From ca-firearms-owner Tue Aug 30 12:45:26 1994 Return-Path: ca-firearms-owner Received: from localhost (chan@localhost) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.4/8.6.5) id MAA16399 for ca-firearms-outgoing; Tue, 30 Aug 1994 12:44:46 -0700 Received: from nova.unix.portal.com (nova.unix.portal.com [156.151.1.101]) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.4/8.6.5) with ESMTP id MAA16393 for ; Tue, 30 Aug 1994 12:44:42 -0700 Received: from netcom3.netcom.com (plw@netcom3.netcom.com [192.100.81.103]) by nova.unix.portal.com (8.6.7/8.6.4) with ESMTP id MAA20560 for ; Tue, 30 Aug 1994 12:44:41 -0700 Received: by netcom3.netcom.com (8.6.8.1/Netcom) id MAA11646; Tue, 30 Aug 1994 12:45:03 -0700 Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 12:45:02 -0700 (PDT) From: "Paul L. Woodside" Subject: HCI Fundraising Materials/"Survey" To: ca-firearms@shell.portal.com cc: plw@netcom.com Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: ca-firearms-owner@shell.portal.com Precedence: bulk Status: R What follows is the text of some HCI fundraising materials sent out as a "National Public Safety Survey." It was organized as a four-page letter and a one-page "survey," so-called becuase the only reason for it is to hook the reader into contributing. If you study this stuff carefully, you will be able to see how HCI is getting their money right now, what kinds of things concern their potential contributors, and which buttons HCI is pushing successfully. Over and over in this material, HCI grinds home the concept of a "National Gun Policy." This is what they want to do, friends. And you thought the "National Health Policy" was a bad idea ... Anyway, thanks to Jon Doskow (jdoskow@crl.com) for mailing this to me. I OCRed it this morning. Any typos are mine. Paul NOTES: 1. [] is my comment 2. ** this text was underlined in the lettter BEGIN ======================================================= HANDGUN CONTROL SARAH BRADY, CHAIR Dear Friend, Please take two minutes to answer the National Public Safety Survey I've enclosed and return it to me today. Your completed survey will help Handgun Control, Inc. -- the largest national gun control organization devoted to protecting all Americans from gun violence -- convince lawmakers that Americans want them to continue enacting the tough laws we need to reduce gun violence. After 20 years of fighting to keep guns out of the wrong hands, we finally have the momentum -- and the advantage over the National Rifle Association! -- we need to win the comprehensive national gun policy we've advocated for so long. Now, with the Brady Bill signed into law and our assault weapon ban passed by Congress, we must move forward quickly - while the heat is still on Congress to take further steps against gun violence -- to win the other gun control laws that will truly make America a safer place for all of us. That's why I hope you will help us seize this opportunity by completing the enclosed survey. And when you do, I also hope you'll **join hundreds of thousands of Americans as a member of Handgun Control, Inc. by sending a contribution to support our campaign to save lives. ** It took the force of millions of citizens united together as a powerful voice for sane gun laws to finally enact the Brady Bill and pass the assault weapon ban. Now we need millions more to join with us -- people like you who agree that our government must enact other nationwide laws to reduce the gun violence. It's frightening to think, for example, that there's **no law** today that requires gun dealers to have an actual, legitimate retail business to qualify for a Federal Firearms License. Or that **no law** currently exists to regulate the sale of ammunition. In many states, it's perfectly legal for a stranger to sell a gun to a **teenager** or for a man convicted of abusing his wife to buy a gun. In most states, parents aren't legally responsible for leaving loaded handguns within reach of **children.** That's why one of our most important objectives right now is to convince Congress that Americans want a **comprehensive policy about guns that closes every loophole through which guns get into the wrong hands.** Do you agree that America needs a National Gun Policy? Tell us in the enclosed survey. **A National Gun Policy might have prevented Terrence Williams from buying and selling 793 guns out of his hair salon less than three months.** Williams obtained a Federal Firearms License by mail for $30 so he could buy guns in bulk at wholesale prices. He sold them in bulk, too, kept no records, ignored Pennsylvania's waiting period and background check law, and filed the serial numbers off guns when customers requested it. Guns that Williams sold have been linked to **two murders, two armed robberies, five assaults** and at least two dozen other crimes in a four-state region. Eleven of the guns he sold were found in the hands of **juveniles.** And, so far, only 47 of the handguns Williams sold have been recovered. In addition to strengthening the laws that regulate gun dealers, **we must take steps to control who can own a gun and then make them responsible for what they do with it.