush said, "I would hope that we could have a open and honest discussion about gun enforcement without calling names." …… Earlier in the day, Clinton challenged La Pierre to "look into the eyes of the parents" of schoolchildren slain by guns and repeat the charge that Clinton and Vice President Al Gore "are willing to accept a certain amount of killing" to further their political agenda. ……….."

worldnetdaily.com 3/14/00 Joseph Farah "……During ABC's "This Week" program Sunday, LaPierre suggested the administration "needs a certain level of violence in this country" to exploit for political means. "He's (Clinton) willing to accept a certain level of killing to further his political agenda -- and the vice president, too," said LaPierre. "I mean, how else can you explain this dishonesty we get out of this administration?" That did not sit well with Clinton and Gore. The vice president demanded LaPierre "apologize to the American people." White House flack Joe Lockhart called LaPierre's characterization "a sick attack on the president." Clinton and Gore have masterfully and shamefully manipulated shooting tragedy after shooting tragedy in the last seven years for political advantage. Every time the media focus on a high-profile shooting rampage, the administration is there calling for yet another gun grab. Meanwhile, LaPierre says, the executive branch does not enforce many of the gun-control laws already on the books. And that's a fact. ............ So is it unthinkable that this ultra-political administration would intentionally exploit tragedy and killing for political gain? No. In fact, there are other examples of how it has done just this. Every time a bill to ban the hideous, grotesque, horror known as the "partial-birth abortion" procedure has been brought to the White House, it has been vetoed by the Clinton administration. It has not simply been vetoed. It has been vetoed with fanfare, with excitement, with celebration, with pride…….. It's hard to figure out which of these three complicit partners -- the politicians, the killers or the activists behind them -- are more despicable, more loathsome, more culpable. Some day, I feel certain, a just and loving God will sort it all out. But, in the meantime, those of us here on planet Earth can form our own good judgments. Bill Clinton and Al Gore do indeed tolerate -- even condone -- killing of innocent human beings for political advantage. How else can you explain it? ……"

Newsweek Online 4/3/00 David Neil Berkwitz "…….New England's gun valley hasn't seen a rebellion like this since the Revolution. Now that Smith & Wesson, king of the handgun world, has signed a deal with the White House, some of its most loyal followers are rising up-and it could cost the company millions. Last week Smith's biggest distributor, which sells some 35,000 of the handguns a year, said it plans to drop the company from its product lines. "I can't do business with them under these terms," said Bob Steger, CEO of RSR Wholesale. "It's onerous. It's draconian." Retail dealers tell Steger they won't go along with the strict settlement that would put restrictions on them that go well beyond federal law. Meanwhile, gun magazines are under pressure from angry consumers to stop taking ads from Smith, and at least one group has launched a boycott…… The good news: business at Smith's six retail stores shot up as much as 300 percent, he said, and new dealers are signing up. ……"

The Washington Times 3/22/00 Fred Reed "…..A few years back there was a terrific furor in much of the press about shall-issue laws for permits to carry concealed weapons in states like Virginia. A shall-issue law says that, if you meet certain criteria (no criminal record, history of insanity, and suchlike, usually) you must be given the permit. These laws, it was thought by people unaccustomed to thought, would result in widespread violence. This week I took the NRA's course of training for a concealed carry permit. I wanted a permit for several reasons. First, I sometimes go, in the line of work and otherwise, to places where the indigenous population is disposed toward crime. Second, while it is legal to carry a pistol openly, it also makes people uncomfortable, so I'd rather have it out of sight when, say, on Metro to a friend's house to go shooting. Third, rights not exercised will be soon removed. The course took place at the NRA headquarters some distance from the Vienna Metro stop. My rough count showed about twenty-eight students, about ten of them women: Neither shooting nor self-defense is an exclusively male concern. For that matter, as a police shooting-coach once told me, it is a sport in which women are both welcome and at no disadvantage. All the students were white except one, who could have been either black or Indian. (No, the NRA does not discriminate racially. But that's who came.) ….."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 3/26/00 Carla Crowder "……Colorado state coordinator Kathleen Hopkins, known for her no-nonsense, tenacious leadership of the grass-roots gun-control organization, has been fired over philosophical differences with the national headquarters. This shakeup comes less than two months from the group's big events -- a Mother's Day rally at Denver's Civic Center Park and a national march on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Hopkins' ouster points up the wide spectrum of priorities and opinions even among gun-control advocates. Most everyone agrees background checks at gun shows are critical. But some put safety measures, such as trigger locks, on the front burner. Others insist gun licensing and registration is the umbrella that captures it all. With roots in Colorado's Western Slope, Hopkins has been more moderate than many of her allies in Colorado's burgeoning field of gun-safety groups. After all, she owns a shotgun. ……"

WCBM 3/24/00 Les Kinsolving "…… The Governor of Maryland faced 100 uniformed officers of the Maryland National Capital Park Police in Silver Spring, on Wednesday March 22nd. He was there to demonstrate to these officers just how they should use their newly issued Glock semi-automatic pistols with Saf T Lok combination gun locks. "This is proof that it works!" declared the Honorable Parris Glendening, as he easily slipped a lock into the pistol's magazine well. What happened next may be forever enshrined in the humor annals of Maryland political history. No less than fifty four (54) times, Governor Glendening clicked that weapon as he struggled, again and again and again, to remove that magazine. There was, at first, shocked silence. That was followed by badly suppressed laughter from the assembled cops, as they watched "Governor Gunnery Sergeant" struggle and STRUGGLE--after he had ceremoniously unveiled this great new technology in the style of "Even A CHILD Can Do It!" ………. But after KKT had managed to change the subject with a rousing speech, back went Glendening to that Great New Gun Lock--and failed again! Then Governor Glendening called for: "Any questions from the press?" and we responded:

"Is it possible that LADIES can do better at demonstrating that weapon than men?" As the laughter began mounting, the Governor replied that that might well be the case, and so we replied: "I'd be delighted to see the Lt. Governor demonstrate how easy it is to use that new gun technology!" ……."

U.S. News & World Report 4/3/00 Angie Cannon "….A hammer fell on gun manufacturers last week as a group of local governments said their police departments would only buy guns from companies that adopt a new set of gun-safety measures. But at least one big gun maker, Glock Inc., wasn't budging. "It's repulsive and extortion," Glock Vice President and General Counsel Paul Jannuzzo told U.S. News. "It's a casebook study in the unworkable." Replies Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran: "When we say to Glock, you will not sell to government, Glock will face bankruptcy." ………. "

Idaho Falls Post Register 3/25/00 Paul Menser "……Smith & Wesson's decision to put tighter controls on sales of its handguns is going to cost the company business in eastern Idaho, local gun dealers say. The Springfield, Mass., company was the only gun maker to sign a settlement with several cities and states suing the firearms industry. As part of the agreement, brokered by the Clinton administration, 28 city and county law enforcement agencies said they would give preference to gun makers that follow Smith & Wesson's lead. The settlement has drawn strong criticism from the 3.5 million-member National Rifle Association. The other gun manufacturers that were asked to participate have so far refused. "I don't agree with what (Smith & Wesson) has done, by any means," said Paul Payne, vice president of Ross' Coins, an Idaho Falls gun dealer. "It will definitely have an impact on business." ……"

Denver Post 3/25/00 Mike Soraghan "……. Colorado legislators are giving the gun lobby one of the things it wants most this year - legal protection for the gun industry. The Senate on Friday approved a bill that would block lawsuits against gun dealers, manufacturers and trade groups. The bill has been approved by the House, but Gov. Bill Owens has not taken a position on it. Cities around the country have been suing gunmakers, saying they bear some of the blame for gun violence. Supporters of the bill want to stop that trend. "I felt that we should make it clear that these suits should not be brought," said Sen. Ron Teck, R-Grand Junction, who noted that the threat of a lawsuit pushed gunmaker Smith & Wesson into an agreement with the Clinton administration. "Manufacturers are being blackmailed into agreements that are illegal." Stopping the spate of lawsuits is a top national priority of the National Rifle Association, and the group's lobbyist for Colorado watched over Friday's debate. ……"

