Issue 095

November, 2002

 

ANTI-GUNNERS EXPLOIT SNIPER ATTACKS

 

Once again, the anti-gunners are using the grisly crimes of madmen or fanatic terrorists to call for even more gun control laws to disarm the law-abiding American public.

 

This time, exploiting the Washington-area killing spree by accused snipers JOHN ALLEN MUHAMMAD and JOHN LEE MALVO, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Handgun Control, Inc.), the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and Sen. CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY), are crying out for a federal “ballistic fingerprinting” law, which, they say, would have “solved this crime after the first shot.”

 

Wrong again.

 

Taking a firearm’s “fingerprint” isn’t like getting inked at the cop shop. Real fingerprints stay pretty much the same your whole life.

 

But ballistic marks change with repeated shooting. And once crooks know about it, they’ll just scratch up their gun barrels and create a new set of “ballistic fingerprints” every time they go shooting.

 

Even President BUSH has come out against a national ballistic database.

 

The “ballistic fingerprint” idea appears to be useless. In two states where it has been used, Maryland and New York, it hasn’t helped convict a single criminal despite the testing of thousands of guns, according to science writer Steven Milloy.

 

That’s bad enough, but as soon as police arrested sniper suspects MUHAMMAD and MALVO, the Violence Policy Center’s senior policy analyst, TOM DIAZ, came up with a new scary term: the “sniper subculture.”

 

It’s supposedly a vast conspiracy of gun owners using books, websites and training centers who will kill us all unless...  Unless what?

 

Well, said DIAZ, maybe not ban the books and websites (that’s a First Amendment right), but federal and state lawmakers must ban the sale of some long-guns and stop training centers he contemptuously calls “sniper schools” from teaching individuals long-range marksmanship (Second Amendment rights don’t seem to count).

 

JOE WALDRON, executive director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), said, “This is another attempt by the Violence Policy Center to exploit tragedy and select buzz words that appeal to people’s emotions. I don’t believe it exists as an identifiable subculture.”

 

Much more seriously, in the midst of the Washington sniper shootings, House Judiciary Committee Chairman JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R-WI) announced that Maryland, a state with some of the most obnoxious gun laws in America, went nearly six months this year without providing the FBI with criminal records of potential gun buyers for use in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

 

SENSENBRENNER said that Maryland was the only state refusing to provide those records, the collection of which is mandated by the Brady Act.

 

The Maryland State Archives in March informed the federal government that it would no longer be able to participate in the background check system unless it was reimbursed for the work, according to SENSENBRENNER.

 

But Maryland has received $6.7 million from the NICS History Improvement Program since 1995 to improve its criminal records. Where did all that money go?

 

SENSENBRENNER has asked the General Accounting Office to investigate how Maryland spent the money, and also called on Maryland Lt. Governor KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND, now a Democrat candidate for governor, to cooperate with the General Accounting Office.

 

TOWNSEND, according to CCRKBA’s JOE WALDRON, “is just another disingenuous Democrat” who demonizes guns and gun owners while demanding more intrusive gun laws, yet she has failed to enforce or support existing laws that could help catch a killer.

 

WALDRON criticized TOWNSEND and Maryland Gov. PARRIS GLENDENING for advocating the expansion of the discredited “ballistic fingerprinting” scheme to include hunting rifles.

 

WALDRON added, “KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND is campaigning to become Maryland’s next governor by savaging the gun rights voting record of her opponent. Yet TOWNSEND, as lieutenant governor under GLENDENING, has been part of an administration that has refused to provide critical information to the NICS system. In light of recent events in Maryland and neighboring Virginia, that amounts to a gross dereliction of duty.”

 

Despite criticisms and questions about the effectiveness of the idea, TOWNSEND continues to call for a national ballistics database.

 

She is joined by New York Democrat, Sen. CHARLES SCHUMER, who recently announced he would introduce legislation for a national program, saying that his state’s 2001 ballistic “fingerprinting” law does not provide for the tracing of rifles such as the one used by Washington sniper suspects MUHAMMAD and MALVO.

