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The Gottlieb-Tartaro Report
Issue 023
November, 1996
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Dear Subscriber,The bottom line of this month's election: With four more years of anti-gun President Bill Clinton, the Republican House and Senate remain the bulwark protecting the Second Amendment. Gun owners maintained a Second Amendment majority in both the House and the Senate. Actually, gun owners did better than Republicans, as some Republicans that lost were anti-gun to begin with and some of the Democrats that replaced pro-gun Republicans are also pro-gun. However, gains made by gun owners in the U.S. Senate are not great enough to stop a Diane Feinstein anti-gun filibuster. Likewise, in the House, we did not gain enough votes to overturn a Bill Clinton anti-gun veto. We'll take a look at the Senate and House outcomes that affect gun rights. Gun owners made the difference in most places, supporting pro-gun rights candidates and issues. We lost a few good friends and gained some new ones. We can be a lot happier about the outcome than BILL CLINTON. Here's our scorecard:
Alabama: The entire 100% pro-gun House delegation was returned to Congress. JEFF SESSIONS, the newly elected U.S. Senator, is 100% pro-gun.
Alaska: The House and Senate remained 100% pro-gun.
Arizona: Every pro-gun member of Congress got re-elected.
Arkansas: Big win for gun owners in U.S. Senate! Republican Tim Hutchinson replaces retiring anti-gun Democrat David Pryor. Net gain, two votes!
California: We lost a good friend in California's 22nd District. Democrat WALTER CAPPS narrowly beat Republican Andrea Seastrand. The 27th District in the Pasadena area pro-gun Republican JAMES ROGAN won the important must-win open seat race over DOUG KAHN. The California pro-gun Republican Congressional delegation ran ahead of Bob Dole in every district.
Colorado: Republican Senator-elect WAYNE ALLARD had a perfect pro-gun voting record as a House member and will be a stronger pro-gun voice than his predecessor.
Connecticut: It looks like the Republicans and pro-gun forces lost one seat. Rep. GARY FRANKS, one of two black Republicans in Congress, lost.
Delaware: No change.
Florida: The entire Florida pro-gun delegation, headed by Rep. BILL McCOLLUM, has been returned.
Georgia: The New U.S. Senator is Democrat Sam Cleland who defeated Guy Milner, who was strongly pro-gun. CLELAND replaces SAM NUNN. Probably no change.
Idaho: Pro-gun Republican congresswoman Helen Chenoweth, a target of big labor and the gun grabbers, defeated anti-gun Democrat Don Williams. NRA board member, U.S. Senator Larry Craig was also re-elected.
Illinois: Anti-gun Democrat party regular Dick Durbin defeated pro-gun Republican Al Salvi, who had a strong volunteer base of gun owners trying their best. Also lost was Rep. MICHAEL FLANAGAN, who got to Congress last term by defeating DAN ROSTENKOWSKI, who is now in prison. This was a seat that was impossible to hold.
Indiana: Rep. JOHN HOSTETTLER, a good friend of gun owners, who was pronounced dead by all the networks on election night, won! Gun owners stuck it to the networks and Handgun Control, Inc., who spent a fortune in the 8th district.
Iowa: No change.
Kansas: Double-barreled U.S. Senate victory for gun owners! Replacing DOLE and KASSENBAUM are two real solid pro-gunners, SAM BROWNBACK, who voted to repeal the assault weapons ban as a House member, as did PAT ROBERTS, the other new Senator. A definite gain for gun owners! Wichita's 4th district was another must-win for gun rights. Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R) who, while a state legislator, led the fight for concealed carry legislation and upset an 18-year incumbent last time to win the seat, beat anti-gun lawyer and former United States Attorney Randy Rathburn.
Kentucky: Louisville's 3rd District was a key pickup for the gun rights movement. Republican Anne Northup beat freshman Democrat Michael Ward, who voted against repeal of the assault weapon ban. A net gain of two votes for gun rights! Pro-gun freshman Republican Representative Ed Whitfield won re-election easily in what was believed to be a close race. Whitfield voted to repeal the assault weapons ban and it helped his re-election efforts.
Louisiana: Anti-gun Democrat Mary Landrieu has won Louisiana's Senate race, very narrowly defeating pro-gun state Rep. Woody Jenkins. Landrieu, a former state treasurer, will replace retiring Democratic Sen. J. Bennett Johnston.
Maine: Gun owners lost in Portland's 1st District. Pro-gun Republican Jim Longley lost to THOMAS ALLEN.
Massachusetts: U.S. Senate races in Massachusetts are usually a choice between lesser evils. Anti-gun Democrat incumbent John Kerry beat anti-gun Republican governor Bill Wells. Gun owners had no candidate to back. If the Republicans had mount a better candidate, gun owners might have given them a win.
