Printed in the USA.
The Gottlieb-Tartaro Report
Issue 058
October, 1999
The United Nations Security Council has endorsed sweeping gun control measures. The move included a ban on private ownership of "assault rifles."
The Security Council’s 15 members unanimously supported a report by U.N. Secretary General KOFI ANNAN on ways to reduce the global stockpile of some 500 million small firearms, including handguns, rifles, shotguns and assault weapons.
The vote was not legally binding on member nations, but was intended to increase pressure on them to impose stricter gun control laws of their own.
At least 200 million firearms are owned by American citizens.
The reason for the U.N. report was supposedly to curb civil wars, ethnic massacres and terrorism, but simple anti-gun sentiment was seen behind the vote.
U.S. Secretary of State MADELEINE ALBRIGHT said at the meeting, "The United States will refrain from selling arms to regions of conflict not already covered by arms embargoes. We encourage other nations to establish and observe such moratoria."
The U.N. report recommended that arms manufacturers put serial numbers and identification marks on firearms so diversion of legitimate sales to the black market can be tracked.
It also recommended that nations should share information on the registration of guns and on legal transactions to detect black market deals.
Closer to home, the Levi Strauss Foundation got into the anti-gun arena by donating $100,000 to PAX, a new national anti-gun organization.
In addition, PAX is receiving funds from the musical group the Goo Goo Dolls as part of Levi’s Fuse 99/Goo Goo Dolls tour.
PAX funneled $50,000 of the $100,000 grant to local non-profit anti-gun groups in 10 cities on the Goo Goo Dolls tour.
The groups will distribute anti-gun literature at the concerts in a special tour bus created by Levi and the PAX tent co-sponsored by MTV.
Meanwhile, Attorney General JOSEPH CURRAN of Maryland accused the firearms industry of exploiting public fears about Y2K to increase firearms sales.
In a letter of protest sent to the National Rifle Association, CURRAN claimed that a Y2K article in a recent issue of the NRA’s American Guardian magazine encouraged readers to stock up on ammunition "to last for a few weeks of severe social unrest."
CURRAN sent identical letters to three other gun magazines, Gun World, Guns & Ammo, and Handguns. He requested they cease "an irresponsible and dangerous campaign to exploit the Y2K issue."
Maryland special assistant attorney general CAROLYN QUATTOCKI found the articles "appalling." CURRAN was alarmed that the magazines advised readers that an appropriate way to prepare for danger was to arm themselves.
CURRAN’s letter said to each magazine, "The notion that guns will somehow cure the ills caused by computer glitches is dangerous and absurd. Your advertising does nothing more than increase the chances that people will react to problems in the year 2000 with destruction and violence."
struggles over gun control
• Gun Sales in California Up 30 Percent. After six years of declining handgun sales and relatively flat rifle sales, firearms purchases in California are currently running 30 percent ahead of last year according to the state Department of Justice.
In the Bay Area, not known for its gun-friendly attitude, business at shooting ranges and gun shops is booming. The Bullseye shooting range in San Rafael, for example, reports revenues up 50 percent over last year.
Part of the reason for the boom is anti-gun legislation. Many gun enthusiasts are rushing to buy weapons because a number of firearms-related measures take effect on January 1, 2000, including a limit on handgun purchases.
Another reason is fear, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. In a recent story on the gun rush, the newspaper reported that because of the growing wealth of Silicon Valley software employees, many residents are concerned that they may have to defend themselves or their loved ones.
RON SATTERLEE, a former Marine Corps marksmanship instructor who now runs Jackson Arms, the closest shooting range to downtown San Francisco, said, "More and more people are buying guns. I’m talking families, husbands and wives. People don’t feel safe."
Jewish Congress Circulates Anti-gun Petition. JOEL D. BEAVER, interim Pennsylvania state director of the American Jewish Congress, says his group is seeking a million petition signatures to send to Congress on the theme, "Stop the Guns, Protect Our Kids."
BEAVER timed his announcement just before the High Holy Days. "This is a period of introspection, and it’s right before Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, the day of atonement," he said.
The AJC is pushing for a wide-ranging lobby campaign. It was prompted, said BEAVER, by recent hate-related shootings of Jews, blacks, Asians and others.
"We are not against the ownership of guns," BEAVER said, trying to soften the tone of the petition’s tough six-point program of licensing, government checks and sales limits.
Rabbi SANFORD HAHN, president of the Philadelphia Board of Rabbis, said Jews generally shy away from guns. "I haven’t known many Jews who even go hunting. It just isn’t part of the culture."