 

SCHUMER spokesman PHIL SINGER said SCHUMER’s federal measure also wouldn’t necessarily locate someone like the Washington-area sniper, but it would give an immediate lead to police, who were stumped for days before apprehending the suspects.

 

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President WAYNE La PIERRE said that such a database is “flawed, unworkable and infringes on the rights of tens of millions of law-abiding Americans,” tantamount to gun registration.

 

In a move to avoid the blind rush to legislate a ballistic database into law, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) called on Congress to move quickly and require a study of ballistic imaging technology to determine its appropriate use. The study would be conducted by the National Academy of Sciences.

 

NSSF president DOUG PAINTER said, “I know it is very late in the congressional session, but I am calling on the House and Senate to bring up and pass H.R. 3491 and S. 2581, the Ballistic Imaging Evaluation and Study Act of 2002.”

 

The legislation, PAINTER said, would provide the scientific facts necessary to determine how ballistic imaging is best utilized in law enforcement. It was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. ZELL MILLER (D-GA) and U.S. Rep. MELISSA HART (R-PA) in the House.

 

PAINTER said, “There is a lot of misinformation being circulated in the media and within policy circles that ballistic imaging is ‘DNA for guns,’ and this simply is not true. We need facts and that is what this study will give us.”

 

The NSSF call is timely. A California Department of Justice Report recently said that “automated computer matching [ballistic imaging] systems do not provide conclusive results.” The report was hushed up before finally being released.

Facts are sorely needed when tragedy is so deliberately exploited.

 

ANTI-GUN PROFESSOR RESIGNS UNDER FIRE OVER FALSIFICATION

 

MICHAEL BELLESILES, the history professor who wrote that firearms were rare in early America, has resigned from Atlanta’s Emory University after a blue-ribbon panel found he “willingly misrepresented the evidence,” in his award-winning book, Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture.

 

The book claimed that America’s gun culture was an “invented tradition,” and made him an instant hero to gun-control advocates who praised him for “debunking the mythology propagated by the gun lobby.”

 

Unfortunately for BELLESILES, numerous scholars questioned his data. After Emory’s own probe found serious problems, it was his own mythology that got debunked in a 40-page report by an outside investigative committee of scholars appointed from Princeton University, Harvard University and the University of Chicago.

 

Many parts of BELLESILES’ book were faulted in the report, but the committee’s main barrage was fired at the core of his argument: his unusual use of probate records and wills that might list firearms owned by the deceased, which he claimed showed very few guns in early America.

 

It seems that data for California cited by Prof. BELLESILES came from records that were destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. BELLESILES later said he meant to cite Contra Costa County documents that were not destroyed, but they couldn’t be found, either.

 

The committee wrote that it “cannot prove that Professor BELLESILES simply invented his California research,” but that “neither do we have confidence that the Contra Costa inventories resolve the problem.”

 

The report said BELLESILES’ work showed “evidence of falsification,” “egregious misrepresentation,” and “exaggeration of data.”

 

BELLESILES resigned, he said in a statement, because he “cannot continue to teach in what I feel is a hostile environment.”

 

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) feels that Columbia University should immediately revoke the Bancroft Prize BELLESILES won for his book, “along with the $4,000 cash award that came with it,” said DAVE LaCOURSE, SAF’s Public Affairs Director.

 

SAF maintains a complete account of the Arming America scandal on its website at www.saf.org.

 

AROUND THE WORLD

 

The UN declares war on small arms: As many gun rights observers expected, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked the Security Council to find ways to force countries to trace more than 255 million firearms the UN considers illicit. Proposals include forcing firearm manufacturers worldwide to mark every single piece of military equipment with embedded serial numbers -- every part of every rifle and handgun.

 

The Swiss government wants gun control after their worst-ever shooting, in which a gunman killed 14 people in Zug earlier this year. A new law proposes to require permits to buy a gun, places bans on selling firearms through the Internet or newspaper ads, and wants a ban on imitation guns and air guns. Swiss men would still be allowed to bring their rifles home after leaving the army and in between periods of active service -- the Zug gunman used his army rifle in the shooting. Critics say the proposed revisions don’t go far enough: private ownership of guns should be banned.