Michigan: 8th District Congressman Dick Chrysler, a friend of gun owners who won in 1994, lost to DEBBIE STABENOW, a darling of the anti-gunners.
Minnesota: Anti-gun U.S. Senator PAUL WELLSTONE defeated pro-gun challenger RUDY BOSCHWITZ. No change in the House delegation.
Mississippi: Anti-gun Democrat incumbent Bennie Thompson beat pro-gun black conservative Republican Danny Covington.
Montana: Pro-gun Republican RICK HILL wins the seat that was held by pro-gun Democrat Pat Williams. Anti-gun Senator Max Baucus (D) won a fourth term, beating back a challenge by pro-gun Republican Lt. Gov. Denny Rehberg.
Nebraska: Another big U.S. Senate victory for gun owners. Pro-gun Republican CHUCK HAGEL wins the seat to replace retiring Democratic Senator JIM EXON. EXON could not be counted on to support gun rights or to oppose Democratic filibusters that stopped pro-gun legislation. Hagel is a gain for gun rights. Handgun Control, Inc. pulled out all the stops to defeat pro-gun Congressman Jon Christensen, who voted with gun owners to repeal the assault weapons ban. Despite all the money that HCI spent, CHRISTENSEN easily won with 57% of the vote.
Nevada: Freshman Republican pro-gun Rep. JOHN ENSIGN beat back a challenge in a tough district and won re-election with help from the gun rights movement. This race was a must-win for the gun rights movement. BILL CLINTON was not happy about this loss in Las Vegas's 1st congressional district. Pro-gunner JIM GIBBINS was elected to fill the position of retiring long-time friend BARBARA VUKANOVICH.
New Hampshire: The anti-gunners thought they picked up a U.S. Senate seat when all of the networks reported the defeat of U.S. Senator BOB SMITH. They projected DICK SWETT the winner. SWETT, a former member of Congress who was defeated in 1994 by an independent expenditure campaign of gun owners, thought he had sweet revenge. When all the votes were counted, however, BOB SMITH was the winner. SMITH, who has been a speaker at a past Gun Rights Policy Conference, said, "I guess you could say I've been to hell and back in one night." Maybe now gun owners can finally dance on SWETT's political grave.
New Jersey: The Republicans lost a member of Congress, but gun owners didn't. Anti-gun Republican BILL MARTINI was defeated by a Democrat who is also anti-gun. No great loss when you consider that MARTINI worked behind the scenes to stop Republicans from honoring their pledge to support gun rights. The New Jersey U.S. Senate seat stayed in anti-gun Democratic hands, with long-time gun grabber BOB TORRICELLI defeating Republican DICK ZIMMER, who also was no friend of gun owners. You can't win a race with no horse to ride.
New Mexico: No change.
New York: The gun grabbers get a new poster child: CAROLYN McCARTHY, a Republican who ran as a Democrat, defeated pro-gun DANIEL FRISA. McCARTHY, whose husband was shot and killed in the Long Island rail road massacre, and hates guns more than the murderer, won by taking all the Democratic votes along with the anti-gun Republican vote in a contest that saw the incumbent quit campaigning two weeks before the election. HCI put everything they had into this race. They won this one, but we won the Congress. The lower Hudson Valley's 19th District re-elected pro-gun freshman Republican Sue Kelly, who voted to repeal the assault weapons ban despite vicious attacks from the New York media.
North Carolina: Republican Senator Jesse Helms, one of the most reliable pro-gun votes in the U.S. Senate, won re-election over anti-gun former mayor of Charlotte, Harvey Gantt. North Carolina's Research Triangle area's 2nd district was another key race for the gun rights movement. Freshman incumbent David Funderburk, who is extremely strong on gun rights, lost to Democrat BOB ETHERIDGE. He may not be as anti-gun as most Democrats. The 4th congressional district, which takes in Raleigh and Chapel Hill, lost a pro-gun voice when Rep. Fred Heineman was defeated by former Rep. DAVID PRICE.
North Dakota: No Change.
Ohio: Representative Martin Hoke and Rep. FRANK CREMEANS, two friends of gun owners who were heavily targeted and represented marginal district, were defeated.
Oklahoma: The Third District, where Democrat pro-gun Rep. Brewster retired, was taken by pro-gun Republican Wes Watkins. Black freshman Republican Representative J. C. Watts, who voted to repeal the assault weapons ban, defeated Ed Crocker. Rep. WATTS is the leading black pro-gun voice in Congress. Pro-gun Rep. Tom Coburn, a target of the anti-gunners, also won.
Oregon: At press time, GORDON SMITH, a 100% pro-gunner, is ahead by 15,000 votes with 92% of the vote counted for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Sen. Mark Hatfield. Hatfield, who was a Republican, was anti-gun. It looks like this is a net gain of two seats for gun owners and a wash for Republicans.