IRV RUBIN of the Jewish Defense League recently handed out flyers in California reading, "Don’t leave yourself unarmed against those who want to murder you. Gun control laws are only observed by decent people and haters aren’t decent."
Rabbi HAHN made no mention of the nearly universal gun possession by Jews in Israel.
• Brazil High Court Overturns Gun Ban. Residents of Rio de Janiero can once more buy guns after Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that a three-month-old state law banning gun sales was unconstitutional.
Under Brazilian law, guns are regulated at the federal level, not by the state.
However, a proposal before the Brazilian Congress would ban the sale and possession of guns nationwide.
Gun control advocates submitted a bill recently that would allow only the armed forces, police and private security personnel to possess a firearm.
Rio state Gov. Anthony Garotinho, who introduced the law, had no comment after the high court struck it down.
GUNS IN THE NEWS
COPS SAY CLINTON EXPLOITED THEM TO PROMOTE ANTI-GUN AGENDAMore 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.
Officers are also unhappy that criminal prosecutions have dropped 46 percent since Attorney General Janet Reno took control of the Department of Justice.
The Law Enforcement Alliance of America will launch an ad campaign opposing the President, congressional Democrats and other gun control advocates.
JIM FORTISS, executive director of LEAA, said, "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."
GUN SHOW BAN SHOT DOWN IN ST. PAUL
The St. Paul, Minnesota, city attorney’s office has blocked an effort to ban gun shows on city property.
Assistant City Attorney PHILIP BYRNE wrote in a memo that a newly passed resolution "does not have the force and effect of law" and cannot be used to "breach existing contracts or obligations that the city might have."
BYRNE said the council could still ban gun shows but would have to pass an administrative ordinance, a process more complicated than adopting a resolution such as the gun show ban.
The council did not appear inclined to take on the harder task.
HANDGUN CONTROL INC. REPORT CARD GLORIFIES HIGH CRIME STATES
Handgun Control Inc. doesn’t do it: their annual grading of the 50 states for gun control laws doesn’t say anything about how gun control affects crime.
HCI seems to think that if you get an "A" for tough gun control laws you also get an "A" for crime control.
You don’t. JOE WALDRON, executive director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, can prove it. He ranked the states in HCI’s recent grade chart according to their violent crime rates — with some interesting results.
States that HCI graded with an "A," "B" or "C" grade — meaning they had the toughest ("A") down to moderate ("C") gun control laws — had similar crime rates.
But states with the least restrictive firearms laws ("D" and "F" grades) enjoy the lowest average crime rates by a significant margin. Here’s the score:
Average of states HCI graded "A": 539.9 violent crimes per 100,000 population.
Average of states HCI graded "B": 560.4 violent crimes per 100,000 population.
Average of states HCI graded "C": 543.3 violent crimes per 100,000 population.
Average of states HCI graded "D": 468.2 violent crimes per 100,000 population.
Average of states HCI graded "F": 336.2 violent crimes per 100,000 population.
Gun control isn’t crime control. We can prove it now, thanks to JOE WALDRON and CCRKBA.
DR. LAURA CHANGES HER TUNE, NOW SUPPORTS GUN OWNERSHIP
Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the talk radio pop psychologist with more listeners than Rush Limbaugh, has always been outspokenly anti-gun. But recent shootings caused her to rethink her position.
Writing in Jewish World Review, Dr. Laura said of the man who went into two office buildings in Atlanta 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 people died."
Dr. Laura recommended that gun owners be licensed and tested for marksmanship in order to get and keep a license.
Dr. Laura is still thinking this one through. She should be encouraged.
GUN CONTROL A DECIDING ISSUE IN ELECTION
In a California political race considered an indication of the issues that may arise in the 2000 congressional races, a Democrat accused of being "soft of gun control" beat out the widow of Rep. GEORGE E. BROWN, an anti-gun congressman who recently died halfway through his term.
Democrat State Senator JOE BACA, with 31.5 percent of the vote, beat MARTA MACIAS BROWN, with 30.2 percent. Political analyst SHERRY BEBITCH JEFFE said that gun control may not be as much of a threat to Republicans as feared.
BACA and BROWN, both Hispanics, heavily courted the Hispanic vote in this Los Angeles-area district.
JEFFE said, "I’m sure there are Republicans, from GEORGE W. BUSH on down, who are breathing a sigh of relief she lost. Gun control has been muted."
The top-finishing Republican, conservative lawyer ELIA PIROZZI, with 27.4 percent of the vote, will face off against BACA in a November runoff.
LOS ANGELES BANS GUN SALES ON COUNTY GROUNDS
As expected, the Los Angeles, California, county board of supervisors has given final approval to a law banning the sale of guns and ammunition on county property. The move could bring an end to the nation’s largest gun show.
