Issue 094

October, 2002

 

GUN RIGHTS POLICY CONFERENCE

 

More than 500 people recently cheered a rousing three-day lineup of notables “Defending Freedom,” the theme of the 2002 Gun Rights Policy Conference.

 

Hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation, GRPC brought activists from all over America to Phoenix, Arizona, where they addressed threats to the rights of gun owners that have crept into Washington’s political atmosphere since the terrorist attacks of 9-11, 2001.

 

“We have to stay on the offensive,” said WAYNE LaPIERRE, National Rifle Association executive vice president. “These elections are going to be critical.”

 

Gun rights leaders agreed that the outcome of the 2002 mid-term election will determine the fate of a handful of important gun bills pending in Congress.

 

LARRY PRATT, executive director of the Gun Owners of America, believes both Republicans and Democrats view gun issues as a political liability. A Republican victory wouldn’t guarantee a pro-gun voting record in every case.

 

Hanging in the balance are issues including: arming airline pilots; not placing undue regulations on private or gun show sales; preempting municipal lawsuits against gun manufacturers; repealing the Clinton-era ban on certain semi-automatic guns; and preventing efforts to ban .50-caliber rifles.

 

But gun rights aren’t driving this year’s election as much as terrorism, homeland security and the economy are, said ALAN M. GOTTLIEB, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation.

 

“In a close election, an issue like guns is two to four percent of the electorate,” said Gottlieb. “In a race that can be won or lost by two points, we can be the difference.”

 

NEIL SCHULMAN, author and pro-gun advocate, said the homeland security issue is also critical. “The Second Amendment is the first line of Homeland Defense,” he said. “We need to deputize the nation.” Attendees heartily agreed.

 

But many gun owners expressed concern that the new homeland security agency proposed by the BUSH administration will undermine their ability to protect themselves, their families and the nation.

 

Concerning political opponents, NEAL KNOX, Firearms Coalition chairman, said, “We’ve got a bunch of ‘make-nice’ Dems like CHUCK SCHUMER that are saying, ‘Oh, I believe in the Second Amendment,’ but don’t let them for one moment define what being for the Second Amendment means.”

 

JACK ADKINS of the Sporting Arms & Ammunition Manufacturers Institute warned of a change in tactics used by the gun control crowd.

 

Groups such as the Brady Campaign and the Violence Policy Center are invoking the threat of terrorism, the potential harm to children, and the image of big, fierce-looking guns to sell their gun-control agenda.

 

Bills with names like the Child Gun Safety Act and the Children’s Firearm Access Prevention Act are just window dressing for gun control.

 

“No matter how they package it, the ultimate goal is the same,” said ADKINS. “To eventually prohibit firearms in America.”

 

That’s not something the more than 500 GRPC attendees are likely to allow.

 

Also in this issue: ·Arizona court clears gunmakers in shootings  · California law bad news for firearms manufacturers   · U.S. ready to arm pilots on trial basis      · London mayor feels safer in New York  l ATF official charged in gun offense  

 ·  Don’t be a victim in our Page Eight “Parting Shot”

 

APPEALS COURT CLEARS GUN MAKERS AND SELLERS IN KILLINGS

 

The Arizona Court of Appeals three-judge panel recently threw out the claims of the families of three employees of a Tucson Pizza Hut who were shot to death during a 1999 robbery.

 

The appeals court rejected the families’ contention that the defendants had a duty to have procedures designed to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have them or foreseeably might commit a crime.

 

Defendants were Glock Inc., manufacturer of the murder weapon; Centerfire Inc., a retail outlet, and STANLEY WOZNICKI, who bought the gun from Centerfire and later sold it at a gun show to one of the two convicted murderers in the case.

 

Judge JOSEPH HOWARD, writing for the appellate court, said there generally is no duty under Arizona law to control the conduct of a third party.

 

An appeal to the state Supreme Court is expected.

