ASHCROFT
FOR GUN RIGHTS
The Attorney General of the United States has bravely staked out two bold positions to protect the rights of gun owners - and he’s taking the heat for it.
Attorney General JOHN ASHCROFT first asked the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel to
draft a legal statement confirming that the Second Amendment protects an
individual right, and not a collective right valid only for citizen militias,
as the CLINTON administration had held.
ASHCROFT expressed this view in a recent letter to the National Rifle Association, saying, “The text and original intent of the 2nd Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to
keep and bear arms.”
ASHCROFT’s letter carries the same
weight as a formal legal opinion in stating Justice Department policy.
The BUSH Administration’s new policy agrees with House Concurrent
Resolution 119, by Rep. PHILIP CRANE (R-IL), that put Congress on record as
affirming an individual Second Amendment right.
The new policy could have a sweeping impact on how the government enforces gun control laws and on court
decisions.
American gun dean JOHN SNYDER, public affairs director of the Citizens Committee for the Right
to Keep and Bear Arms,
commended ASHCROFT for the move.
SNYDER also congratulated JOHN R. BOLTON, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security affairs, for standing up at the United Nations in defense of traditional American principles. The United
States opposes a UN draft accord on the international sale of small arms, said
BOLTON, because it might infringe the right of American citizens to keep
and bear arms. Most nations do not allow any such right to their citizens.
Predictably, anti-gun Democrats loudly condemned Attorney
General ASHCROFT, calling his new policy a surrender to gun lobbyists.
Next, ASHCROFT shortened to one day
the time the government keeps background check records of gun buyers, instead of the 90 days previously mandated. Background checks were required by the Brady Act that
created the National Instant Background Check System, but the law did not require records
to be held. The 90-day holding period was enacted by the CLINTON administration.
The Attorney General argued that the shorter period still lets the records be audited for fraud and abuse while better
protecting the privacy of legal gun purchasers.
The House of Representatives promptly backed ASHCROFT, voting
268-161 to reject an effort by Rep. JAMES MORAN (D-VA) that would have required
the FBI to keep the records for at least
90 days. Sixty-one Democrats crossed
over to support the BUSH administration in
this vote, an unprecedented number.
Senators TED KENNEDY (D-MA) and CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY)
threatened to subpoena all internal documents related to ASHCROFT’s
decision to purge gun records after one day. SCHUMER is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee that has oversight jurisdiction over the Justice Department.
The Democrat threat is unlikely to result
in ASHCROFT backing down.
UNITED NATIONS ANTI-GUN CONFERENCE DE-FANGED BY BUSH -
SO FAR
The United Nations Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons ended with
a bang for the United States.
Instead of the total gun control agreement
designed by factions hostile to American gun rights, the conference ended with 189 nations agreeing on a more reasonable plan the BUSH administration wanted - with calls to limit firearm sales and restrict civilian gun
ownership removed.
Chief United States negotiator LINCOLN BLOOMFIELD told delegates at the beginning of the conference that his
government would walk before conceding
on several points.
The points included U.S. refusal to bar governments from
supplying small arms to rebel groups,
noting that it would not forego foreign policy options such as helping to overthrow a threatening government.
BLOOMFIELD also made perfectly clear that the U.S. would oppose any
plan that even hinted at interference with civilian gun ownership.
The final agreement passed without those two provisions,
keeping only gun marking and tracing plans.
It left many Africans, Europeans and so-called “human
rights” groups furious, whining that it will neither block governments from arming rebels nor control gun ownership
anywhere.
South African delegate JEAN DU PREEZ fumed, “The U.S. should be ashamed of themselves. We are very disappointed.”
Mexico’s chief delegate LUIS
ALFONSO DE ALBA called the U.S. action “regrettable” and
vowed that his country would continue its push to
control civilian gun ownership worldwide
and limit the small arms trade only to governments.
The United States made one important concession:
It agreed to future conferences on the same subject. Many of the anti-gun participants
in the UN conference see it as only
the beginning of a much larger
process of global gun control.
In response to this future threat, a determined effort
was launched on Capitol Hill to outlaw
using U.S. taxpayers’ money to implement any UN gun control ideas. Written by Reps. BOB BARR (R-GA) and ROSCOE BARTLETT (R-MD), the measure is to be attached
to the appropriations bill that covers the Commerce, State and Justice departments.