Atlanta Journal-Constitution 3/23/00 "…..Smyrna-based Glock Inc. has decided not join a handgun settlement that the federal government reached last week with Smith & Wesson, the nation's largest gun manufacturer. Glock officials made the decision Tuesday afternoon during a one-hour conference call between the firm's Smyrna manufacturing plant and headquarters in Austria. The ultimate decision was made by Gaston Glock, the company chairman and inventor of the pistol that bears his name, said Paul F. Jannuzzo, Glock Inc. vice president and general counsel. "It's going to be more expensive this way, but we're doing it because our company is run by one man and he's a highly principled individual," Jannuzzo said. "He's just simply not going to kowtow to this kind of extortion." ……"

The New York Times 3/23/00 David Firestone "…….The man once known as H. Rap Brown has not explained his actions on the day when the police say he shot to death a sheriff's deputy. But his lawyer has already begun his defense: "The system" conspired to frame his client. "He will be fighting the system until the day he dies," the lawyer, J. L. Chestnut of Selma, Ala., said in a lengthy interview published today in The Selma Times-Journal. "He will not be the first or the last black man framed by the system." But that system -- in the parlance of 1960's radicalism, the entire political and legal establishment -- has changed utterly since the days when the former Mr. Brown, now known as Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, first encountered it as a student volunteer in the South. In 1964, when Mr. Brown began knocking on the doors of black sharecroppers to register voters, as a volunteer with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the notion of black political power was so distant as to seem unimaginable. But 36 years later, Mr. Al-Amin faces a vastly different system. In Atlanta, the mayor, Bill Campbell, is black. So is the police chief, Beverly Harvard, and the Fulton County sheriff, Jacqueline Barrett. So were the two deputies of Ms. Barrett whom Mr. Al-Amin is accused of shooting as they were serving him an arrest warrant on minor charges, Ricky Kinchen, who was killed, and Aldranon English, who was wounded. And so is the man who is likely to prosecute him, District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr. of Fulton County. In Lowndes County, Ala., where Mr. Al-Amin fled on Friday and was captured on Monday, the sheriff, Willie Vaughners, is black. So is Mayor John Jackson of White Hall, the small town where Mr. Al-Amin was found. And so is John Williams, the Lowndes sheriff's deputy who captured Mr. Al-Amin. ......"

Heads Up 3/26/00 Doug Fiedor "…….The Constitution, being the law of the land, the Clinton administration may truly be about the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States. Like the pigs in George Orwell's Animal Farm, some of today's government officials do things to harm people simply because they want to, and through immoral manipulation of already bad laws and court procedures, they can get away with it. The fact is, they are racists as well as unconstitutional pigs. That's right, gun control is racist. Ask a Polish Jew who is over sixty years old how things could have changed if they were all well armed in Warsaw in the 1930s. Ask a young ghetto mother raising kids alone in New York City or the District of Columbia how she feels totally unprotected in her apartment at night. ………"

Denver Post 3/23/00 Al Knight "……. President Bill Clinton and his political allies continue to reduce the precision of the English language as they flit from one public-policy issue to another. Because they are so intent on getting their own way, they damage or destroy useful words and concepts and never show a hint of regret. Two recent events illustrate the trend. The first has to do with last week's decision by Smith & Wesson, the nation's largest gunmaker, to give in to government demands and make a number of changes regarding manufacture and marketing. Smith & Wesson had been sued by about 30 municipalities, and the federal govern AL KNIGHT ment had threatened to join those suits. The company, faced with mountainous legal bills, finally surrendered to preserve its "viability." Viability means "capable of living" and "having the ability to grow, develop and expand." In other words, Smith & Wesson signed the agreement so that it would not die. Numerous press accounts, however, blindly reflected the administration's point of view that Smith & Wesson had voluntarily signed. "Voluntary" was a key word in followup articles and statements by either the administration or its allies. ……"

Denver Post 3/23/00 Mike Soraghan "…….A pro-gun group plans to go to court to try to keep a measure off the ballot that would close the so-called gun-show loophole. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners plans to hire a lawyer to challenge the measure, which has been proposed by SAFE Colorado, the state's main gun-control group. "The way it's written right now, it wouldn't pass muster in traffic court," said Dudley Brown, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. His group plans to hire Englewood lawyer Paul Grant to challenge the measure in court. But leaders of SAFE, which stands for Sane Alternatives to the Firearms Epidemic, say they're not worried. "Anybody can file a lawsuit," said SAFE co-president John Head, a trial lawyer. "Of all the things I've got to worry about, that's way down my list." ….."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 3/23/00 Carla Crowder "……. The fine print of Smith & Wesson's gun safety deal with the Clinton administration has triggered a backlash in the industry. One distributor is terminating business with the giant gun maker, and gun-rights groups are pushing for a boycott. As a detailed version of the agreement began circulating this week, many gun dealers learned that Smith & Wesson had signed on to a plan that requires much more than safety locks and background checks, which were touted last week in early reports of the landmark deal. "The actual agreement is far more onerous," states a letter from RSR Group, a wholesale gun distributor that decided this week to stop shipping Smith & Wesson products. …….. Most troublesome are fine print details the gun dealers say were downplayed in initial reports of the deal. For example, dealers who carry Smith & Wesson products must follow new restrictions on all brands of guns they sell. The "code of conduct" bans them from selling large-capacity magazines or semiautomatic assault weapons. It also prohibits dealers from selling firearms to customers who have not passed a safety class. And one of the most restrictive in the eyes of the gun industry is the "modified one-gun-a-month limit." Purchasers of handguns can take only one home the day of the sale and must wait 14 days to retrieve the others -- not just Smith & Wesson's, but any handgun. ......Gun store employees also must take annual training classes ……"

Atlanta Journal-Constitution 3/23/00 Bill Rankin "……. A contentious extradition process to bring Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin back to Georgia to face charges that he killed a Fulton County deputy and wounded another could be just the first of many difficult steps in bringing the former Black Panther leader once known as H. Rap Brown to trial. His trial likely would be one in which the entire Fulton County Superior Court bench might be required to recuse itself. Fulton County deputies keep order in the judges' courtrooms, and a number of the judges attended the memorial service Tuesday for slain Deputy Ricky Kinchen. "We will certainly consider the issue of possible recusal," Chief Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore said. "That issue would be on anyone's mind." ……… "

worldnetdaily.com 3/23/00 Jon Dougherty "……. A national law enforcement group is accusing Attorney General Janet Reno of violating the "Brady Law," which requires background checks on every person seeking to purchase a handgun and mandates a five-day waiting period before the sale is approved. Reno is "violating key provisions of federal law" with actions that "impose tremendous potential liability on federal law enforcement officers," according to the Law Enforcement Alliance of America. Furthermore, LEAA said, Reno's actions increase that liability "by establishing illegal dossier-making practices against law-abiding gun owners, and invading the privacy of Americans." The suit, originally filed in 1998, received a hearing in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of appeals on Friday, but LEAA spokesman Carl Mica told WorldNetDaily no decision had come yet. The group anticipates court action within 60 days. The Alliance is the nation's largest nonprofit coalition of law enforcement professionals, crime victims and citizens, with a membership of about 65,000 members and supporters. ……Specifically, the organization is alleging that the FBI is illegally keeping records on firearms transactions generated by the National Instant Check System (NICS), according to LEAA Executive Director James J. Fotis, prompting his organization to join "a lawsuit to stop this blatant violation of federal law." ……… According to Fotis, LEAA decided to join the suit, in part, because of its belief that the Department of Justice is forcing law enforcement agents to violate federal law pertaining to the proper implementation and use of data collected by the Bureau's NICS system. ……"