 

VIRGINIA GUN-SHOP OWNER LOSES SUIT TO KEEP SALES PRIVATE

 

ROBERT MARCUS, owner of Bob’s Gun & Tackle Shop in Norfolk, has lost his lawsuit to keep his sales records out of federal hands.

 

Federal Judge HENRY C. MORGAN Jr. ruled that MARCUS must turn over to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms the make, model, caliber and serial number of each used firearm bought and sold at the store in 1999.

 

Judge MORGAN ruled that the amount of information sought by the ATF was so minuscule that it would not create a federal registry, which Congress has strictly forbidden.

 

MARCUS will appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

 

NRA FILES CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT

 

The National Rifle Association has filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of ALAN NEWSOM, a 12-year-old NRA member. The lawsuit charges school officials in Albemarle County, Virginia, with violating NEWSOM’s civil rights when they banned him from wearing an NRA-logo Youth Sports Shooting Camp shirt to school last year. The school had no rule against such things at the time it forced the young man to wear the shirt inside-out so the illustration would not show.

 

The lawsuit, alleging 12 counts of free speech and due process violations, seeks $100,000 in damages and $50,000 in punitive damages plus costs and attorneys fees. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for Western District of Virginia, Charlottesville Division.

 

INDIANA COURT VICTORY FOR GUN MANUFACTURERS

 

Indiana’s state Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against firearm manufacturers and a wholesaler brought by the city of Gary. The decision in favor of the industry comes, in part, because the sale of firearms to the public is a regulated legal activity and the court found, “that which is lawful cannot be regarded in a legal sense as a public nuisance.” The court also quoted Indiana’s state constitutional guarantee to the right to bear arms and self defense.

 

However, the appeals court said that three local gun shops should remain defendants in the lawsuit because the city of Gary alleged there is evidence that illegal gun sales took place in the businesses.

 

California law TARGEts gunmakers

 

California Governor GRAY DAVIS has signed recently enacted legislation that makes lawful manufacturers more vulnerable to lawsuits when their non-defective products are criminally misused.

 

The move opens the door to politically motivated nuisance suits designed to financially cripple the firearms industry.

 

LAWRENCE G. KEANE, vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said, “This demonstrates the urgent need for Congress to enact federal legislation to bar such suits.”

 

Bills are pending in both the House and Senate that would provide federal immunity to the firearms industry. The House bill has 229 sponsors, while a similar bill in the Senate has 39 sponsors.

 

ILLINOIS LAW HELPS GUN SAFETY TRAINING

 

The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) applauded Gov. GEORGE RYAN for signing Senate Bill 1936 into law. The law will make it easier for thousands of Illinois citizens to receive life-saving gun safety training.

 

Gun safety students now will not have to be in possession of an Illinois Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card in order to receive safety training.

 

The red tape and cost of obtaining a FOID had previously deterred citizens from taking gun safety training. Now only the trainer must have a valid FOID.

 

OHIO GUN CONTROL CROWD FEARS CONCEALED CARRY VOTE

 

About 30 Ohio members of the Million Mom March recently attempted to deliver yellow rubber duckies to state senators in a largely empty Statehouse urging them not to vote on a pending concealed carry bill until next year.

 

The “Thirty Mom March” worried that lawmakers would use the days immediately after the November election to vote in a lame duck session.

 

Gov. BOB TAFT has vowed not to sign any concealed carry bill without law enforcement support. The Buckeye State Sheriffs Association supports it, but the State Highway Patrol and Fraternal Order of Police oppose it.

 

INDIANA COUNTY GUN BAN REPEALED

 

In a victory for gun owners, Johnson County officials have repealed an ordinance that prohibited some residents from having a loaded or assembled gun in their homes.

 

Resident JOHN LOWE had filed a lawsuit challenging the restrictions after receiving two warnings from sheriff’s deputies. LOWE was not fined, and many deputies did not know the ordinance was on the books. He did not seek damages in the lawsuit, but sought to have the ordinance repealed as being in violation of the Indiana state constitution.

 

County commissioners voted unanimously to repeal the ordinance on the recommendation of their attorneys. LOWE’s lawsuit has not been settled.