Pennsylvania: The Twenty-first District including Erie, Crawford and Mercer Counties has been at risk, but now freshman Republican Phil English, who voted to repeal the assault weapon ban, has been re-elected.
Rhode Island: No change. It couldn't get any more anti-gun.
South Carolina: A vociferous anti-gun incumbent Democrat, John Spratt, faced a serious contest in the Fifth District with Republican Larry Bigham. Unfortunately, gun owners didn't win this one. South Carolina pro-gun Senator STROM THURMOND was re-elected. There are no changes in the state's congressional delegation.
South Dakota: The Republicans lost this U.S Senate seat, but gun owners didn't. Pro-gun Democrat Congressman TIM JOHNSON defeated incumbent Republican LARRY PRESSLER. JOHNSON voted to repeal the assault weapon ban as a Congressman.
Tennessee: Pro-gun Republican U.S. Senator FRED THOMPSON won re-election in AL GORE's home state despite CLINTON-GORE defeating BOB DOLE. THOMPSON is not just a pro-gun vote, he's an eloquent spokesman for our side. Freshman Republican Representative Van Hilleary, who voted to repeal the assault weapon ban and took heat for it, won his re-election by a large margin.
Texas: The Fifth District (southern Dallas County and rural countryside) finds vigorous pro-gun Republican Pete Sessions elected with votes to spare. He replaces anti-gun Congressman BRYANT, a net gain of 2 votes for gun rights. In Texas's Twelfth District, former Republican Fort Worth Mayor Kay Granger, who is moderately pro-gun, defeated her anti-gun Democratic opponent Hugh Parmer. Avid pro-gunner Ron Paul, Republican in the Fourteenth District, beat Democrat anti-gun trial lawyer Lefty Morris.
Utah: No change.
Vermont: No change.
Virginia: The incumbent U.S. Senator JOHN WARNER and the entire delegation were re-elected.
Washington State: Freshman pro-gun Congressmen RICK WHITE, GEORGE NETHERCUTT and DOC HASTINGS all beat back serious challenges and won. Freshman pro-gun Rep. RANDY TATE lost. At press time, pro-gunners JACK METCALF and LINDA SMITH were losing, but hopefully the absentee ballot count will put these freshmen back in Congress.
West Virginia: No change.
Wisconsin: First District (southeast edge of the state) had Republican Mark Neumann, who voted to repeal the assault weapons ban, facing a stiff challenge. He won the election by more than 4,000 votes.
Wyoming: Republican MICHAEL ENZ, who is pro-gun, got elected to the seat formerly held by retiring Republican ALAN SIMPSON. The seat stays in the pro-gun column.
FOOTNOTE: Two Texas districts, the 9th (STOCKMAN) pro-gun, and the 25th (BENTSEN) anti-gun, will have run-off elections next month. And there are recounts in the 6th district of Massachusetts (TORKILDSEN) anti-gun and Pennsylvania's 13th district (FOX) anti-gun.
WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN TO YOU?
BILL CLINTON and his gun grabber friends will still be on the attack. CLINTON will try to push his anti-gun agenda through Executive Orders, Cabinet-level agency actions and funding to anti-gun special interest friends.
CLINTON will have just as hard a time in the next two years getting his anti-gun agenda through the new Congress as he did the last. You can bet if he gets the chance to use the gun issue to his advantage he will. We already saw signs of it in his victory speech on election night. When CLINTON talked about "safe streets," he really meant "BRADY II" and "GUN BAN II."
We have enough votes in the House to again pass a repeal of the assault weapons ban bill. And we gained strength in the Senate. The question is, can we beat back an anti-gun filibuster in the Senate?
We are close, but not close enough.
The bottom line is there is a time-out on the field and the TV networks have cut to a BILL CLINTON - SARAH BRADY anti-gun commercial.
It is our job to make sure that when we come back from the commercial, gun owners have not gone to sleep and allowed the referee to hand the other side the ball.
In plain language, we have got to keep our eyes and ears open and make sure that every gun owner is ready to take action when we have the chance to score a touchdown.
THE BRADY ACT AND THE SUPREME COURT
We just got word that arguments in two cases challenging the Brady Act, Mack v. United States and Printz v. United States, will be heard by the Supreme Court at 10 AM, December 3, 1996. The cases appear to have been jumped ahead on the calendar, taking attorneys by surprise. Normally, argument isn't scheduled until briefing is done, and the government only recently filed its brief. The Supreme Court clearly regards these as priority cases.
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT RULES FOR EARLY RELEASE OF FELONS
Florida prison officials have been stripped of their authority to prevent the early release of inmates who committed violent crimes before Oct. 1, 1995 in a new ruling by the state Supreme Court.