Los Angeles Daily News 3/24/00 David Nyhan "…….. To understand why gun makers are caving in to gun control, and why high-paid gun lobbyists have gone nuclear, you have to peer through the smoke. Literally. Because what happened, to cigarette makers is what is happening to gun makers. As went the merchants of nicotine go the merchants of firearms. Light 'em up, baby. It was the concerted legal efforts of governments and of shrewd, well-organized and indefatigable activist groups that brought the mighty influence peddlers to heel. . Smith & Wesson smelled the coffee last week, giving in to the Clinton administration's muscle and the fear of being bankrupted by lawsuits that assail gun makers now just as the cigarette makers have been buried in legal challenges. The largest handgun maker agreed to curb gun show loopholes and dealers, restrict multiple sales, install gun locks, research "smart gun" technology, and stop foot-dragging on regulation…………..Just as Liggett Group jolted the cigarette lobby by breaking ranks in 1996 to settle with anti-tobacco interests, the Smith & Wesson move will likely trigger, pardon me, an industry-wide cave. High time. ….."

World Net Daily 3/24/00 Jon Dougherty "……According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, "Despite some 20,000 gun laws in the United States, mostly at the state and local levels, there is little evidence that any but the most weakly motivated citizens have been discouraged from gun ownership. And there is no evidence that these gun-control laws have made a dent in the crime rate." The center found, using a variety of sources including leading University of Florida criminologist Gary Kleck and the FBI's own National Crime Statistics reports, that: In 1976, Washington, D.C. enacted one of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Since then, the city's murder rate has risen 134 percent while the national murder rate has dropped 2 percent. After Evanston, Ill., a Chicago suburb of 75,000 residents, became the largest town to ban handgun ownership in September 1982, it experienced no decline in violent crime. Among the 15 states with the highest homicide rates, 10 have restrictive or very restrictive gun laws. Twenty percent of U.S. homicides occur in four cities with just six percent of the population -- New York, Chicago, Detroit and Washington, D.C. -- and each has a virtual prohibition on private handguns. New York has one of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation -- and 20 percent of the armed robberies. Even more troublesome is the fact that the places where gun control laws are toughest tend to be the places where the most crime is committed with illegal weapons. ……"

White House Bulletin 3/23/00 "……..In a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, US Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R- AR) today inquired about why Marco Moore, who was "arrested during a drug investigation" last February 16, and later "released" despite illegally " possessing a semi-automatic handgun," was never prosecuted. Hutchinson goes on to request from Reno data regarding the number of arrests and prosecutions on firearms charges in Washington, DC. Wrote Hutchinson, "Apparently, the United States Attorney's office for the District of Columbia did not prosecute Mr. Moore," adding, "I would like to know why" the suspect "was released rather than charged for possession of an illegal handgun." Hutchinson noted that shortly after February 16 of this year, "an arrest warrant was issued" for Moore, who is a suspect in the shooting of a 17-year- old girl in the head. ........."

NRA-ILA FAX ALERT 3/24/00 "……To his shock and surprise, Secretary of HUD Andrew Cuomo has been unable to coerce any other firearms company to collaborate with him and British-owned Smith & Wesson (see Special FAX Alert 3/20/00), as they work to destroy the Second Amendment. Other gun makers have stated they are unwilling to give away our Right to Keep and Bear Arms in negotiations with the most anti-gun administration ever to occupy the White House. And the outcry of "Betrayal!" has echoed across the country, resonating loudest within the gun stores. These are the same gun stores S&W must be praying will agree to the draconian standards it has set for "authorized" distributors or dealers of its firearms. The majority of gun distributers and dealers who have contacted NRA indicate they will simply drop S&W products. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported today that Braverman Arms, Pat's Sporting Goods, and Ace Sporting Goods, the largest dealers in the Pittsburgh area, confirm they'll discontinue carrying S&W products. Braverman Arms has even taken to tying black ribbons on the barrels of S&W guns currently in stock to show its dissatisfaction with the decision by the gun maker......."

NRA-ILA FAX ALERT 3/24/00 "……Pro-gun U.S. Representative Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) held a press conference Wednesday to announce the introduction of H.R. 4051, the "Project Exile: The Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act of 2000." The legislation is modeled after the "Project Exile" prosecution model originated in Richmond, Va., in 1997. The program has been credited with helping to drastically reduce violent crime in the capital of the Old Dominion. Rather than promoting new laws restricting gun owners, which is what the Clinton-Gore team and its anti-gun congressional cronies would like to see, H.R. 4051 provides $100 million in grants over the next five years for qualifying cities to use to enforce existing laws. McCollum stated, "This bill that we are introducing today is a bill that would require mandatory minimum sentences of five years for any person who uses or carries a firearm during or in relation to a violent crime." Please contact your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121 and urge him to support H.R. 4051.

NRA-ILA FAX ALERT 3/24/00 "……There has been some concern among members of the pro-gun community over S. 2099, an anti-gun bill introduced by anti-gun U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.). The bill seeks to amend the National Firearms Act (NFA) to treat handguns like fully automatic firearms, requiring they be registered, and adding $50 tax to any handgun transfer. While NRA opposes this legislation, there is no real threat of it passing at this time……"

Reuters 3/24/00 Gail Appleson "……Some large cities are still reluctant to sign the Smith & Wesson Corp. settlement reached last week with other municipalities and the federal government because they want tougher terms, a gun control group said Friday. Last week the Clinton administration said it had dropped its threat of legal action against the nation's largest gunmaker after the company agreed to marketing and manufacturing changes, including adding safety features to its handguns. About half of the 29 cities and municipalities that have sued gunmakers also agreed to drop their suits because of the deal. However, Joshua Horwitz, executive director for the Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence, a Washington-based legal group that is representing some of the cities, said that at least a dozen plaintiffs have still not signed due to concerns that the deal with Smith & Wesson, a unit of Britain's Tomkins Plc does not contain any monetary damages or oversight provisions. "The deal does not address a lot of the concerns some of the municipalities have. Smith & Wesson is not giving up very much. There is no teeth in the agreement," he said. ……"

neal Knox 3/24/00 "……Neal Knox Report -- No one was injured -- thank God -- so the media didn't make big noise about a sixth-grader taking his Lisbon, Ohio schoolroom hostage with a loaded 9mm pistol because he wanted to visit his biological mother in jail. Such things wouldn't happen, we are told by Clinton & Co. if Congress would enact his bill requiring trigger locks to be sold with each gun. What the press almost totally ignored is that the gun had had a trigger lock in place, but the boy found the key, according to his father and police. ……."

Washington Times 3/15/00 Margie Hyslop "…….Gov. Parris N. Glendening's office forwarded inaccurate information from Handgun Control Inc. to state legislators, doubling federal statistics on 1997 gun deaths in Maryland. A Glendening legislative staffer sent inflated figures, apparently taken from Handgun Control's Web site, to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sheila Hixson. They listed firearms deaths in Maryland by victim's age and type of shooting. Handgun Control Inc.'s research director, Douglas Weil, said staffers used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics to create the chart. But Handgun Control listed a total of 1,408 firearms deaths for Maryland - almost double the 710 Maryland firearm deaths that the CDC reported. ….."