Rep. FRANK R. WOLF (R-VA), chair of the Appropriations
subcommittee in charge of the issue, said in a House colloquy with BARR and BARTLETT, “The administration has expressed
concern, and we will be glad to work with both of the gentlemen with regard to the conference and language the
administration supports.”
UN Undersecretary-General Jayantha Dhanapala said during the conference that scores of letters protesting
the conference were being investigated
as security risks.
Many pro-gunners were outraged at the idea of Americans exercising their First Amendment
rights to protect their Second Amendment rights being declared a security risk.
The Second Amendment Foundation demanded an apology from the UN for its flagrant disrespect of American citizens.
Even though the worst provisions of the anti-gun plan
were avoided at this conference, there is little reason for gun owners to rejoice. There will undoubtedly be more
UN conferences on global gun control in the foreseeable future.
The conference plan that was agreed upon
now goes to the UN General Assembly, where it will almost certainly be approved.
DEMS BACK-PEDALING ON GUNS
AS ELECTION PLOY
Democratic Party officials trying to regroup after the
AL GORE disaster are listening to pundits who tell them to stop pushing gun control if they want to win elections.
Some tell candidates to shut up, some say call it something else.
VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL
CANDIDATE MUM ON GUNS
MARK WARNER, Democrat candidate for governor of Virginia, is heeding the prevailing
wisdom that gun control hurts Democratic candidates. According to critics in the gun-control movement, WARNER has no intention of bringing the issue into his campaign.
In fact, WARNER has been reported to be making quiet but friendly contact with gun rights groups.
INFLUENTIAL DEMOCRATS
WANT TO DUMP GUN CONTROL - THE NAME, ANYWAY
The Democratic Leadership Council, a “pro-business group”
that steered the party away from
traditional liberalism during
the ’90s, is worried that they won’t recapture
Congress in 2002, or the White House in 2004 unless they dump gun control.
At a recent gathering in Indianapolis, prominent Democrats including Sen. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN,
who is positioning himself for a possible presidential run in 2004, concluded that they can do better among white
males if the party stresses “gun safety” and not gun control.
It was not clear what the difference was. But they want gun owner votes.
Even national Democratic chairman TERRY McAULIFFE, who is known for his left-leaning attacks on gun owners
and President GEORGE W. BUSH, told the meeting that 48 percent of voters in the past presidential election own
guns.
“We’ve got to figure this issue out,” he said.
DEMOCRAT PARTY CHAIRMAN
ADMITS GUN ISSUE IS KILLING DEMOCRAT HOPES
In Seattle,
McAULIFFE told a reporter “The National Rifle Association spent
$22 million against us distorting our position on guns. We, as a party, have to reconsider what we do on guns,
because we are being killed on
this issue.”
The Democrats’ greatest strength is along the Pacific Coast, in the Northeast and New England, and in the upper Midwest. Substantial swings in voter allegiance have taken place,
influenced by negative reactions to CLINTON’s presidency and hot-button issues such as guns. McAULIFFE
hopes to win back voters they have
lost.
AMERICANS FOR GUN SAFETY
SHOWING WAY FOR DEMS TO REGAIN VOTES
Call it “gun safety” and you can get away with gun control.
Instead of simply refusing to talk about gun control in
political campaigns, some Democrats have decided they can disguise it in new words:
“gun safety.”
And they have some powerful friends.
The self-proclaimed “moderate” group, Americans for Gun
Safety (AGS), was founded in July 2000 by TMP Worldwide
CEO, billionaire ANDREW J. McKELVEY.
AGS bills itself as a “nonpartisan”
advocacy group, but the only bill in Congress it seems to be supporting is the monstrous anti-gun McCAIN-LIEBERMAN gun show bill. The Republican co-sponsor is JOHN McCAIN,
who is reportedly preparing to
become a Democrat.
What’s more, AGS founder McKELVEY has donated political campaign money only to Democrat candidates, according to Federal Election Commission records.
AGS’s slogan is “rights
and responsibilities.” Sounds
great, right? The idea is that for
every right there is an equal and opposite responsibility. While AGS pretends
to respect gun rights, it insists
on gun responsibilities, whatever they want that to be at the moment.