 

Australia’s gun control lobby is trying to revive its failed campaign to ban semi-automatic handguns, claiming its views tally with those of most Australians. The National Coalition for Gun Control claims the ban on semi-automatic rifles introduced after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre is not enough. GARY FLEETWOOD of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia says criminalizing law-abiding citizens is not the way forward. Both groups say they will be in Alice Springs for the upcoming Australian Police Ministers Council meeting.

 

“LAME DUCK” CONGRESS MAY ADDRESS GUN BILLS

 

2002 will see a continuation of the tradition of reconvening for a special “lame duck” session after Congress adjourns for the year. Among the many critical issues left for this year’s “lame ducks” are several firearm-related proposals.

 

Bills supported by gun rights advocates include a prohibition on reckless lawsuits designed to bankrupt law-abiding gun manufacturers (see next item), and the establishment of an effective armed pilots program.

 

We’re also likely to see attention given to anti-gun bills creating a national ballistic imaging database (H.R. 408 and S. 3096).

 

However, H.R. 3491, the Ballistic Imaging Evaluation and Study Act of 2001, may put the issue to a test, and has the support of most gun rights advocates.

 

TABLED GUN LAWSUIT BILL EXPECTED TO GET ACTION

 

Although House leaders concerned over the sniper killings tabled a measure that would shield gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits related to shootings, insiders expect the bill to re-emerge now that suspects are in custody.

 

The House bill cleared both the Commerce and Judiciary committees and was scheduled for a floor vote when the sniper slayings prompted the decision to hold off. Support by the measure’s 231 sponsors in the House and 43 in the Senate remains strong.

 

HOUSE PASSES NICS FUNDING, SENATE BALKS

 

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a funding bill authorizing $1.1 billion in federal money to assist the 50 states in updating and computerizing their criminal records.

 

Senate Minority leader TRENT LOTT (R-MS) tried to clear the bill for a Senate floor vote, but was unable to get cooperation from the ruling Democrats.

 

The lack of fully computerized records has been a major criticism of the system by both Democrats and Republicans.

 

POLL: MORE GUN LAWS WON’T HELP

 

A recent FOX News poll conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corporation found that most Americans are doubtful that tougher gun laws would help stop the kind of sniper attacks that recently terrorized the Washington, D.C. area.

 

The poll was taken by telephone October 22-23 in the evenings, one day before the arrests of sniper suspects JOHN MUHAMMAD and JOHN MALVO. In other words, the subjects interviewed were not aware that police would be arresting the alleged shooters early the next morning (October 24). The case was still unsolved in their minds.

 

Seventy-six percent of people surveyed said people like the serial snipers will always find ways around gun laws. Only 14 percent said tougher gun laws can stop acts like the sniper shootings from happening.

 

The poll also addressed the media coverage of the sniper attacks, which had been filled with live reports and press conferences on the shootings. Most Americans characterized the coverage as being sensationalized rather than responsible (52 percent to 36 percent).

 

In addition, two-thirds thought the extensive nature of the media coverage was more likely to encourage the sniper (67 percent) than to help police (16 percent).

 

Law enforcement got positive marks, even though no suspect was known at the time. Fully 79 percent thought the police and other law enforcement officials were doing a good job handling the sniper case (8 percent said bad job).

 

Concern about the sniper attacks was high, but ranked below concern over terrorist attacks and the nation’s economy.

The poll shows a majority believes in the basic right of Americans to own a gun. Fifty-six percent said all U.S. citizens have the right to own a gun. 30 percent said no (12 percent said “depends”).

NRA STICKER WASN’T ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY AUTO SEARCH

 

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a National Rifle Association sticker on a pickup truck was not enough justification to warrant a police search of the vehicle for a gun.

 

In a 2-1 decision, the Court found that police in a Dallas suburb did not have probable cause when they searched the truck of JEFFREY L. ESTEP in turned up a pistol shut in a case.