As the G-T Report reported last month, the county began work on the ordinance two weeks after five people were wounded in a shooting at a Jewish community center and the related slaying of a letter carrier.
The ordinance would hit the Great Western Gun Show, which draws as many as 5,300 vendor tables and up to 35,000 people to each of its four annual events at the Los Angeles County fairgrounds in Pomona.
The show contributes an estimated $9 million to the county’s economy.CHAD SEGER, the show’s manager, said promoters plan to file a lawsuit against the county, arguing it has violated their civil rights and does not have jurisdiction over the event.
County Supervisor DON KNABE voted against the ordinance, saying, "What we have is a situation where because of one-tenth of 1 percent, we are going to penalize 99.9 percent of these people who do not break the law."
LOS ANGELES "CELEBRITY DEPUTY" SUSPENDED
Los Angeles County Sheriff LEE BACA swore in his first new "celebrity" reserve deputies less than three months before he had to suspend one of them for drawing a gun on a couple outside his home.
SCOTT ZACKY, a member of the Zacky Farms chicken dynasty, was relieved of duty for allegedly drawing a gun during a confrontation outside his Bel-Air home.
KACKY allegedly mistook a couple out on a date for auto burglars when they were trying to fix a window on their car. A witness told investigators that ZACKY, 35, ran out of his house in his boxer shorts, waved a gun and yelled, "Stop! Police!"
Los Angeles Police Department Detective PAUL BISHOP said, "He allegedly was pointing the gun at the couple as they drove away in fear."
No charges have been filed against ZACKY, but the city attorney’s office will review the matter for potential violations.
Sheriff’s officials said ZACKY, who was sworn in to BACA’s elite reserve unit in August, has been relieved of duty, which is routine in cases of this nature.
After the LAPD concludes its investigation, sheriff’s officials say they will conduct their own investigation of the incident.
According to one veteran Los Angeles Sheriff Deputy, the Celebrity Reserve is actually "a group of wealthy political fundraisers who have been rewarded with a badge and a gun."
When Sheriff BACA proposed the plan for a Celebrity Reserve Unit several months ago, department members expressed concern over the wisdom of issuing badges and guns to civilians who are provided with 64 hours of training.
If the unit was a publicity stunt, it now has some bad publicity.
ANTI-GUN DENVER MAYOR’S SON ARRESTED ON FELONY CHARGES
ALLEN WAYNE WEBB, the son of Denver Mayor WELLINGTON WEBB, was arrested recently in connection with a robbery in a central Denver apartment.
Denver police booked the younger WEBB, 37, at the Denver city jail on a felony robbery charge stemming from an incident which allegedly occurred while he was showing a rental unit to a prospective tenant.
Mayor WEBB and his wife WILMA WEBB issued a prepared statement saying, "We are deeply troubled and saddened by the allegations against our son. Allen is a 37-year-old adult and he will have to face the allegations that have been brought against him. We ask for your prayers and thoughts as we address our family issues."
Mayor WEBB is the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He hosted 45 mayors and 30 business leaders at the conference’s Business and Leadership Summit in Denver just a few days after his son’s arrest.
Mayor WEBB, only the week before his son’s arrest, touted his administration’s success in lowering the crime rate during his eight years as mayor. Mayor WEBB has been an outspoken gun control advocate.
His son ALLEN has a history of troubles with the law. In June, 1995 he was arrested for attempted sexual assault and robbery, but prosecutors could not find the alleged victim and didn’t file charges.
In February, 1995 ALLEN WEBB was arrested on a charge of possessing crack cocaine.
In 1994, Mayor WEBB asked a Denver probate judge to commit ALLEN to an alcohol and drug rehabilitation center. The son voluntarily entered a rehab program at the Colorado Mental Health Institute.
In the current arrest, ALLEN WEBB was accused of robbing ADRIAN NUNEZ, 24, of $500 in cash and a $500 Gucci wristwatch. The charge carries a minimum sentence of two years and maximum of six years in prison, plus $2,000 to $500,000 in fines.
CONNECTICUT SUPPORTS CITY GUN LAWSUIT
The state of Connecticut recently filed a "friend of the court" brief in support of the lawsuit against firearms manufacturers filed by the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Connecticut became the first state to back a municipal government’s efforts to hold firearms makers legally responsible for the acts of shooters, accusing them of failure to make guns safer and for deceptive marketing practices.
Connecticut Attorney General RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, who filed the brief in Waterbury Superior Court, said, "Our siding with the cities, becoming the first state to side with the cities, is very important not only from a statutory interpretation standpoint, but a symbolic, and even a political standpoint. We will be talking to other states, and we’ve already spoken to a number of other states, that may join with us."