National Review 3/20/00 Dave Kopel "……. Connecticut handgun manufacturer Smith & Wesson has earned the dubious honor of becoming Bill Clinton's favorite gun company. By agreeing to modify its product design and distribution, the company earned a promise not to be sued by Andrew Cuomo's Department of Housing and Urban Development, by the Attorneys General of New York and Connecticut, and got some - but not all - of the cities which have sued the company to drop their lawsuits. Smith and Wesson says that if it had not stopped the suits, the company would have gone out of business within a year, due to attorney fees. But it should be noted that other gun companies are under equally great financial pressure, and have not capitulated. ………. To be sure, the agreement will have only a moderate effect on the way Smith and Wesson does business. At the same time, the contract terms - if enforced against other gun companies - could drive them out of business. The application of the agreement to several of Smith & Wesson's smaller competitors, or to Glock (one of the largest and most successful handgun companies), would destroy them. Thus, Smith and Wesson gains an advantage, by agreeing to terms which will harm its competitors. ….."

National Review 3/20/00 Dave Kopel "……. Here's the first half of what's in the agreement, according to the official summary on the HUD website. I have decoded it in [brackets].
All handguns must meet the following safety and design standards:

* Second "hidden" serial number, to prevent criminals from obliterating serial numbers.
[Already done by many gun manufacturers.]
* External locking device sold with all guns within 60 days.
[S&W has been giving away locks with every handgun since 1997.]
* Internal locking device on all guns within 24 months.
[The lock that S&W will use can be left in the "open" position permanently.]
* Manufacturers commit 2% of annual firearms revenues to the development of authorized user technology [Smart Guns]. Within 36 months, authorized user technology will be included in all new firearm models, with the exception of curios and collectors' firearms. If top eight manufacturers agree, authorized user technology will be included in all new firearms.
[Note that the new technology is for new models only, not new production of current models. S&W has already been working at personalization technology. So far, solving the problem of putting a computer in a gun-and making the computer work 100% reliably-has proven extremely difficult. Buyer resistance to guns that only work 99% of the time is likely to be very serious. To the extent that this agreement helps pass legislation to mandate so-called smart guns, the agreement will put S&W's competitor Glock out of business; Glock has made a business decision not to invest millions of dollars in personalization technology that may never work reliably.]
* Child Safety. Within 12 months, handguns will be designed so they cannot be readily operated by a child under 6.
[S&W guns already conform to this. The revolvers have a 10 pound trigger pull, and the semi-automatic pistols require that the slide be pulled.]
* Performance test. All firearms will be subject to a performance test to ensure safety and quality.
[Common industry practice already.]
* Drop test. All firearms will be subject to a test to ensure they do not fire when dropped.
[No handgun manufacturer in the U.S. makes guns which fail the drop test.]

* All pistols must meet the following additional requirements:
["Pistol" in this context means a self-loading, semi-automatic handgun, as opposed to a revolver.]
* Safety device. Positive manually operated safety device.
[Already standard on S&W pistols.]
* Magazine disconnectors must be available on all pistols to customers who desire the feature, within 12 months.
[A magazine disconnect prevents the gun from firing if the magazine is not in the gun, and there is a round in the firing chamber. People who own handguns for defensive purposes, including law enforcement officers, generally prefer guns without magazine disconnects.]
* Chamber load indicators on all pistols, showing whether the pistol is loaded, within 12 months.
[To the extent that the people begin to rely on chamber load indicators, they will violate the fundamental firearms safety rule: "treat every gun as if it's loaded.]
* New firearm designs will not be able to accept large-capacity magazines that were manufactured prior to September 1994. (Manufacture of such magazines has been prohibited since that date.)
[So new S&W guns have to be incompatible with pre-1995 magazines. Here, S&W undercuts defensive gun use, by ensuring that people who buy new models will not be able to fire more than 11 rounds without stopping to change the magazine. There are many incidents in which defensive gun users have had to fire more than 11 rounds to stop multiple attackers, or even single attackers who are under the influence of drugs.]
* If law enforcement agencies or the military certify the need, exceptions to these requirements may be made. Manufacturers will ask that these guns not be resold to the civilian market.
[Law enforcement retains the ability to obtain reliable firearms. Since defensive gun use by ordinary people is immoral, it would be better for them to die rather than defend themselves with an effective firearm.]

World Net Daily News 3/20/00 Geoff Metcalf "…… Thomas Paine observed that "Tyranny is always better organized than freedom." He also noted "... the strength and power of despotism consists wholly in the fear of resistance." The gun grabbers are at it again. President Clinton (the presumed ineffective lame duck impeached president) continues to pursue his ultimate goal of total gun confiscation. he enemies are those who would erode Liberty and Freedom. Their weapon is incrementalism. Although the U.S. senator from Rhode Island, Jack Reed, has been unable to find any co-sponsors for his insidious S2099 finesse to gift the IRS with new gun-licensing authority, the battle is joined. Some have suggested the Reed bill is the product of mere legislative brain flatulence. Others see it as the opening gubmint gambit, which will be followed with "more reasonable" gun control proposals. ……"

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 3/20/00 Valerie Richardson "…….. As Debra Collins tells it, she became a Second Amendment Sister the night a gun saved her from a beating by her abusive ex-husband. In 1985, Mrs. Collins was staying at her mother's house when her ex-husband broke in at 4 a.m. and threatened to kill her. Grabbing a shotgun, she held him at bay until the police arrived. "I had been beaten waiting for the police before," she recalled. "I've learned that a gun is the only thing that will level the playing field for a woman who's being attacked." That's why Mrs. Collins, 36, is taking on the Million Mom March, a national anti-gun rally planned for Mother's Day. She recently signed on as Colorado state coordinator of the Second Amendment Sisters, a newly formed grass-roots women's group promoting the idea that guns are "a woman's friend," she said……."

Oregon Live 2/10/00 Michael Brown "…….Gun owners watch in amazement as politicians introduce bills that would limit civil rights without having an impact on crime. The Department of Justice touts the latest figures showing how many felons were turned down for gun sales, but authorities decline to prosecute for making the illegal attempt. Anti-gun organizations disseminate false statistics without being questioned by the media. Everyone seems to know that the gun control we have now does not work, yet there is great pressure for more of it. Examples elsewhere indicate that the so called "slippery slope" argument is very real: Gun control eventually leads to prohibition. This suggests to some that there is a sinister conspiracy to disarm the public and leave all power in government hands. Perhaps this is so, but it is more likely that the anti-gun pressure is simply generated by a need to create a useful political issue. Since gun violence is at a 30-year low and accidents have steadily declined for a century, there is no other reason why gun control should be such a high priority at this time. It is simply a useful tool to distract voters from the real social problems that are not being adequately addressed. ………Sam Cohen, a gun rights activist in Massachusetts, summed up the feelings of gun owners who are caught in the political crossfire: "There are 80 million responsible, law-abiding gun owners in America and we are sick and tired of being treated like criminals." ......"