Professor Bellesiles resigns  ·  United Nations declares war on gun ownership   · Poll: More gun laws won’t help  · Supreme Court hears “restored gun rights” case  · Can an NRA sticker on your car get you arrested?   ·  They picked the wrong house in our Page Eight “Parting Shot”

Estep sued three Garland, Texas police officers over the March 29, 1993 search and his subsequent arrest. He had been initially stopped for speeding, according to the court record.

 

The vehicle also contained a camouflage jacket, according to the court. Estep heard one of the officers tell another officer that he suspected a weapon had been present because of the NRA sticker.

 

The panel’s majority wrote, “If the presence of an NRA sticker and camouflage gear in a vehicle could be used by an officer to conclude he was in danger, half the pickups in the state of Texas would be subject to a vehicle search.”

 

SUPREME COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS IN “RESTORED GUN RIGHTS” CASE

 

Gun dealer Thomas Bean obtained a court order restoring his right to own firearms after being convicted of a felony in a Mexican court in 1998.

 

Bean’s offense, having loose boxes of ammunition with no firearm in his car when he crossed the border at Laredo, Texas to have dinner on the Mexican side, isn’t even a crime in the United States.

 

Bean served a year of his five year “arms smuggling” sentence in Mexico before being returned to the U.S. in a prisoner exchange -- but he returned as a felon.

 

He fought to get his gun rights back and won in federal district court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Then the government sought to overturn the court order restoring Bean’s gun rights, asserting that courts do not have such power. That’s how the case got to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Federal law forbids convicted felons from owning firearms, but since 1965 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) has had the authority to make exceptions when it can be shown that the felon no longer poses a danger to society.

 

But then in 1992, when the Violence Policy Center claimed that those with “restored gun rights” went on to commit more crimes, Congress barred the BATF from using any federal funds to restore gun rights to reformed felons.

 

And that’s about all the Supreme Court talked about when it recently heard oral arguments in the case of United States. v. Bean.

 

Gun rights supporters had hoped for more. With Attorney General JOHN ASHCROFT’s view that the Second Amendment protects an individual right rather than a collective right of militias, gun rights advocates had expected a strong Second Amendment argument to enter the case, but it didn’t.

 

During oral arguments before the Supreme Court, most of the Justices appeared to side with the government attorneys on very narrow grounds, and Bean’s attorney did not emphasize the Second Amendment issues, either.

 

The outlook for a broader decision is dim, since the Court does not rule on issues not raised by the attorneys.

 

feds give crime-gun sales data to anti-gun lawyerS

 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has given the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 11 years of data on guns used in crimes, to be used in their lawsuit against the firearms industry.

 

Although NAACP attorneys hope to use the data to prove that gun makers and dealers knew they were selling guns to criminals, it still does nothing to prove that point. Also, the information remains sealed from the public.

The Brooklyn, New York, case is the only one of many anti-gun lawsuits in which the anti-gunners won, but the verdict was overturned on appeal.

 

FOUR STATES CONSIDERING BALLISTIC FINGERPRINTING LAW

 

· In the wake of the Washington-area sniper case, Democrats in the states of California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey are considering creating a state ballistic fingerprinting system intended to enable law enforcement to trace bullets or shell casings found at a crime scene to the manufacturer and buyer of the gun.

 

· Maryland and New York have such databases, but they have recorded only a small number of guns, limiting the system’s usefulness.

In 1995, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms introduce the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, matching bullets or shell casings found at a crime scene to the gun that fired or ejected them.

 

· The concept is that each gun imparts unique markings on a bullet or shell casing. However, the IBIN system only tests guns and ammunition already in possession of law enforcement.

 

· The new Democrat scheme would require gunmakers to test fire all rifles and handguns, and supply a test-fired bullet and shell casing with each gun. Law enforcement would then record them with an electronic image and store the images in a computer. Then, if bullets or shell casings are found at a crime scene, law enforcement could trace them back to the buyer by matching computerized images.

 

· Critics point out that ballistic markings change with time and can be deliberately altered to thwart identification.