Florida's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that inmates who kidnapped, raped and murdered before that date have a constitutional right to have their sentences shortened.
Despite a "Truth In Sentencing" law passed by the Florida legislature requiring inmates to serve 85% of their sentences, the high court's ruling would reduce the time served by some felons to only 15% of sentence length.
The early release is based on Florida's "gain time" system, which gives violent criminals an immediate 33% reduction in sentence upon entering prison, called "basic gain time." In addition, felons could use "incentive gain time" to cut 20 days a month from sentences by working and following prison rules.
The idea was to relieve pressure on overcrowded prisons. What it's done is to make 22,000 inmates eligible for early release in Florida, including about 1,500 that may be eligible for immediate release. Watch that crime rate.
FBI MANAGER PLEADS GUILTY IN RUBY RIDGE CASE
E. Michael Kehoe, former chief of the FBI's violent crimes section, has entered a guilty plea to obstructing justice for destroying an internal critique of the bureau's actions at the deadly 1992 siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.
A one-count felony information was filed earlier by federal prosecutors in the cover-up probe of the Ruby Ridge incident being conducted by U.S. Attorney Michael Stiles. A felony information rather than a grand jury indictment usually indicates that the defendant has entered a guilty plea agreement with prosecutors, as Kehoe did, and the word is he will cooperate with investigators.
Kehoe was charged with destroying a written FBI "after-action critique" so that it would not be available to prosecutors in the trial of Randy Weaver and Kevin L. Harris on charges of killing U.S. Marshal William F. Degan.
During the August 1992 standoff with white separatist Randy Weaver, an FBI sniper shot and killed Weaver's wife Vicki, and wounded Weaver and Harris. The siege began after Weaver's son, Samuel, and Degan were killed in gunfire August 21 as marshals tried to arrest Randy Weaver for failing to appear in court on gun-sale charges. Weaver and Harris were acquitted of killing Degan.
The prosecutors wanted the document Kehoe destroyed to prepare their case and to meet constitutional requirements to turn over to the defense any information that might help clear Weaver or Harris.
The government charged that Kehoe not only destroyed his copies of the report, but also ordered an unidentified subordinate at FBI headquarters "to destroy all copies of the Ruby Ridge after action critique and to make it appear as if the Ruby Ridge after action critique never existed."
A court date has not been set for Kehoe's sentencing. Kehoe could face a top penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney Stiles still has four other top FBI officials, including former Deputy FBI Director Larry Potts, under investigation in the Ruby Ridge cover-up.
The Ruby Ridge fiasco resulted from a gun-related FBI investigation. The FBI has paid a high price for its misplaced anti-gun zeal, and will continue to pay.
A SAVVY POLITICAL VETERAN ASKS THE QUESTION FOR THE FUTURE
Parting Shot...
Pete Du Pont, a former Governor of Delaware and current editor of the World Wide Web site, IntellectualCapital.com, recently wrote an editorial with the provocative title, "If More Handguns Reduced Crime Would You Issue the Permits?"
Here are a few thoughts he offered:
"Political mythology has taken a beating in the past decade. Communism crashed into the dustbin of history, rather than leading us into a brave new millennium. Income tax cuts produced more tax revenue, not less. Satellite data shows the globe is cooling, not warming.
"Now another cherished icon of the liberal left is toppling off the mantelpiece. A definitive study of handgun ownership shows that handguns decrease rather than cause serious crime.
"So let me pose the uncomfortable question: if allowing people to carry concealed handguns actually reduced the number of serious crimes committed, would you favor a law permitting anyone, except those with criminal records or a history of mental illness, to carry a concealed weapon?
Before you answer, understand that since 1986 twenty-two states have enacted such laws, bringing the total to thirty-one.
"And also before you answer, consider the alternatives. A yes answer shows a rational willingness to consider different approaches to solve a major societal problem. Those tempted to answer no will first want to argue that the data cannot be correct. But if such laws actually did reduce crime, would you be for them? To answer no to that question suggests you are trending totalitarian—you want to control people regardless of the consequences.
"So how do you say, yea or nay?
"Fortunately, there is some data to help you decide. Two University of Chicago professors, John Lott and David Mustard, last summer completed a careful, statistically documented study of the impact of "right to carry" gun laws on crime rates....
"Right-to-carry laws do in fact reduce crime. ‘When state concealed handgun laws went into effect in a county, murders fell by 8.5 percent, and rapes and aggravated assault by 5 and 7 percent....' As for accidental deaths, no, arming the citizenry will not turn us all into trigger-happy accidental killers....
"So if reducing crime is at the top of your list of governmental priorities, here is a simple way to make some progress. Just allow citizens to bear arms.
"It's not a new idea—see the Second Amendment to the Constitution—but this study suggests it's a good idea.
"So again, how do you say, yea or nay?"
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