** That's why we think treating guns as we do cars makes good sense. If we license car drivers and register their vehicles because cars are potentially dangerous, we should do the same -- with even greater urgency! -- for handgun owners and handguns. While cars kill by accident, handguns kill by design. A law requiring handgun buyers to have a license and safety training and mandating the registration of all handguns will keep guns out of the wrong hands. Such a law might have saved the lives of **seven people* in New York. Dwight Adams bought two guns in South Carolina by lying about his criminal past and **both** lies slipped through the state's processes for checking gun purchase records. Adams sold one gun to a 19-year-old drug dealer in New York who used it to kill his grandparents, an aunt, a cousin and three other people. And because that gun could be traced back to Adams -- he's serving time in state prison. If handgun licenses were issued like drivers' licenses - Dwight Adams never could have gotten one. And the police were just lucky they were able to collar him for gun trafficking. But if handguns were registered just like cars are -- fewer people would take the risk of hustling guns on the black market. Do you agree that we should license handgun owners and register their guns -- just like we do with cars? Please let me know on the enclosed survey. These days, it's hard to feel safe no matter where you go. And that's because there are so many guns and so few gun control laws. We need to make certain that Congress understands the high level of concern people like you have about gun violence in our communities. **That's why it's so important for you to complete and return your National Public Safety Survey today.** Right now, Handgun Control has more than 400,000 members who support our legislative and public education efforts to enact common-sense gun control. Together we won the Brady Law -- our waiting period and background check -- and we banned assault weapons. Now we must move forward toward **the goal we set 20 years ago -- to enact a comprehensive national gun policy.** It took us **seven years** to enact the Brady Bill. But in just the first month after it was enacted, 1,605 people in states that never had a waiting period or background check before were denied permission to purchase handguns. That's 1,605 guns kept out of the wrong hands! But it's only a start. We will never be able to control access to guns without setting strict limits on such things as who can sell guns and bullets and who can own handguns and what their responsibility to the public is. With handgun murders proliferating -- more than twice as many people were killed by handguns in 1992 than in 1987 -- we must do more to ensure the public safety. That's why **America needs a National Gun Policy.** BUT ... the public demand for it is still not loud enough. So I'm urging you to **add your voice to ours today by becoming a member of Handgun Control, Inc.** You see, to enact any policy about guns in this society, we have to be heard over the protests of the most powerful lobby in Washington: the National Rifle Association. Until Handgun Control, Inc. came on the scene, the NRA literally controlled Congress. I'm not exaggerating. The NRA is the reason why it took so long to enact the Brady Bill and why it was nearly impossible to convince Congress to do something as **reasonable** as getting military-style assault weapons off our streets. The NRA is why America has the **weakest gun laws** of any westernized nation in the world. That's what we're fighting to overcome -- **a lack of gun laws so critical that the lives of all Americans are seriously endangered.** But we must fight the NRA every inch of the way. We have to be stronger. We have to be louder. And there need to be more of us. Together we can enact a sensible National Gun Policy ... to put an end to illegal gun trafficking ... to license handgun owners and register handguns ... to keep guns out of the hands of teenagers and away from children ... and to inject some **basic common sense** into the culture of guns in this society. We must act now while we have the momentum from our historic breakthrough with the Brady Bill and the assault weapon ban. Otherwise the tragedies will continue. Tragedies from which no one is immune. For example, a Japanese exchange student living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, got lost on his way to a Halloween party. As he approached the wrong house, the owner pointed a gun at him, yelling, "Freeze." 16-year-old Yoshihiro Hattori didn't know what "freeze" meant -- and was shot to death as a result. At Yoshi's funeral in Japan, his father said, "America is a marvelous country but ... there are painful tragedies every day because of guns. It's hard to believe, but in America they actually say that having a gun is a way to protect people. We knew about that attitude but I never dreamed my son would be the victim of it." It's been hard to believe for us, too, that gun violence could escalate to such levels in this country -- 105 people dying every day of the year! -- and we **still** don't have a national policy on guns. But we have **our best chance ever** right now to win a National Gun Policy -- to close off every pathway through which guns get into the wrong hands. With the support of millions of concerned Americans we enacted the Brady Bill and banned assault weapons, despite the millions of dollars spent by the NRA to defeat it. We must keep that public pressure on. We know America needs a National Gun Policy and we have the will to win. **All we need now is you.** Please, help Handgun Control end gun violence by taking these two steps today: 1. Fill out and return our NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY SURVEY. We will gather the surveys and present them to Congress, directly communicating America's concern -- our concern -- about escalating gun violence. 