Union Leader 3/21/00 Bernadette Malone Connolly "…….. "We are still weighing the idea of bleeding to death with legal bills vs. the cost of complying," Glock executive Paul Jannuzzo told the Wall Street Journal yesterday, referring to his company's predicament over whether to join Smith & Wesson's monumental sell-out to the Clinton White House. But who can blame Smith & Wesson for giving in to the demands of the anti-gun lobby, considering the White House held a gun to its head? And who can blame Glock GmbH - or Beretta USA, or any other manufacturer - if it follows? Faced with bogus lawsuits for damages from gun violence from 29 cities and counties, Smith & Wesson came out with its hands up on Friday. In exchange for 15 of those entities dropping Smith & Wesson from their suits and Clinton's Justice Department promising not to sue Smith & Wesson specifically, the British-owned company agreed to install external trigger locks on all the guns they make, create internal locks, prevent their new weapons from accepting magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, sell their guns only to certain retailers who follow rules much more strict than current law, and curb their sales to gun shows. ………"

NRA-ILA (Alert)! 3/20/00 James Baker "……. On March 17, British-owned Smith & Wesson, Inc. (S&W), became the first gun maker to run up the white flag of surrender and duck behind the Clinton-Gore lines, blindsiding other members the U.S. firearms industry, and leaving them to stand with lawful gun owners and carry on the fight for the Second Amendment. Of course, there is no Second Amendment in Britain, where subjects are barred from owning handguns and many rifles and shotguns, and S&W's parent company appears poised to sell it to anyone willing to invest in a company fast becoming considered a pariah within its own industry. S&W says the agreement with the Departments of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is intended to exempt the company from non-existent federal government suits, and to ensure that it would be dropped as a defendant in a handful of reckless lawsuits filed by municipalities. Yet the agreement dispenses with only a third of the municipal lawsuits, and binds only two federal agencies and two state attorneys general from filing future suits. The remaining city suits are unaffected, and other state and federal agencies can continue to threaten the industry, including S&W. The day following the announcement, HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo and the mayors of Atlanta, Detroit and Miami moved to support S&W by insuring that their law enforcement agencies would purchase only the company's guns, making the agreement what appears to be an odd mix of extortion and bribe……"

Chuck Baldwin Live 3/21/00 Churck Baldwin "…….. I'll say it right up front: I'm tired of backing up. I'm tired of being asked to compromise. I'm tired of giving ground. My line is drawn in the sand. I'm not backing up anymore! Henry Hyde and other Republican leaders are angry with the NRA for telling the truth about Bill Clinton. People like Clinton and Schumer have made a career at using gun violence to further their extremist, anti-gun agenda. For years, they have turned tragedies into an excuse to trample constitutional liberties. So, why is Hyde upset? Republican leaders are upset because they say the NRA has made it more difficult to enact "reasonable" gun control laws. Hallelujah! We already have over 20,000 "reasonable" gun laws on the books, for all the good it does us. In the name of reason and compromise, guns have been confiscated in Canada, England and Australia. Why is it that freedom-loving people must always give ground? I think it's time for socialists like Clinton to start backing up! ........."

The Washington Post 3/21/00 John Mintz and Eric Pianin "……. Despite escalating signals of alarm among Republican lawmakers about the National Rifle Association's incendiary denunciations of President Clinton, NRA activists said they are emboldened by recent polls that show that the group's focus on the need to crack down on gun-wielding criminals is a winning political issue. Several recent polls by conservative organizations and the GOP show that a majority of voters respond more favorably to arguments promoting strict enforcement of existing gun laws than they do to the idea of new gun-control laws, NRA officials and Republican activists said. ….."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 3/20/00 Joyce Howard Price "….. Both he and Mr. Heston cited the shooting death Thursday of Sheriff's Deputy Ricky Kinchen in Fulton County, Ga. The deputy and another officer were gunned down when they tried to arrest Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, the former Black Panther leader once famous as H. Rap Brown. In network appearances yesterday, the NRA officials said Mr. Al-Amin was carrying an unlicensed handgun when he was arrested in Atlanta five years ago after a man said Mr. Al-Amin shot him. The man later recanted his accusations. Mr. LaPierre said police in the Atlanta area called the Clinton administration at the time to see if federal officials wanted to prosecute Mr. Al-Amin for illegal possession of a firearm. "The Clinton administration refused to prosecute, and he wound up killing someone," Mr. LaPierre said on Fox. At this point, Mr. Al-Amin has only been accused in the shootings, not convicted. He remains at-large. ……White House Domestic Policy Adviser Bruce Reed, interviewed on Fox, said federal prosecution of gun crime has risen 16 percent since Mr. Clinton took office in 1993. Mr. LaPierre disputed that figure. He said that increase followed a "50 percent drop" in federal gun crime prosecutions "since the Bush administration." ……"

WorldNetDaily 3/21/00 Jon Dougherty "….. Airborne Express, one of the nation's largest package shippers, told an Oregon firearms maker that the company no longer permitted its carriers to ship weapons and ammunition, according to a policy company officials said was adopted last fall. Thomas A. Bowers, a federally-licensed firearms maker based in Hillsboro, Ore. told WorldNetDaily he was "shocked" last week to learn that the package carrier had such a policy, after a company official refused to ship a firearm -- despite Bowers' longstanding use of Airborne. Indeed, in an online version of the company's stated shipping policies, firearms are listed as items that are "not acceptable," along with alcoholic beverages, money, and fur or fur-lined clothing, among other items. Specifically, the weapons policy states, "Firearms (air or powder discharged) assembled or unassembled; ammunition in all forms regardless of hazard classification," will not be accepted by the company. ......"

Associated Press Online 3/20/00 "……- A former Black Panther leader wanted in the fatal shooting of an Atlanta sheriff's deputy was captured in Alabama Monday when he was spotted in a shed by federal marshals and began firing at them, the FBI said. Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, who was known as H. Rap Brown, was arrested in Lowndes County, Ala., west of Montgomery, Agent Theodore Jackson said. Jackson said Al-Amin was spotted about 6:30 p.m. and was arrested about three hours later in Autaugaville, Ala. Al-Amin was spotted peering out from a shed, and he immediately began firing shots at the team of U.S. marshals who spotted him, Jackson said. He ran from the shed into a wooded area with marshals chasing him. Jackson said shots were fired on several occasions during the pursuit. …….Al-Amin came to Atlanta in 1976 after converting to Islam while serving five years in prison for his role in a robbery that ended in a shootout with New York police. In recent years, he has been the spiritual leader of a mosque and operated a small grocery in Atlanta's West End. ......"

The State News (Michigan State U.) 3/20/00 Jason Van Dyke "……Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Mao Tse-tung and Fidel Castro. These are some of the 20th Century's most evil people. Now let's add more names to the list: Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Charles Schumer and Sarah Brady. What do these politicians have in common with some of the most evil people to ever live? They support the most oppressive and tyrannical form of public policy: gun control. Throughout history, it has been shown that disarming the population is the most effective way to enslave them. This held true in ancient Rome, when Christians were not allowed to own "offensive weapons," and kept its momentum through the racism of the 18th and 19th centuries when black codes prohibited enslaved and free blacks (even after the Civil War) from owning firearms. In the 20th century, German fascists, along with Russian, Chinese and Cuban communists, used gun control laws very similar to the "common sense" legislation being proposed today. They did this to disarm political opponents and people they would later throw into concentration and death camps. The racism and hatred surrounding the idea of gun control has been completely evident throughout history. ….."

Wall Street Journal 3/21/00 PAUL M. BARRETT, JOE MATHEWS and VANESSA O'CONNELL "….. In late January, two young Clinton administration lawyers flew to the Nashville, Tenn., airport, where they handed Ed Shultz, the chief executive of Smith & Wesson Corp., a list of gun-control demands. Agree to this, the government attorneys said, and the legal assault on the nation's largest handgun manufacturer would be called off. After perusing the proposed settlement, Mr. Shultz, a gruff 58-year-old with white hair, turned to one of the political operatives and asked sharply, "Max, how old are you?" "Thirty-four," answered Max Stier. "If you live a good long life," Mr. Shultz said, "you will not live to see this proposal happen." Two months later, Mr. Shultz signed an unprecedented settlement based on that very proposal. If rigorously enforced, the deal would significantly restrict the way Smith & Wesson firearms are made and sold. The agreement could force other handgun makers to seek similar terms, potentially effecting a more sweeping round of gun regulation than any single piece of legislation in 30 years. ……."

San Diego Union Tribune 3/21/00 Allyson Smith "……. It's tough taking sides in an argument between Charlton Heston and Bill Clinton. On one side, you have a classic actor trained to fake emotion for the camera, trained to win you over with a well-rehearsed script. And on the other side, you have Charlton Heston. ......"

