Three Madison Award Winners
The Second Amendment Foundation is proud to announce three Madison Award winners for pro-gun ownership commentaries on the Jonesboro school shooting, California gun ban and concealed carry reform. Madison Awards are given in the spirit of James Madison, fourth U.S. President and author of the Second Amendment.
Our first recipient of the Madison Award goes to the New York Post for two recent editorials. The editorial entitled, "Where Did All The Guns Go?" ran in the April 5, 1998 edition. It details how the recent drop in crime was not related to more gun control.
The NY Post begins by trumpeting how the city’s murder rate has dropped dramatically in 1998. In fact, "If the rate stays on track, the city will experience its lowest number of killings since 1961."
"Great news, needless to say. We have one question to ask those who have been arguing for two decades that the spiraling crime rate would be cured by strict national gun-control laws: Where did all the guns go?"
The editorial doubts that armed thugs threw all their firearms in the Hudson River or that police secretly confiscated them and therefore the only reasonable explanation is that, ". . . the incredible murder drop has taken place without any major new gun-control initiative from City Hall, Albany or Washington."
This revelation of common sense is then brought against gun grabbers claiming that "such easy access to firearms" caused the tragic Jonesboro school shooting committed by Mitchell Johnson and Drew Golden.
"The problem with this neat scenario is that the duo didn’t really have such easy access to firearms," noted the NY Post. The paper continued to explain in great detail how the pair stole a van owned by Johnson’s stepfather and drove to Golden’s parents’ home with a hammer and blowtorch to attack the family safe. They also drove to Golden’s grandfather’s house and broke in with a crowbar to steal the rifles used in the murders.
"Clearly, these were two very determined people who were not likely to be deterred by trigger locks, waiting periods or any of the other faddish gun-control ideas of late."
The editorial continued to not blame inanimate guns for crime by reminding readers, "Israel and Switzerland are the two most heavily armed societies on earth, yet they are largely free of gun-related violence. The massacres in Rwanda that ended the lives of 1 million people were carried out largely with machetes."
The NY Post concluded by declaring that the boys are murderers who might have used machetes in a world without guns.
In an earlier editorial, the NY Post touched on the Jonesboro tragedy in a March 28, 1998 edition entitled, "Guns Aren’t The Problem." In response to calls for more gun controls and attacks on the "youth gun culture," this brief, six paragraph opinion piece summed up two crucial points gun owners have been saying for years.
"Of the kids who hunt or target shoot with their fathers or grandfathers, 99.99999 percent do not end up killing their classmates in horrific shootings," read the editorial. The paper continued by noting that, "Responsible gun owners are not the source of the crime and mayhem in the United States . . .."
The objective editorials in a prominent New York City paper should help give all gun owners hope that intelligent reasoning will eventually prevail over irrational politicking.
Our second Madison Award goes to Chuck Michel, one of the attorneys for the SAF funded lawsuit against the California’s so-called ‘assault weapon’ ban. His opinion piece, "A Class of Accidental Criminals: Weapons Act That Includes Law-Abiding Gun Owners Is Irrational," details why the California Third Court of Appeals threw out a major portion of the gun ban law and questioned the validity of the remaining portions.
"The law is so technically incompetent and vague that it has turned thousands of otherwise law-abiding gun owners into accidental felons," noted Michel.
Michel highlights this point with the example of William Doss, who moved back to California in 1995 with a SKS "Sporter" rifle. Doss was told in writing by the California Department of Justice (DOJ) that his gun was perfectly legal. But that changed quickly.
"In late 1997, the DOJ suddenly adopted the broadest reading possible," states Michel. "Doss received a new letter telling him the SKS ‘Sporter’ rifle had been illegal all along and advising that if he immediately forfeited his rifle to local police they might not file felony charges against him."
DOJ knew of about 350 other SKS owners and they received a similar letter. Michel writes, "Problem is, as many as 500,000 SKS rifles were imported, sold and possessed with the DOJ’s blessing between 1991 and 1997" with no way to notify all those owners of their now illegal firearms.
"Doss allowed his rifle to be confiscated. Others, unaware of the problem, have been prosecuted. Instead of fighting crime, the law created a whole new class of retroactive accidental criminals." SAF is currently working with Michel on one of these cases.
"The [ban] list was about looks and names, nothing more," says Michel. He also notes that some of the guns banned are unsuitable for hunting because the caliber is too weak. In addition, the ban fails to include many similar firearms on the list that are functionally identical to the prohibited ones.
Michel concludes by stating that the ruling has helped restore some respect for the legal process that was eroded by "the arbitrary selection process and the meaninglessness of an ‘assault weapon’ designation."
Our third winner of the Madison Award was brought to our attention by a member from Missouri. His local paper, the Joplin Globe, featured an excellent editorial on February 21, 1998 entitled, "Guns: Allow Concealed Carry."
The Joplin Globe begins by admonishing Gov. Mel Carnahan for not supporting a concealed carry law allowing, "innocent, law-abiding individuals the means to defend themselves." Furthermore, "The truth is that police and sheriff’s deputies do all they can, but they can’t be everywhere. Criminals count on that. And so Joe and Jane Average find themselves tempting targets for robbery, rape and mayhem . . .."
The paper then details several anti-gun diatribes against concealed carry such as "main street shootouts" and demonizing handguns as "though pieces of metal and plastic are at the root of violent crimes." The editorial then discredits these irrational fears by noting that other states have passed similar laws without experiencing these problems.
The Joplin Globe also reminds readers that "Bad guys don’t care that laws prohibit them from carrying a firearm under their jackets or inside coat pocket. If they need a gun for their crime, they’ll get it and, if to their advantage, they’ll use it."
Therefore, concludes the editorial, Missouri’s ban on concealed carry assures that only law-abiding citizens "are guaranteed to be unarmed when they are confronted by robbers, rapists, murderers and muggers. In many states, legislators have leveled that field with strong concealed-carry laws. Missouri needs one, too."
If you locate an editorial or opinion article worthy of a Madison Award, please mail it to: Dave LaCourse · James Madison Awards Committee Chairman · Second Amendment Foundation · 12500 NE 10th Place · Bellevue, WA 98005 or FAX it to (425) 451-3959 with Attn: Dave LaCourse on the cover page.