The state is also considering whether to become a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit.
COLUMBINE VICTIM OPPOSES NEW GUN CONTROL
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.
RICK CASTALDO told reporters, "Passing any law will not stop any criminal from getting a gun if he knows the violation won’t be prosecuted."
His teenage son was shot several times during the April Columbine shootings, and remains paralyzed from the chest down.
Son RICHARD also opposes new gun laws. "I don’t think they should pass any more," he said. "At least not as much as they’re talking about."
The elder CASTALDO said Columbine’s legacy should not be new gun laws. "I’m not an NRA member," he said. "I’m not a gun owner. I don’t have an axe to grind."
Other parents of Columbine victims differ from CASTALDO, and have lobbied both state and federal officials for tighter gun laws.
Federal prosecutors in Colorado have pledged stronger enforcement efforts.
JUDGE ORDERS NEW TRIAL IN $4.4 MILLION NRA VERDICT
Senior U.S. District Judge CLARENCE C. NEWCOMER has rejected the jury’s $4.45 million verdict in Brodbeck v. National Rifle Association. He ordered a new trial, saying it was simply too much money for a case in which the plaintiffs had only minimal injuries and the defendants’ conduct only barely met the level for seeking punitive damages.
In ordering the new trial, Judge NEWCOMER found that the verdict was so "bizarre" and "excessive" that it must have been motivated by "passion or prejudice" against the NRA.
The legal case arose over an internal dispute among NRA’s board of directors. SALLY BRODBECK, a former NRA board member, and her husband KENNETH BRODBECK, an NRA member, claim they were falsely accused of staging an incident at the NRA’s annual meeting in July 1998.
KENNETH BRODBECK testified that he was sitting among the spectators during an NRA board meeting and began videotaping as his wife rose to speak to the board. Two NRA security guards told him to stop taping, but he refused, saying he would do so only if the board chairwoman told him to stop.
Witnesses said that one of the guards knocked BRODBECK unconscious with an unusual martial arts maneuver. Although BRODBECK walked away from the incident unharmed a few minutes later, he said his reputation suffered a severe blow when NRA president CHARLTON HESTON told reporters that he believed the incident was staged to "stir up trouble."
The judge was scheduled to hold a conference with the lawyers for both sides to determine whether a settlement could be reached or whether the case will go to trial again.
The G-T Report will keep you informed.
MARYLAND TOWN RESIDENTS TRY FOR GUN BAN BALLOT MEASURE
Takoma Park, Maryland, is an impeccably liberal village of 18,600 lying just outside Washington, D.C. Some of its left-wing anti-gun residents are worrying their more pragmatic elected officials about entangling the small enclave in an expensive lawsuit with gun users.
JOHN GUERNSEY, an artist and piano player who has lived in the town for 35 years, and 25 compatriots have collected enough petition signatures to qualify a measure for the November ballot that would ban the sale, ownership and possession of handguns within the city limits.
Maryland law prohibits cities and counties from regulating guns without state consent, and no community has managed to ban handguns. The Takoma Park City Council may turn to the courts to block the ballot measure to ban handguns. They fear a gun group may sue the city if the measure passes.
BUDGET STALEMATE DELAYS GUN CRIME PROJECT IN WISCONSIN
A Milwaukee-area crackdown on criminals who use guns has become mired in budget wrangling by the state legislature. The money to pay for six new prosecutors and a special law enforcement task force is stalled in a stalemate in the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, which can’t agree upon a budget.
"Operation Ceasefire," as the project is known, will work to send criminals who use guns to prison for longer terms by prosecuting them in federal courts rather than state courts.
Being a felon in possession of a firearm, for example, carries a two-year sentence in Wisconsin state court, but can bring much more prison time if prosecuted in at the federal level. Also, there is no parole in the federal system.
Part of the budget money would be used to swear in two of the six new prosecutors as special assistant U.S. attorneys so they can also work in federal court.
Getting this program working on the streets depends on getting the resources to make Operation Ceasefire a reality.
• The latest on the effectiveness of the National Instant Check System: The FBI has so far screened and referred to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms more than 23,000 cases of convicted felons who illegally tried to buy guns. Of those, ATF says that only 65 people have been arrested.• The CLINTON administration has assembled a special 60-person law enforcement team to locate and retrieve up to 1,700 guns that were sold to felons and other ineligible buyers because the FBI did not complete their criminal background checks within the mandatory three-day limit.
• The National Shooting Sports Foundation has begun a five-city gun safety program in Las Vegas. The Foundation and its sponsors in the firearms industry paid for 5,000 gun safety kits, which cost $10 each and include a cable safety lock and a home education kit on gun safety. Local police will help distribute the kits.