Original Sources 3/21/00 Mary Mostert "……Last night on Fox News Hannity and Colmes show LaPierre was given the opportunity to explain his point more fully:

Sean Hannity: You know what really, really bothers me, Wayne, ...Tim Russert didn't hammar any Democrat or Sen. Frank Lautenberg when he said that the Gun Lobby has blood on its hands after the Jonesboro shooting. Or, what the President said, that precipitated some of your comments, when he talked about the child in Michigan would be alive today, he said, had that gun had had a trigger lock on it, then the six year old couldn't have fired the gun. The only problem is - that child and the gun came from a crack house where crack was being dealt. Isn't that just as outrageous?
Wayne LaPierre:I think if anyone ever doubted there is a double standard in this country all they would have to watch is what the Clinton spin machine aided by the national media tried to do to me this past week. The President on the Today show and started all this by saying that the NRA is responsible for all the gun deaths in the United States. And the national media just sat there. He then said the NRA has never done anything for safety. We spent $20 million on firearm safety in the last five years!

Sean Hannity:I'll put up some statistics in a couple of minutes but before I do I'll just put up a couple of others. Prior to Columbine - a year and a half prior - 6000 kids were caught bringing a gun to school - that's a federal crime - and the Clinton Administration and the Reno Justice Department only prosecuted 13! One hundred and seventy nine people were denied access to purchase a weapon. Wayne, you supported the instant background check. That's a federal crime. They could face ten years in jail. The Clinton Justice Department didn't prosecute one of them. According to the Senate Judiciary Committee, in 1998, possession or discharge of a firearm on school grounds - there were only 8 prosecutions of possession of handguns by a juvenile and Brady background check - that's all the prosecutions they had. Your point is right! What good is the 21,000th gun law if we don't enforce the laws on the books?
Wayne LaPierre:Well, I used some very strong words to try to center the debate on the complete lack of enforcement of the federal firearms laws on the books now against the people who are doing the killing. The violent felons with guns, the drug dealers with guns and the violent gang members with guns. The current federal gun laws are the metal detectors at the airport. If the President would only instruct Janet Reno to enforce those laws and pick those people up that are breaking federal laws. They could pick them ALL up right now, hold them without bail and send them to penitentiary for five years. ......"

Newsweek 3/27/00 Matt Bai "……Ed Shultz is a hard guy to figure, even to fellow gunmakers. In a business often defined by ideology, Smith & Wesson's CEO is the ultimate pragmatist. A gruff Midwesterner, Shultz got his start in metals and office furniture-not firearms-and when the gun lobby and the White House start shouting at each other, it's not always clear whose side he's on. "I'm not willing to be a pawn in a political chess game," he says with typical bluntness. So when the industry abruptly decided to break off negotiations with the White House on new gun-safety rules early this year-and Shultz made it plain that he still preferred a deal-the other gun barons weren't sure if he was with them or not. ………They got their answer last week. Shultz broke ranks and secretly cut a sweeping deal with the White House to keep Smith & Wesson out of court, agreeing to wide-ranging concessions such as locking devices and required training for its customers. To a stunned gun lobby, and to some of his closest colleagues, it was an act of treason. "Wow," exclaimed Jonathan Mossberg, whose family makes the venerable Mossberg shotgun. "It would have been nice to be told." Shultz's old friends at the National Rifle Association instantly became his mortal enemies, faxing members a scathing alert with his office number attached. To Shultz, typically, it wasn't personal-it was business. "I'm concerned for the industry," Shultz told NEWSWEEK in an interview just after the announcement. "But at some point, the company has to save itself." ……"

ajc.com 3/21/00 John McCosh "…… An official in the U.S. Attorney's office Monday disputed the National Rifle Association's charges that a fugitive wanted in the killing of a Fulton County deputy last week was free because of lax enforcement of gun laws by the Clinton administration. Gentry Shelnutt, chief of the office's criminal division, said the 1995 case against Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin for gun possession by a felon disintegrated when the key witness to a related charge of aggravated assault recanted his story…….. Police took a .45-caliber pistol from Al-Amin, and added charges of carrying a concealed weapon and carrying a pistol without a permit. On Aug. 11, Miles recanted his story and the aggravated assault charges were dropped. Officials with the NRA said Sunday Al-Amin should have been in jail last week, still serving time for the gun possession charges. Police are now searching for Al-Amin in connection with the slaying of a Fulton County deputy and the wounding of another Thursday. Shelnutt said the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms brought the case of Al-Amin's gun possession in November 1995 to then-U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander. Al-Amin's felony record stemmed from a 1971 holdup and shootout in New York City. "It was assigned to an assistant who looked at the fact that the prior felony was over 20 years old and you have a witness who recants," Shelnutt said. Also, he said, since the warrant was issued based on a story that had been recanted, the prosecution would have faced the defense that Al-Amin should never have been searched on Aug. 7. Alexander denied the Clinton administration played a part in deciding not to prosecute Al-Amin. ……."

Enter Stage Right - A Journal of Modern Conservatism 3/20/00 Dr Michael S Brown "……This columnist, and others, who monitor the gun control debate, know that the verbal attack reflects only the surface of a deep reservoir of bitterness that Bill Clinton has created in American gun owners. Eight years of constant pressure by the Clinton-Gore administration, their allies in Congress, and anti-gun organizations have driven tempers to the breaking point. Gun owners have been demonized to such an extent that they have become the newest persecuted minority. Like other groups and individuals who happened to be in the path of the voracious Clinton spin machine, gun owners have been denigrated and libeled by experts. What was once an important and patriotic group of citizens now feels completely marginalized and in danger of extinction…….."

Nando Times 3/22/00 Chad Roedemeier "…..Gun makers Glock Inc. and Browning will not sign voluntary gun-control agreements similar to the one reached last week between Smith & Wesson Corp. and the Clinton administration. The deal-breaker for Glock was the creation of an outside "oversight commission," made up of local, state and federal officials, who would supervise the gun manufacturer. "The commission is an absurd concept," said Paul Jannuzzo, vice president and general counsel of the Smyrna-based Glock, a unit of Glock GmbH of Austria. "It's overly broad. It's more powerful than any regulatory agency." Rich Bauter, vice president of firearms marketing for Browning, also said the company would not agree to an accord. ….."I would think that everybody in the country should be absolutely outraged, at not only Smith & Wesson's steps, but also the U.S. government's steps that have intruded into the legislative process," he said Tuesday. ….."

Denver Rocky Mountain News 3/22/00 Carla Crowder "…..NRA President Charlton Heston came to Colorado to give a speech Tuesday, and not once did he mention guns, the Second Amendment or the controversy swirling around the National Rifle Association. Protesters on both sides of the gun debate faced off in loud demonstrations. Each tried to shout anti-gun or pro-gun chants louder than the other, things like "Hey Hey Ho Ho. The NRA has got to go." Two men even got into a fight, brawling in the mud over differences of opinion about firearms. But inside the packed house at Mackey Auditorium at the University of Colorado, Heston spoke about freedom and justice. He recited inspirational speeches from the lofty characters he's played in movies. He cited history's lessons and quoted great leaders. "Never give up. Never give up. Never, never, never give up," Heston said, baring his teeth and using his best, booming Moses voice to quote Winston Churchill. ……….. But he did not speak of guns until the question-answer session following his speech. The student union, the event's primary sponsor, paid Heston $30,000 to speak, said Shannon Meadors, one of the event's coordinators. ……."