 

A.G. SAYS VIRGINIA AGENCY CAN’T BAN GUNS IN STATE PARKS

 

A legal opinion from Virginia Attorney General JERRY W. KILGORE has stirred a simmering gun rights dispute.

 

The opinion came in response to a letter from state Delegate RICHARD H. BLACK (R-Loudon) about an agency ban on concealed carry in state parks.

 

Attorney General KILGORE wrote: “It is my opinion that the Department of Conservation and Recreation exceeded its statutory authority in prohibiting the carrying of concealed handguns by holders of valid permits.”

 

The opinion is only advisory, and is not binding on the agency.

 

The Virginia Citizen Defense League, a gun owners group, had asked its members to contact KILGORE in support of allowing concealed carry by valid permittees in state parks.

The agency is considering the legal opinion.

 

U.S. READY TO LET PILOTS CARRY GUNS IN TRIAL PLAN

 

The BUSH administration is now ready to allow some U.S. airline pilots to carry guns in the cockpit on a trial basis.

 

Transportation Secretary NORMAN MINETA still personally opposes arming pilots, but pressure from Congress and pilots’ unions, plus a leadership shakeup at the Transportation Security Administration, prompted him to reassess the situation.

 

Details of the guns-in-cockpits plan are still being worked out, but momentum is building in Congress to arm all 70,000 commercial pilots in the nation.

 

The House passed a bill in July that would allow just that, and a bill now in the Senate would also give flight attendants self-defense training.

 

SENATE CONSIDERS ARMING OFF-DUTY AND RETIRED COPS

 

The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering legislation that would let off-duty and retired law enforcement officers carry weapons when they leave their local jurisdictions, even when they cross state lines.

 

Committee Chairman PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT) introduced the bill because he believes arming cops would make communities safer. It has gained the support of 30 other Senators, including Committee ranking Republican Sen. ORRIN HATCH (R-UT).

 

President BUSH has said he favors the legislation.

 

FEDS SAY 2 PERCENT OF FIREARM APPLICANTS REJECTED IN 2001

 

In a repeat of past years, the U.S. Justice Department has reported that roughly 2 out of every 100 applicants who applied to purchase a firearm last year were rejected after a background check.

 

The numbers are nearly identical to most years since the department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics began reporting after the federal Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act went into effect in 1994.

 

In real numbers, 151,000 out of nearly 7.6 million applicants -- or 1.9 percent -- were rejected after checks by the FBI or state and local agencies. About 1,900 were arrested. Conviction numbers were not reported.

 

From the beginning in March 1994 to December 2001, 38 million applications were made to federally licensed dealers, of which about 840,000 -- about 2 percent -- were rejected.

 

The vast majority of rejections in 2001 -- 72 percent -- were due to felony convictions or indictments or domestic violence misdemeanor convictions or restraining orders. Other reasons -- those who are fugitives, illegal aliens, suffer drug addiction or a mental illness or disability, or have had a dishonorable discharge from the armed services -- made up the balance of rejections.

 

TORRICELLI BILL TRIES NEW TACTIC TO DESTROY FIREARMS INDUSTRY

 

The Firearms Safety and Consumer Protection Act, authored by scandal-ridden departing Sen. ROBERT TORRICELLI (D-NJ) and Rep. PATRICK KENNEDY (D-RI) would regulate guns as consumer products.

 

This new trick up the sleeve of the gun control lobby would give the Department of the Treasury the authority to regulate the design, manufacture, and distribution of guns.

 

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA), with its year 2000 budget of $846,660, strongly backs the bills, and has organized a coalition of more than 120 organizations to support passage, and will resume the effort when the next Congress convenes in January, according to SUSAN PESHIN, firearms project director at CFA.

 

The secret sponsors of this tactic are the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which gave CFA $200,000 to run its “research on regulating firearms as consumer products” and the Joyce Foundation, which gave $25,000 for the same purpose. Congress should look into foundation influence on public policy.