• About 50 police chiefs recently accompanied their cities’ mayors to meet with President CLINTON at the White House, and then went to Capitol Hill to lobby for a bill mandating a background check on anyone buying a firearm at a gun show.
• A new organization, SaferGunsNow.org, has been formed to promote the development and use of gun safety devices. The group was formed by STEVE MORTON, CEO of Oxford Micro Devices, a maker of fingerprint-processing microchips which could limit a gun’s use to its owner.
• ABC’s comedy The Hughleys turned its season premiere into an anti-gun sermon. The story was scripted to demonize gun-owning families that have children. It was specifically written as a response to the Columbine High tragedy by series star D.L. HUGHLEY and executive producer MATT WICKLINE.
• A public hearing before a legislative panel in Montpelier, Vermont, to discuss ways to prevent violence in Vermont schools turned into a rally in support of the right to keep and bear arms. Most who spoke suggested that the way to stop violence is through education and parenting, not through gun restrictions.
• A new Connecticut law allows police to confiscate guns from anyone determined to be an immediate danger to himself or others. Critics say the law tramples the Second Amendment and could lead to unwarranted searches and seizures.
• President CLINTON recently announced a $15 million federal plan to buy firearms in and around public housing projects. CLINTON said the new program will give local police departments up to $500,000 each to buy guns for a "suggested price" of $50. The guns will be destroyed, the White House said. Democrat Denver Mayor WELLINGTON WEBB (see related story on Page 5) supported the program in a Capitol Hill news conference: "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. In the same way, you have to get guns off the street a number at a time. It’s just common sense that fewer guns on the street mean they can’t be used to commit crimes or harm people."
• NRA executive vice president WAYNE LaPIERRE accused the CLINTON administration of wasting the $15 million for gun buying instead of using it wisely for programs such as the "Project Exile" tough enforcement effort that has dramatically reduced violent crime in Richmond, Virginia. Citing the cap of $5 million in the administration’s budget for enforcement, LaPIERRE said the NRA will push for $50 to $75 million to take "Project Exile" nationwide.
• Texas Gov. GEORGE W. BUSH (R) announced a $1.6 million grant to start a state-level "Project Exile" program. Dubbed "Texas Exile," the program is based on the highly successful Richmond, Virginia effort. "Project Exile" allows federal, state and local law enforcement and prosecutors to work hand-in-hand to prosecute federal firearms law violations. The program calls for zero-tolerance for violent gun crimes, with long prison sentences for those convicted.
• Vice President AL GORE has flatly called for a total ban on handguns. During an appearance on CNN’s "Larry King Live," GORE referred to 9 mm and .380-caliber handguns, saying, "I think that the kinds of weapons that have no legitimate use for hunting or the kind of weapon that a homeowner would use, I think they should be banned, yes." GORE was evidently unaware that those calibers of firearm are owned by literally tens of millions of Americans for lawful purposes.
KANSAS CITY INTRUDER STOPPED
It’s something we all dread.
Waking up with a start in the middle of the night, awakened by noises in the house about 3 a.m.
Noises that sounded like glass breaking, but you’re not sure it wasn’t a dream.
Then you hear more noises.
It’s no dream.
It’s a nightmare.
That’s what happened to a resident of Kansas City not long ago.
He awoke to strange noises in his dining room.
Definitely not the cat catching a mouse. Something big that had the sound of broken glass crunching under its footsteps.
The resident tried to dial 911 but couldn’t deal with the phone push-buttons in the dark.
He reached into his nightstand and felt for his handgun.
There it was, ready to use. He grasped it firmly and took the safety off.
He got up and walked to the source of the noise in the dining room.
With the lights turned on suddenly, he confronted the intruder.
The intruder advanced on him and he fired, striking the intruder twice.
Kansas City police spokesman RUSS DYKSTRA said, "It appear to be an appropriate use of a firearm in a home."
Police identified the intruder as a 22-year-old Kansas City man.
The intruder was pronounced dead at the scene.
The intruder was not armed, but it was apparent that the man intended to commit a crime, DYKSTRA said.
To get into the house, the intruder knocked out most of a dining room window, composed of small diamond-shaped panes of leaded glass.
"He wasn’t going to sit down and watch the morning news on television," DYKSTRA said.
"His intent was criminal."
The resident was alone in the house and had no one to call upon for help.
The Jackson County prosecutor’s office declined to prosecute the resident.
The resident refused to be identified, but he lives near Minor Park.
Intruders will likely stay away from the Minor Park area for a while.
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