 

MASSACHUSETTS AGENCY FAILED TO WARN CITIZENS OF LOSING GUN RIGHTS 

 

The state of Massachusetts failed to notify three-quarters of a million gun owners that their Firearms Identification cards (FID) would expire prematurely because of the Massachusetts Gun Control Act of 1998, according to a legislative committee report.

 

FID cards had previously been issued for life. Then every FID was given an expiration date. But state government didn’t notify 57% of the 1,280,643 FID card holders on file. Their excuse was they had valid addresses for only 43% of FID card holders.

 

Now more than a million people who believe they have gun licenses issued for life are in danger of arrest for the illegal possession of firearms, says MICHAEL YACINO, executive director of Gun Owners Action League (GOAL).

 

GOAL’s Legislative Agent JIM WALLACE noted a report by the House Post Audit and Oversight Committee that uncovered the FID notification omissions. He said, “FID card holders had a valid contract with the state. Not only did the state break this contract when they passed a new law, but they also didn’t even notify them.”

 

NEW JERSEY “SMART GUN” BILL STALLED, NEW COMPROMISE REACHED 

 

A measure that would require each new handgun sold in New Jersey to have a mechanism that would prevent anyone other than its owner from firing it passed the state Senate last month, but got stalled in the lower chamber.

 

PETER BARNES (D-Middlesex County), chairman of the Assembly’s Law and Public Safety Committee, refused to move the bill unless it was amended to mandate that law enforcement officers also be required to carry weapons equipped with the technology.

 

Gun control advocates, who had strongly criticized the delay in action on the bill, threatened to picket the offices of Democratic lawmakers if an agreement was not reached.

 

New Jersey Governor JAMES E. McGREEVEY and several state lawmakers announced a compromise that will allow the “smart gun” bill to more forward in the Assembly.

 

The compromise calls for the state attorney general to appoint a task force of law enforcement personnel to study the feasibility of BARNES’ demand.

 

The technology is not commercially available, and is expected to take three years to develop and cost about $5 million -- if it works at all.

 

GUN NEWS TICKER - QUICK TAKES ON THE NEWS

 

· New York City: Sports Authority Inc., a chain of sports-equipment stores, was cited recently by the city for selling imitation semiautomatic machine guns that are strikingly similar to the real thing, the New York Department of Consumer Affairs said. The fake weapons violate a New York law forbidding the sale or ownership of imitation guns that are used in the war game paintball. Sports Authority Inc. pulled the imitations from their shelves, but could face fines of $200,000.

 

· Hollywood: The anti-gun Entertainment Industries Council is giving tips to screen writers and producers on how to “properly” portray gun use according to their liberal bias. First, don’t film gunfights, have your characters use wit and cunning to overcome opponents. (Tom Cruise will kill all his enemies in Mission Impossible 3 by eating their livers with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.) Second, show the shooter feeling guilt, remorse and personal angst after using a gun. (Fade out on Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry crying like a baby over his .357 Magnum after killing 50 San Francisco bad guys with it.) Third, show families filing lawsuits for pain and suffering. (Anakin Skywalker and his wife Padme take the Emperor to court for laser-gun injuries in Star Wars Episode III, Lawsuit of the Jedi.) Fourth, show the shooter being accidentally injured by his own gun. (Show gun-toting Slyvester Stallone, the Italian Stallion, clumsily shooting his anatomy off while starring in The Gelding Gunner.) Hey, you could get some good ten-minute comedies from these tips.

 

· Fort Collins, Colorado: Duncan D. Philip, 45, was cited for several traffic violations while on his way to protest outside the home of a Columbine victim last December. He filed a civil rights lawsuit against the two Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies who ticketed him, alleging an attempt to deny him his First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly. Vincent Todd, Philip’s attorney, obtained a $20,000 settlement from the county. While not admitting that the deputies did anything wrong, Assistant Jefferson County Attorney Patricia Gilbert said officials decided to settle the lawsuit for “a variety of reasons.”