Los Angeles Daily News 3/22/00 Bill Thompson "…… We're talking about the nation's mourner in chief, a man who tears up at the drop of a hat and who won two presidential elections by convincing voters that he cares about their problems and their "needs." ......... Disheartening though it may be to those of us who believe that the right to bear arms is every bit as important as all the other rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, the public's perception is that Clinton and the anti-gun crowd occupy the moral high ground on this issue. The argument about guns is no longer an intellectual disagreement over nuances of the Second Amendment; it's an emotion-drenched showdown over life and death. ……."

Pensacola News Journal 3/21/00 Seas Vinaja "……In relation to the gun control debate, let`s consider these Florida statistics from 1993: 2,347 rapes; 12,480 other sex-related crimes; over 2,000 new diagnosed AIDS cases; and the increasing rate of broken marriages (84,000 of 140,000). Consider also sex-related crime involving murder, assault, etc., and the unreported cases of adultery and incest. These statistics have only increased. Knowing these statistics, let`s introduce legislation regulating the ownership and use of genitals. While some will doubtlessly try to apply the traditional interpretation of American`s pursuit of happiness, such an application cannot stand in light of the multitude of genital-related crimes. Statistics show that irresponsible use of genitals hurts people directly (sex crimes/diseases) and indirectly (emotionally/psychologically). The conservative right, of course, will declare, ``Genitals don`t hurt people; people hurt people.`` Regardless of such expressions, every educated person knows that people without genitals cannot use them to hurt other people! Will the people protecting society by removing our right to bear arms also help society by removing our right to bear genitals? ……"

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 3/22/00 Sean Scully "……. Congressional Democrats yesterday joined Republicans in a call for tougher enforcement of existing gun laws but blamed the current level of enforcement on gun-control opponents, not lax Clinton administration policies. "This is comprehensive enforcement that was done because it is the next logical step now that we have information" on gun crimes and trafficking collected by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in the past seven years, said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat and sponsor of the bill. Republicans say the Democrats are stealing their argument that the Clinton administration should enforce existing laws rather than demand new ones. "This is probably an exercise in trying to cover your tail," said Sen. Larry E. Craig, Idaho Republican……"

Denver Post 3/22/00 Mike soraghan "…..Gun enthusiasts won again at the Colorado Legislature on Tuesday as senators voted to keep secret the names of people given government permission to carry concealed handguns. Sen. Ken Chlouber, R-Leadville, told fellow senators the measure is simply a matter of privacy for those who want to carry hidden handguns. "It's a wish, I guess an expectation we all should have in this country of a right to privacy," Chlouber said. ……"

The St. Louis Post (Postnet) 3/15/00 Dr. Michael Gordinier "…… The media portrays gun owners as shadowy members of a Secret Society, clannish outsiders with a threatening culture that is based upon Extremism, Racism and a fear of Black Helicopters. We're simply not perceived as mainstream normal anymore. And over time we've been successfully marginalized and demonized by our opponents. No wonder some believe that we are losing the war for the hearts and minds of non gun owning Americans, We defend ourselves by appealing to the Constitution and to the words of the Founding Fathers. But this means little to Soccer Moms who have been emotionally conditioned to believe that our "precious hobby" is killing their children and that we simply don't give a damn. ……….. Today's Key Message Is: Guns Save Lives/Gun Control Kills 6,849 potential crime victims are saved, per day, by the legal use of firearms. That's 2.5 million lives spared per year. Guns save 60 times more lives than are lost due to criminal activity. I hope you heard that. ……….Guns are a positive Social Benefit and no amount of Soccer Mom whining and bad accounting on their part can change the facts! ……"

The Daily Oklahoman 3/22/00 "…..IT'S not hard to see why British firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson signed a pact with the Clinton administration last week. Having watched the federal government use lawsuits and the threat of lawsuits to herd the tobacco industry into a multi-billion dollar settlement, the gun maker saw a similar prospect on the horizon in suits against firearms manufacturers by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department and a number of municipalities. Smith & Wesson decided to cut and run, no doubt to limit its potential financial liability, but in the process earning the scorn of Second Amendment defenders -- other gun makers and the National Rifle Association -- left to soldier on against President Clinton's demagoguery. …….. More significant is the perception that the pro-Second Amendment forces' battlements have been breached and that more serious anti-gun measures, such as national handgun registration, now may be thinkable. The NRA says the agreement heads that way with a requirement that Smith & Wesson firearms contain a "ballistic signature" to help authorities trace a weapon from a bullet or casing. …….. Smith & Wesson's deal with the Clinton administration was a surrender of the high ground of the Constitution. It increases the likelihood of more government regulation that ultimately will hassle law-abiding gun owners much more than the criminals it is supposed to encumber. ..."

Denver Post.com 3/14/00 Mike Soraghan "……Gun-rights advocates say the flurry of lawsuits filed nationwide against gun manufacturers is a back-door way to take away people's guns. "What the people who want to take away our guns want to do is copy what's happened to the tobacco industry," said Aimee Rathburn, executive director of the Colorado State Shooting Association. "The idea is to bankrupt the firearms industry so they can take away our guns." Rathburn's group, along with the National Rifle Association, is backing legislation that would give gunmakers and gun stores immunity from lawsuits in Colorado. Getting state legislatures to block such suits is one of the top priorities of the NRA……"

Austin American Statesman 3/22/00 Eunice Moscoso "……The National Rifle Association, criticized for its harsh rhetoric and hard-line opposition to gun-control, is fighting back by focusing on a popular message -- enforcing gun laws already on the books. The theme resonates in NRA President Charlton Heston's defiant ads on television, in public remarks by other officials and supporters, and in multiple essays and press releases on the group's Web site. "All the polls I've seen, going back years and years, indicate that Americans expect and want enforcement of laws that prohibit felons from carrying guns, prohibit drug dealers from carrying guns, prohibit violent felons from even trying to get them," said NRA spokesman Bill Powers. "And yet those laws are never enforced, or hardly ever enforced." Powers said that the NRA has pushed the issue for several years. Now, he said, it "has reached a broader spotlight and is being discussed at the national level," and that is a "positive thing for all Americans." ……"

St Louis Post Dispatch 3/22/00 Michael Gordinier "…..
LIE NO. 1: Guns only kill …….. Each day 5,000 to 7,000 innocent victims of crime save their lives and the lives of their children with firearms, often without firing a shot. That's about 2 million lives saved a year. Every year. ……
LIE NO. 2: Guns cause crime…….. If guns cause crime, from 1965 to 1995, when firearm ownership increased by 188 percent, from 80 million to 230 million, why did firearm accidents and crime decline by 42 percent? ……
LIE NO. 3: We need more laws……… To advocate more laws is a tacit admission that the 20,000 firearm laws already in place have been failures. What good will one more law do? ……
LIE NO. 4: If guns were banned our world would be safer………Everywhere gun prohibitions have been put into effect, from Washington, D.C., to New York city, from England to Australia, criminals rejoice that their prey can no longer hurt them and crime gets worse. …….
LIE NO. 5: Gun prohibitionists care about children, and gun owners don't. ………Most reasonable people believe that educating children about sex and drugs is the best way to prevent tragedies. Ignorance isn't bliss, knowledge is power. So sex and drug education are good . . . but firearms safety education is bad? …..
LIE NO. 6: Technology is the answer to the firearms problem………..If people are forced by law to use trigger locks, a critical piece of safety equipment, their firearm, will not be readily available when they need it the most. Result: Hundreds of people per day will be killed by this feel-good legislation in a misguided attempt to save a few. Talk about unintended consequences! ........."