2. And then, add your voice to ours in calling for Congress to enact common-sense gun laws by becoming a Member of Handgun Control. Just send us your new member contribution -- $15, $25, $50 or more -- along with your survey to help us fight to save lives and prevent countless injuries from gun violence. Your help is crucial to our ability to take advantage of public support for gun control legislation ... and to our increasing ability to overcome the NRA's death grip on Congress. With **your** help, and **your** voice, we will succeed. Please join us by completing the enclosed survey and returning it to me today. Thank you. Sincerely, Sarah Brady, Chair ======================================================= HANDGUN CONTROL NATIONAL PUBLIC SAFETY SURVEY Instructions: Your participation in this National Public Safety Survey on the need for common-sense gun laws is requested. It won't take you long and when we deliver these surveys to Congress, lawmakers will know where you stand on gun control. Please mark your answers in the space provided and return this entire survey to Handgun Control in the enclosed envelope. Thank you. SURVEY RESPONDENT: Name + Address SURVEY NUMBER: xxxx 1. The latest FBI statistics reveal a staggering 10% increase in the number of handgun murders between 1991 and 1992. How concerned are you about the escalating gun violence in this country? O I am extremely concerned and want to do something about it. O I am concerned, but feel I can't do anything about it. O I'm not concerned. 2. The Brady Bill was finally signed into law by President Clinton but only NRA-backed Senators tried to kill it with a filibuster. Do you agree with us that concern for public safety and the will of the people should matter more to Congress than the special interests of the National Rifle Association? O Yes, I urge Congress to show some courage by standing up to the NRA's irresponsible attempts to defeat all gun control legislation. O No, I don't agree. O Undecided 3. Are you concerned that federally licensed gun dealers can buy guns in bulk, sell them anywhere and are not subject to strict regulations or oversights? O Yes, I am very concerned. O I'm not concerned. O Undecided 4. Would you support legislation to prohibit the sale of guns to anyone under the age of 21 (with exceptions for hunting or sporting rifles with parental permission and supervision)? O Yes O No O Undecided 5. Would you support legislation to require a license for anyone purchasing a handgun and the registration of handguns -- just like we license drivers and register our cars? O Yes O No O Undecided 6. The Brady Bill law will make it harder to traffic in illegal guns, but in some states, someone with a clean record can still buy an unlimited number of handguns at one time. In Virginia, where the police say many of the guns used to commit crimes in the Northeast are originally purchased, the legislature enacted a law that restricts handgun sales to one a month. Do you agree with us that there should be a national law like Virginia's ban on multiple sales of handguns? O Yes O No O Undecided 7. Do you believe it's time to fight for a Comprehensive National Gun Policy that closes down every pathway through which guns get into the wrong hands? O Yes O No ================================================ [Fundraising Blurb] If you answer "Yes," please join us today by making as generous a contribution as you can, indicating the amount of your contribution below and returning it along with your Survey answers today. O YES! I want to do something to help end the gun violence that plagues this country. I want to add my voice to yours in calling for common-sense gun laws. Please add my name to your membership rolls. And, to help you keep up the fight for sensible gun control, my new member contribution is enclosed for: O $15 O $20 O $35* O $50 O $100 O Other $ * We need many gifts like this to challenge the huge NRA war chest and win passage of a comprehensive national gun policy. A contribution of $15 or more entitles you to full membership privileges in Handgun Control, Inc., including the right to vote for board members and the receipt of newsletters and periodic updates. Please make your check payable to Handgun Control, Inc., and return it with this form in the enclosed postage paid envelope or mail to: HCI, 1225 Eye Street, N.W., Room 1100, Washington, D.C. 20005. Because we devote 100% of our efforts to passing gun control legislation, contributions to Handgun Control, Inc. are not deductible either as charitable contributions or business expenses. To charge your gift to a credit card, please fill out the information on reverse. A copy of the annual Financial Report and Registration filed by this organization may be obtained by sending a stamped self-addressed envelope to: Handgun Control, Inc., 1225 Eye Street, N.W., Room 1100, Washington, D.C. 20005, (202)898- 0792; the Office of Charities Registration, 162 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231; FOR THE COST OF COPIES AND POSTAGE, Office of the Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, MD 21401; State Division of Consumer Affairs, Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23209; Charities Division, Office of the Secretary of State, State of Washington, Olympia, WA 98504 0422; (1-800-332- 4483); and Secretary of State, State Capitol, Charleston, WV 25305. MICS 9815 (MI Registration #) A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE 1-800- HELP-FLA (1-800~35-7352) WITHIN THE STATE OF FLORIDA. The official registration and financial information of Handgun Control may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free within the state, 1-800-732-0999. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY ANY STATE. ==================================================== END