 

· New York City: “Subway Vigilante” Bernie Goetz, who made headlines in 1984 when he shot four black youths who menacingly asked him for $5 on the subway, is going to act in a movie. It’s a low-budget independent “instructional thriller,” said writer/director Glenn Andreiev. He sought out Goetz because he was looking for a big name in his film, “Every Move You Make.” Goetz was famous for self-defense after being acquitted of attempted murder in a high-profile trial, and self-defense is what the film is about: a female restauranteur being stalked by a threatening man. She turns to a criminologist for help - played by Goetz. Goetz offered script advice and delivered a “natural, relaxed performance,” said director Andreiev. Goetz, a film buff, said he was just doing it for the money. “Acting is not my profession,” he said. “It is not fun. It is hard work.” Goetz sells industrial electronics on the Internet for a living. We probably won’t be seeing the movie at the Academy Awards, but you never know.

 

· Washington: America’s hunters and anglers spend over $70 billion a year in pursuit of their pastime. They would rank No. 11 on the Fortune 500 if they were a corporation, according to a report by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Over 38 million Americans enjoy the outdoors -- twice the number of labor union members -- and hunters support 1.6 million jobs, more than Wal-Mart, the country’s largest employer. The two foundations said American sportsmen are a demographic group worth a closer look.

 

· California: Californians are more likely to be killed by criminals now than last year (5% increase), and far more likely to become victims of property crimes (6% increase), says a new report from the state attorney general. Clearly, California’s restrictive gun control laws aren’t working as advertised.

 

THEY PICKED THE WRONG HOUSE

 

It is an ordinary-looking house in North Las Vegas, Nevada. It was an inviting target to a gang of young hoodlums who decided to break into it about 10 a.m. one recent Monday morning.

 

Homeowner Steve -- he asked that his last name not be used -- had taken his two children to school, then came home to take care of his wife, who was ill.

 

Two men rang the doorbell, and Steve’s wife looked out the peephole and saw several unfamiliar men. She told Steve not to answer the door.

 

A few minutes later someone outside said, “Okay, do it,” and suddenly there was a loud bang and the door casing gave way.

 

Steve and his wife retreated to their upstairs bedroom where the wife called 911. Steve, who spent 22 years in the military, worked the combination of his closet safe and grabbed his .380 firearm and loaded it.

 

The intruders had kicked the front door down by then and were grabbing the doorknob of the bedroom.

 

Steve squeezed off a round. The bullet went through the bedroom door, through one intruder’s shoulder, through a closet door and lodged in a closet shelf.

 

Steve stepped out of his bedroom and saw a second intruder.

 

“I shot him in the butt,” said Steve.

 

The two intruders ran outside trailing blood and Steve followed.

 

In his yard, Steve looked up and saw a third intruder on the roof of his house, having escaped from inside by breaking a window.

 

One of the intruders made it over Steve’s back wall, but the one shot in the buttocks couldn’t do it. Steve brought him back to the house and made him lay down until North Las Vegas Police arrived.

 

Officers found that one of the juveniles was carrying a gun.

 

Ronald Cousin, 18; Steven Nelson, 19; Jerome Thompson, 19; and two 16-year-old boys were arrested for burglary with use of a deadly weapon and home invasion. The injured intruders were not seriously hurt.

Also in this issue: · NICS system now allows e-mail appeals      · Emerson case to be retried   · California district attorneys sue attorney general · Battle of the books  · Maine voters reject hunting ban   · Self defense for survivors in our Page Eight “Parting Shot”

Also in this issue•: · NICS system now allows e-mail appeals      · Emerson case to be retried   · California district attorneys sue attorney general · Battle of the books  · Maine voters reject hunting ban   · Self defense for survivors in our Page Eight “Parting Shot”

Also in this issue: · NICS system now allows e-mail appeals      · Emerson case to be retried   · California district attorneys sue attorney general · Battle of the books  · Maine voters reject hunting ban   · Self defense for survivors in our Page Eight “Parting Shot”

that the intruders were “casing the neighborhood,” knocking on doors of other houses, but the residents answered the door.

 

Police said no charges are expected to be filed against Steve because it appears he acted in self-defense. “The homeowner believed his life and his wife’s life were in danger,” Redcay said.

Steve said, “They were stupid. They picked the wrong house.”