The AGS pitch is that gun ownership is neither an absolute
right nor an absolute wrong, and that the great middle of Americans want reasonable
restrictions on guns to keep them out of the hands of criminals and children. Responsibilities.
To
see through the AGS flim-flam, ask yourself two easy Constitutional questions:
Do we have a Bill of Rights? Do we have a Bill of Responsibilities?
Hmm....
GUN OWNERS NOT LIABLE
FOR SAFEKEEPING
The Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that gun owners do not have a duty to the public to reasonably
care for their firearms. (That
should come as unwelcome news to Americans for Gun Safety and their “rights and responsibilities” theory.)
The 2-1 decision upholds a trial court decision dismissing
a lawsuit against the owners of a gun used to kill an Allen
County police officer.
Deputy ERYK
HECK was killed when he exchanged
fire with burglary suspect TIMOTHY STOFFER
in 1997. The HECK family sued RAY
and PATRICIA STOFFER in 1999, claiming their son TIMOTHY STOFFER had criminal and violent tendencies and his parents had a duty to ensure that he did not gain access to the handgun used to kill HECK.
The appeals court said that some Indiana
cases require reasonable care
in other contexts, such as by dog owners or people waxing a public floor.
Those cases are different, though, because they don’t involve a constitutionally protected right, the decision said.
DAVID HAWK, the STOFFERS’ attorney, said, “You can’t owe a duty to the whole world. If so, then no one can do anything
without fear of liability.”
JOHN THEISEN,
the attorney representing the HECK family, said he will recommend to his clients that they appeal to the Indiana
Supreme Court.
“It is a cutting-edge question that courts are going to
have to address,” THEISEN said.
BRADY CENTER SUES BOY
The renamed Handgun Control, Inc. is suing a number of
people, including an 11-year-old boy, in the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy named JOHN PRICE.
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed its complaint in the Circuit Court for Baltimore
City, naming as defendants Sturm,
Ruger & Company, Inc., manufacturer of the gun used to kill PRICE; Fallston Gun and Pawn, Inc., the pawn shop
that sold the gun; DENNIS DANIELCZYK, Jr, the
owner of the gun; LARRY ALEXANDER, father of the 9-year-old child who shot PRICE; and PHILIP ALEXANDER, the boy, now 11, who shot PRICE.
The Brady
Center’s Legal Action Project filed the suit on behalf of JOHN and CAROLE PRICE. In 1998, their son JOHN PRICE was playing with PHILIP
ALEXANDER, age 9, who found a .9mm handgun with no clip but a round in the chamber and shot PRICE in the face,
killing him. The claims are that the
lack of safety features and warnings make the defendants liable for money damages in the case.
CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT SHOOTS
“ASSAULT-WEAPONS” BAN
Judges cannot declare firearms illegal under the state’s
assault-weapons ban law, ruled
California’s Supreme Court in a 4-2 vote.
The high court ruled that a semiautomatic rifle is legal if it is not explicitly designated illegal under 1991 amendments to the act.
Justice JANICE ROGERS BROWN wrote in the court’s majority
opinion that the 1991 provisions were too
vague for gun owners to know which
of the so-called copycat firearms of the Russian-made “AK series” were illegal.
Thousands of people in California have been wrongly convicted
for possessing, transporting or using AK series weapons, said CHUCK MICHEL, a lawyer for the National Rifle Association.
The high court’s decision arose from the case of a California attorney who was given a gun instead of payment from
a client.
The attorney sued when authorities seized the firearm
on grounds it was banned under the 1991 amendments.
A Kings County Superior Court Judge, PETER M. SCHULTZ,
ruled that the firearm was illegal, a decision the high court reversed in this ruling.
In 1999, the California legislature banned semiautomatic firearms based on features
instead of makes and models, which made illegal a host of firearms not clearly defined in the 1991 amendments.
That
law has not been fully tested in California’s courts.
THINGS ARE CHANGING FOR CONCEALED CARRY LAWS
OHIO: State lawmakers have new hope for passing a concealed carry bill despite opposition from the governor.
Gov. BOB TAFT has threatened to veto any such proposal,
saying Ohio police don’t want it. But now a key law enforcement group
is softening its opposition, giving legislators some bargaining room.