JPFO 3/14/00 "…… JPFO's March 6 national press release (archived on the web at http://www.jpfo.org/alert20000306.htm) showed that HCI provided misleading data to President Clinton to the effect that "13 kids die each day by gun violence." What resulted? HCI has gone into a tizzy. Facing HCI with the facts drives them nuts. Leftish Colorado Radio Station KWAB talk host Gary Tessler contacted JPFO on March 14 to explain this charge and he brought on the research director of HCI to defend the statistic. Richard Stevens, JPFO Firearms Sentinel Editor, appeared for JPFO. That was the first major accomplishment: putting HCI into a position of having to explain its misleading numbers. The March 6 press release succeeded in forcing HCI into the arena. During the interview the host, Mr. Tessler, showed his strong hostility to firearms ownership and practically handed the air time over to the HCI rep. Based on the rep's near monologue, we can see that HCI was upset by being questioned. Here is how HCI argues to escape the charge of misleading figures:
1. "The true figure for deaths is not 13 kids per day, but 11.56 youths per day." ……… Newer figures account for the lower number. Next, HCI argues that JPFO is quibbling about the difference between 11.5 and 13. VERY CLEVER ARGUMENT AND MISLEADING IN ITSELF, BECAUSE THE NUMBER IS NOT THE ISSUE -- the deceptive use of the number is the issue. Then, too, the "13 kids" number is posted on the HCI website. The President apparently has switched to the 11.5 figure in recent days, after the JPFO news release, presumably being advised by HCI to use the newer lower but still deceptive number.

2. "The term 'kids' includes people from age 0 to 19. Eighteen and nineteen year olds are typically considered 'kids.'" ......
3. When confronted with their disingenuous use of the term "kids," the HCI rep turns it around to say "oh, so you don't care about the deaths of youths age 18-19." THIS IS ANOTHER RHETORICAL TRICK ...
4. "HCI does not favor disarmament." This statement is standard HCI propaganda. When challenged that Josh Sugarman, head of the Violence Policy Center, had stated in the New York Times last November that banning all handguns is the only "solution," the HCI rep changes the subject again to ...
5. "Nobody is talking about disarmament. That is not the debate. No legislation is pending before Congress that would disarm anybody. I don't know where you get this idea that we are for disarming people…
6. When faced with the statistic of 5,500 defensive gun uses per day, the HCI rep jumps in without allowing you to finish your thought. HCI claims that the figure comes from Gary Kleck's research on defensive gun use and that it has been discredited. The HCI rep claiming that because he is HCI's research director he knows the facts cold. The fact that Kleck's analysis won a national award for criminology research means nothing to HCI. When, if ever, did HCI research win a credible award? ….."

The Washington Times 3/15/00 Margie Hyslop "…….Gov. Parris N. Glendening's office forwarded inaccurate information from Handgun Control Inc. to state legislators, doubling federal statistics on 1997 gun deaths in Maryland. A Glendening legislative staffer sent inflated figures, apparently taken from Handgun Control's Web site, to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sheila Hixson. They listed firearms deaths in Maryland by victim's age and type of shooting. Handgun Control Inc.'s research director, Douglas Weil, said staffers used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics to create the chart. But Handgun Control listed a total of 1,408 firearms deaths for Maryland - almost double the 710 Maryland firearm deaths that the CDC reported……"

World Net Daily / Between The Lines 3/15/00 Joseph Farah "…….Bill Clinton and Al Gore are not in favor of disarming the government. Notice they are not advocating that the Secret Service lay down its weapons. They are not advocating that our standing Army be demobilized. They are not advocating that police departments disarm. No. They want government to maintain a monopoly on firepower. So, it's not that they believe guns are bad. It's that the public -- the people they are supposed to serve -- cannot be trusted with guns. This is very significant. ... As evidence for this, they point to examples of horrors perpetrated by a tiny minority of citizens. They point to accidents. Never mind that bad people also commit murders with knives. They drown their victims. They suffocate them. They beat them to death with clubs and fists. No one, however, suggests banning the sale and possession of knives, water, pillows, clubs or the registering of fists. Though it's probably coming some day if they get their way on guns. ……"

Washington Times 3/15/00 "…….. "Do us a favor," asks the National Rifle Association, hoping President Clinton is reading. "Tell the president that if he's going to keep claiming that he has a 'lifetime' membership with the NRA to at least get the terminology right. We don't have such a thing," says NRA spokesman Bill Powers. "We've always called it a 'life' membership." ......... After an extensive search of NRA records, Mr. LaPierre said Mr. Clinton never had an NRA "membership, he never had a jacket. He made it up." "I can't believe it," the NRA chief added. "You know, if he's that delusional maybe he did inhale."......"

Young America's Foundation 3/14/00 "……Tolerance and diversity? Not at Brandeis University. Although the administration approved a student-sponsored lecture by Charlton Heston, it is now attempting to put up roadblocks to make it impossible for the lecture to take place. The administration is making absurd requests of the students trying to organize the Heston lecture. Most of the requests are related to security, a typical leftist administration dirty trick to stop conservative speakers from coming to campus. So far they have requested a bomb sniffing dog, ten police officers, two full body metal detectors, two metal detector wands, a paramedic team, and four pints of Mr. Heston's blood type. They have also forced the lecture into a larger ballroom that holds 1,000 people instead of the original smaller auditorium that the sponsoring group preferred. The administration claims this move is for security reasons, however, the cost of the additional chairs in the ballroom is nearly $900 plus the cost of the administration shutting down half of the student center. The smaller auditorium was free. ……. In addition, if there are any protestors at the event that have to be removed by the police, the students have to pay that bill as well. The total costs of these demands are between $5,000 and $7,000. The administration also reserved the right to increase security at any time (even up to an hour before the event) and then charge the student organizers……"

US Newswire 3/15/00 "……The following was released today by the White House:…… Joined by members of Congress, President Clinton today will unveil the FBI's first annual report on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) created under the Brady Law. The new report shows that in its first year of operation, the NICS stopped 179,000 felons, fugitives, domestic abusers, and other prohibited persons from buying guns. The President today also will highlight his budget proposal to make Brady checks even faster and more effective. Finally, he will urge Congress to resist the gun lobby by passing the motion Representative Lofgren will offer today calling on juvenile justice conferees to meet in the next two weeks, and by moving on gun safety legislation that has been stalled for over eight months……."

GOA 3/15/00 "…….At the heart of the rhetorical battle between pro- and anti-gun forces lies a truth neither side likes to concede: They are in almost complete agreement on almost every issue. The two sides agree on the basics of a new package of gun-control legislation: requiring the sale of trigger locks with all handguns, banning all large-capacity ammunition clips and magazines, and preventing youths younger than 18 from possessing certain semiautomatic weapons. They even agree on the notion that all buyers at gun shows should be subject to background checks, just like buyers at regular gun stores.... Both the National Rifle Association and President Clinton -- who normally agree on little else -- endorsed congressional bills that included these provisions last year. And even though they were on the same side on most of the proposed regulations, Mr. Clinton and the NRA are engaged in an increasingly bitter public dispute over gun control in recent days...."

newsmax.com 3/5/00 Carl Limbachr "….. I would hope we could have an open and honest discussion about gun enforcement without calling names." That was how likely GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush rebuked the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre, after the NRA spokeman criticized President Clinton for demagoging the gun control issue on Sunday's "This Week with Sam and Cokie." LaPierre had alleged that Clinton was "willing to accept a certain level of killing" so he could make political hay over tragedies like the gunshot death of six year-old Karla Roland last month. …….. Bush's strategy of keeping the issue low key may be the more politically responsible course. But charges of political irresponsibility never seem to stop the Democrats. .........Second Amendment backers are likely to come in for the same rhetorical browbeating that Gore gave the Christian Coalition a few years back, when he described the key GOP constituency as "extra chromosome right wingers." Predictably, the media cheered......."

The Hartford Courant 3/15/00 Tina Brown "….. EBay, one of the nation's most po