 

democrats try to neutralize gun lobby’s clout

 

Questionable Democrats are “making nice” about guns to shed their gun control image at the polls.

 

Alaska’s Lt. Gov. FRAN ULMER, Democrat candidate for governor and holder of a permit to carry a concealed weapon, went gun shopping in July with reporters in tow. Ms. ULMER, who owns eight rifles, told reporters she needed something that would fit in her purse to make her feel safe on the campaign trail.

 

BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico Democrat candidate for governor, is marketing himself as “the choice for New Mexico gun owners and sportsmen” despite his Clinton administration record as a cabinet officer and ambassador to the United Nations.

 

These Democrats and others nationwide are well aware that gun owners cost AL GORE crucial votes in a handful of states in the 2000 presidential election, including Tennessee, his home state.

 

They are also aware that MARK WARNER, a Democrat who was elected governor of Virginia in 2001, neutralized the gun issue in his campaign by reassuring voters in rural areas that he did not want to take their guns.

 

As a result, Dems this year are taking a leaf from the WARNER playbook. They’re not advancing the agenda of gun rights supporters, but they don’t want to alienate the powerful gun lobby. They’re trying to immunize themselves against gun rights advocates’ election day forces.

 

Gun control groups are not happy with Democrats running away from the gun grabber agenda. “There is no question that candidates running in rural areas find themselves forced to cater to the gun lobby,” said MICHAEL BARNES, a former Democratic representative from Maryland and now president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, formerly Handgun Control, Inc.

 

The question is: if they get elected, what will these Democrats do when critical votes come to Congress?

 

Is this just another form of election fraud?

 

chief nra lobbyist scopes the field

 

CHRIS COX, a native of Jackson, Tennessee, replaced JAMES JAY BAKER as the National Rifle Association’s chief lobbyist earlier this year, which makes him the key person who will determine whether Republicans or Democrats get the NRA’s endorsement in the upcoming election.

 

At 32, he’s young for the job, but he runs a staff of 76, including lawyers and lobbyists, researchers and public relations specialists. 

 

It’s not as clear-cut a choice as it was during the CLINTON-GORE administration when the NRA became identified almost exclusively as an ally of the Republican Party.

 

Since AL GORE lost his home state of Tennessee amidst a barrage of NRA commercials in the presidential election, COX has seen Democrat candidates in many states scrambling to get back on the NRA’s good side.

 

A lot of them, like PHIL BREDESEN, Tennessee’s Democrat candidate for governor, make a public display of going hunting or sport shooting. BREDESEN made no secret of his recent dove hunt with Rep. JOHN TANNER (D-TN). And take note: the NRA’s COX worked on TANNER’s congressional staff right after graduating from Rhodes College. COX is watching Democrats carefully.

 

In Missouri, Sen. JEAN CARNAHAN, a Democrat who was appointed to the Senate after her dead husband won the 2000 election, is being very gun-friendly.

 

She appeared at a skeet-shoot benefit for a home state research center and fired off a few rounds with her 20-gauge Browning Citori shotgun, hitting nine of 15 clay targets.

 

She was quoted as telling reporters, “I am not opposed to sportsmen using guns.” With her anti-gun record, that was hard to swallow.

 

But it’s politicians’ views, not their ability with a firearm, that will be the determining factor for the NRA’s chief lobbyist.

 

LONDON MAYOR: I FEEL SAFER IN NEW YORK

 

In a stunning vote of no-confidence for his own city, London Mayor Ken Livingstone recently said that he feels safer in New York than in London. He complained, “We have lost the visible police presence on the streets.”

Crime has been increasing in London over the past several years, with muggings and other street crimes rising and robberies doubling from last year.

Even though New York recorded 641 murders in 2001 compared to 171 in London, the Mayor still said he wants his city to catch up to New York in police presence.

 

ARGENTINE BUSINESS FALLS, CRIME BOOSTS GUN SALES

 

Retail sales in Argentina are continuing their monthly double-digit free fall, and the South American nation entered its fifth year of recession.