Support from the Fraternal Order of Police could evenly
divide the state’s four major law enforcement groups on the issue. The group has yet to take an official position,
but Secretary MIKE TAYLOR said it does not “oppose the concept” of concealed weapons for private citizens.
Taylor said the organization might get to the point where they don’t oppose the bill.
The Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association, which represents
sheriffs from all 88 Ohio counties, has come out in favor of the bill.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. JIM ASLANIDES (R-Coshocton), and would let residents carry concealed
weapons. The bill requires a background check, including fingerprinting, and firearms training.
MICHIGAN: Applicants for concealed weapons permits overwhelmed
county clerks and sheriffs across the state on the first day of business under a weapons law recently upheld by
the state Supreme Court.
Wayne County Sheriff ROBERT FIANCO said hundreds of people lined up outside sheriffs’ departments all over Michigan. “We’ve been overwhelmed at this point,” FIANCO said,
“and most people don’t even realize that the background check takes six to eight weeks.”
At Detroit
police headquarters, reserve officers at the front desk were sending applicants to the concealed-weapons unit in
shifts. The lobby remained packed as individuals waited their turn.
The red tape was worse than many applicants expected,
and tempers grew short. County clerks process applications, for example, but fingerprints have to be taken by the
sheriff. Background checks may stack up so that some applicants may wait nearly a year to get a license.
The new law may meet a more severe test: Kent County’s gun board members have suggested they may decline to
issue licenses because of concerns over the inadequacy of the background checks.
An Initiative to block implementation of the new concealed-carry
law was ruled unconstitutional by the Michigan Supreme Court and knocked off the ballot.
The Michigan-based group that led the failed petition
drive, People Who Care About Kids, got most of its money from outside sources.
Michigan State Bureau of Elections reports showed that
70%, or $185,000 of the group’s funding, came from three out-of-state groups: Center to Prevent Handgun Violence
in Washington D.C.
($55,000); and two San
Francisco organizations,
the Tsunami Fund ($100,000) and the Tides Foundation ($30,000).
All this out-of-state money belies the claim that opposition
to the law is widespread in Michigan.
Experts who track funding sources characterized the Tides
Foundation as “San
Francisco interlopers
who give money to nearly every left-wing cause you can think of. They’re out of touch with mainstream America.”
NEW MEXICO: The governor recently signed into law the state’s concealed
carry handgun measure, but nobody is legally concealing and carrying yet.
Even though applications for permits are available at
any district office of the New Mexico State Police, the background checks may overwhelm the staff’s ability to
process them in a timely manner.
The required firearms courses are not expected to be offered
until late this month or even into September.
Those
who pass the course and meet other requirements won’t get an actual permit until after the first of the year.
GUN NEWS TICKER: SHORT TAKES ON GUNS
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Washington, D.C.:
Justice Department statistics
recently released showed the number of background checks conducted by authorities on prospective gun buyers dropped
11 percent last year from those conducted in 1999. In 2000, both state and federal authorities ran approximately
7.7 million checks, down from 8.6 million the previous year. The 153,000 individuals rejected last year by the
National Instant Criminal Background
Check System, was a drop of almost 8 percent from 1999.
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Detroit: An FBI revolver
stolen from an agent’s car trunk in 1996 in Alabama
has turned up in Detroit in connection with a 1997 crime. The stolen FBI revolver
was in the possession of the Detroit Police Department and has been recovered by the FBI, which released it back
to the police as evidence in a criminal proceeding.
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United States: The rock
band Staind has an unusual musician: Aaron Lewis is an avid hunter
and fisherman. “If there were no hunting season, deer would overpopulate and starve,” he said. Lewis first went
hunting with his father and grandfather in Vermont
when he was seven. He says he’s never killed anything he didn’t eat. “He smiles slyly and says, “Like Ted [Nugent]
says, ‘If you’re gonna kill, grill it.’” Lewis owns an assortment of rifles,
more than ten between him and his father. Gun control?
Lewis says, “I don’t think the key to wiping out inner-city violence is to ban guns. Criminals are always gonna be able to get guns; it’s gonna be
the law-abiding citizens who can’t. That’s the most ass-backward way to fix a problem I’ve ever heard.”
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Kentucky: The National Conference of Lieutenant Governors recently
met in Louisville
and unanimously adopted a resolution to partner with the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) on Project HomeSafe, a gun safety program. Kentucky Lieutenant Governor and Conference Chair Stephen Henry said,
“This bipartisan lieutenant governor’s group selected Project HomeSafe as the top priority for the year.” NSSF Executive Director Doug Painter said that lieutenant governors from coast to coast have enthusiastically
committed to help us distribute more than 3 million HomeSafe safety kits nationwide this year.”
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Seattle: A Smith & Wesson revolver was seized by Canadian authorities
as its owner attempted to cross the border. The Canadians destroyed it as contraband. The problem is the owner
was a Seattle
police officer, and the gun belonged to the Seattle Police Department. The officer shelled out $260 to replace
it. It was one of 18 firearms reported lost, stolen or missing from the Seattle cop shop in the past five years. Oh well, Seattle police officers have lost 63 badges during the past five years, too. Which would you rather
lose?
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Washington, D.C.:
The Bush administration will stop funding a national gun buyback program run by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development. The program, created in 1999 by former President Bill Clinton, earmarked $15 million for public housing
authorities to work with local law enforcement agencies and businesses hoping to take firearms out of circulation.
Spokeswoman Nancy Segerdahl
said, “The focus of our mission is expansion of minority home ownership and affordable housing.”
l Detroit: K-Mart headquarters recently caved in to radical activist
demands and announced that it will phase out the sale of handgun ammunition over the next three months. The move
came in response to confrontational tactics by guerilla filmmaker Michael Moore. The firearms industry has apparently
done nothing but write polite letters to pressure K-Mart to stand its ground and keep selling handgun ammunition,
which is purchased from the retail chain by millions of responsible handgun owners. This kind of attack is an increasingly
popular tactic used by extremist groups to wreck markets and force corporate capitulation. Nick Nichols, CEO of
the Washington, D.C.-based crisis management firm Nichols-Dezenhall, deplores what he calls “corporate cowardice” that caves in to radical demands and deprives
customers of free choices.
FIGHT CRIME - SHOOT BACK
Petersburg, Virginia Police recovered the body of a burglar who burst into a home waving a gun. The resident had
a gun too and shot the burglar dead. The burglar was dressed all in black and had no identification, which has
made it difficult for police to identify. They now have a body with no name.
Dick Messer, a Gainesville, Florida
newspaper carrier shot and wounded a 20-year-old man after the man and four other suspects dragged Messer from
his car and beat him. The five men were in a car driving erratically when Messer saw it and called police, which
were enroute to the
scene. Messer kept the car in sight, but the driver realized he was being followed and stopped. Messer tried to
flee by putting his car in reverse, but it stalled. The five men piled out of their car and ran to Messer’s, breaking
its windshield and dragging him from his car. That’s when Messer drew his gun and shot. Police arrived and arrested
the five. The wounded man had only superficial injuries and was in good condition. Messer had a valid concealed
carry permit and will not be charged. All five of his assailants were charged with battery, burglary of a conveyance
and felony criminal mischief. Only a week earlier, a clerk at a Shell Food Market in Gainesville had shot and killed a man
who attempted to rob the store.
Six months after bring robbed on the front steps of his own home, Lee Brown of Dallas, Texas
started carrying a gun inside a Crown Royal whiskey bag.
Then Mr. Brown and his wife were entering their home recently after closing
their late-night business when a man with a gun came up behind them. The man yelled something at them and Brown
turned and saw a large gun pointing at him. He shot the man through his whiskey bag, fatally wounding him in the
neck and right leg. Mrs. Brown ran into the house to call 911 when she saw another man running near their front
yard and firing at their house. A car drove up to the house and the second man jumped inside. Police found the
assailant’s loaded revolver at the scene. Mr. Brown had a valid concealed carry permit. The case will be referred
to a Grand Jury, a routine procedure that will probably not bring any charges against Brown.
A Nashville,
Tennessee woman
called 911 and told dispatchers that an intruder had come into her home and sexually attacked her. She defended
herself with a handgun and shot him once in the head. The intruder was taken to Vanderbilt Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police are investigating.
Ever doubt the value of concealed carry?