 

Over 21 percent of the country’s workforce is unemployed. Poverty, hunger and crime soared after food prices increased following the devaluation of the peso in January. The crime wave that has swept the beleaguered nation fueled a rise in security services and gun ownership.

 

Gun dealers saw sales increase 20 percent in August when crime got worse.

 

MUGABE GRANTS AMNESTY TO FIREARM SURRENDERERS IN ZIMBABWE

 

Give up your guns in the next 90 days and we won’t arrest you -- yet. That’s the message from Zimbabwean strongman, President Robert Mugabe, in his recent “gun amnesty order.” The order said, “During the period, every person having possession of any firearm or ammunition in contravention of the Firearms Act and any other law shall surrender such firearm or ammunition to a police officer at any station, which such firearm or ammunition shall become the property of the state.”

 

Coming from authoritarian Mugabe, not many trust the amnesty.

 

CHRISTIAN, DEFEND THYSELF

 

Pakistani government security officials have advised local Christian leaders to arm themselves for possible assaults by Muslim extremists. It was a blunt way of saying, “We cannot protect you. Do it yourself.”

 

The warning came after a number of deadly raids. On August 5, Islamic militants shot six people dead at Murree Christian School for missionary children. Four days later, other Islamics hurled grenades at the chapel of Taxila Christian Hospital, killing five Christians and wounding 26 more.

 

CANADIAN GUN REGISTRATION SYSTEM FULL OF INSULTS AND OUTRAGES

 

The new Canadian Firearms Registration System recently sent a nasty letter to Hulbert Henry Orser, ordering him to take his firearms registered in the previous Restricted Weapons Registration System and re-register them in the new one.

 

Orser’s grandson, Randy Schultz, took the letter to his grandpa -- in the local cemetery. Orser died on October 23. That’s October 23, 1981. Ottawa is still blundering like an oaf in imposing its new oppression on Canadian gun owners.

 

Canadian Firearms Centre spokesman David Austin said the letter was sent to Orser because his family probably never told authorities about a change. Not so, says Schultz: the gun in question was given to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police right after his grandfather died. The cops themselves failed to register it.

 

BRITS DECIDE TO RELEASE MAN WHO SHOT BURGLARS

 

Tony Martin, a Norfolk, United Kingdom farmer, was jailed for the 1999 killing of a teenage burglar and wounding of another in his home with an illegally owned pump-action shotgun. Martin originally got life in prison for murder, but an appeals court reduced it to five years for manslaughter.

 

Now Martin has received a letter from the Norfolk probation service showing that he will soon be released after serving two and a half years in prison. Martin told a friend he’d like to take a month away from the pressure in England -- he’s had death threats. He’d like to visit America, where he’s had letters of support.

 

GUN NEWS TICKER - QUICK TAKES ON THE NEWS

 

       Iowa: The head of the Iowa office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was charged with public intoxication and was being investigated on allegations that he threatened some teenagers with a loaded gun. Jon Carl Peterson, 41, was arrested and taken to the Warren County jail.

Tucson: “Zero tolerance” for guns in schools may not be what it sounds like. A recent Pima County Juvenile Court report found that sixty-four local students were arrested for having weapons, usually a gun, on or near school grounds in the 2001-02 school year, but less than sixty-four students were expelled. State and federal laws give districts an out by allowing discretion on a case-by-case basis. So kids who make a forbidden decision can get back in school. Tucson’s anti-gun crowd is furious.

Anchorage: The U.S. Army is backing away from enforcing a rule that hunters have to register their guns with the military before bringing them onto military land. Now officials are saying only people who want to bring guns on the main post have to register them. The rule was getting ridiculous after moose and waterfowl hunters on the Tanana River Flats south of Fairbanks found themselves having to make a long trip to register their guns, because a large portion of the flats is military land.

Toronto: Film maker Michael Moore is premiering his anti-gun film, “Bowling for Columbine” at the Toronto International Film Festival. Billing it as “examining U.S. gun culture,” Moore says it isn’t really about guns or gun control, it’s about the American psyche and the American ethic. Moore doesn’t like either one, although he says he loves being an American.

Massachusetts: David Cusolito, the police chief of Falmouth, on Cape Cod, is requiring all officers to have a state-issued license to carry a firearm. His cops say they have an intrinsic right to carry a gun by virtue of their badge, a right also sanctioned by state law. The Falmouth Police Federation has filed a complaint with the state Labor Relations Commission arguing that Cusolito’s edict is prohibited by their contract. A hearing is scheduled for November.

Washington: The White House plans to ask Congress to consider moving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from the Treasury Department to the Justice Department. The proposal follows President Bush’s decision to send two other large Treasury agencies -- the U.S. Customs Service and the Secret Service -- to the proposed Department of Homeland Security. The proposal came after a review to see where ATF would best fit in the restructured government.

Arizona: The city of Mesa is considering selling confiscated firearms to gun dealers. Under the plan, the impounded firearms, which include handguns and rifles, would be auctioned to licensed dealers. All firearms valued at less than $100, or ones that are illegal, would be destroyed. Mayor Keno Hawker appears to have the City council support he needs to change the law. He tried and failed several times, but newly elected pro-gun council members may give him the new law.

Virginia: After two armed southwest Virginia law students stopped a campus shooting rampage in January, a Second Amendment group at a northern Virginia law school decided it was time to change their own school’s ban on guns. Orest J. Jowyk, president of the Second Amendment group at George Mason University School of Law, said he is studying how to change the school’s ban on guns.

Washington State: Bellevue-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said anti-gun laws in California have created defenseless victims, commenting on a man armed only with a knife who was able to attack a Greyhound bus driver, causing the bus to crash and two passengers to die. Joe Waldron, executive director of the pro-gun group, said, “Better gun ownership could have prevented that tragedy. Armed passengers could have stopped that killer.”

 

don’t be a victim

 

An Atlanta, Georgia, 15-year-old was shot by a clerk when he tried to rob a gas station convenience store. He and alleged accomplice Orlando Harris, 17, had been on a robbery spree earlier in the night, according to police.

 

The pair had also robbed a nearby Chevron station and a McDonald’s restaurant before deciding to hit the convenience store.

 

The 15-year-old fired at the clerk of Mountain Farms gas station, and the clerk returned fire, shooting him in the chest. Police charged Harris and the wounded teen with armed robbery, taking the 15-year-old to DeKalb Medical Center.

 

The clerk would not be charged, said police, as he acted in self-defense.

 

Rochester, New York, experienced two nearly identical burglaries in one night, leaving the would-be burglars dead in each case.

 

The first incident happened at 8:22 p.m. and appeared to be a pre-planned burglary. The resident found a man breaking into his home and shot the intruder, killing him.

 

Less than six hours later, Earnest Woods, 40, tried to break into the residence of 89-year-old Alfred Thompson. Thompson said he was watching television when he heard an intruder trying to break in through the door.

 

When Thompson found Woods in his kitchen, he fired a warning shot over the man’s head with his .22-caliber gun. Woods did not retreat and Thompson, fearing the man was “wild, like he was on drugs,” fired again, hitting him in the chest. Woods died of the gunshot.

 

Police chief Robert Duffy said there was no indication the cases were related, and said of the residents, “Any citizen who lawfully and justifiably defends his or her life will have my support.”

 

In Lewisville, Texas, Robert Baxter caught two suspects who broke into his home about 5 p.m. one Friday and brandished his gun at them before they fled.

 

Baxter then shot the front tire of their vehicle.

 

Two suspects were later arrested: Long Scott, 19, of Lewisville, and Tiffany McGee, 21, of Highland Village, are being held in connection with the robbery.

 

It was particularly peculiar because it was the birthday of Baxter’s wife, and earlier, backing out his driveway to pick up his kids for the party, he had a minor fender bender with the van of the robbers, not knowing what they were up to.

 

When he returned, he found the van still at his home and the suspects robbing his house. Baxter is licensed to carry a handgun.