Date: Sat, 7 Oct 1995 03:27:31 -0400 From: "Christopher W. Knox" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: FCO 10-6-95 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- ======================================================================== Online Report to the F I R E A R M S C O A L I T I O N Box 6537, Silver Spring, MD 20916 ======================================================================== October 6, 1995 Vol. 2, No. 9 ======================================================================== In this issue: Barr Amends H.R. 1488 -- Drops federalization of gun crimes Another Registration Scheme -- BATF and Justice at it again Ruby Ridge Revealed -- Expanded hearings resume next week Telephone Log -- From the Firearms Coalition Legislative Hotline 1-900-225-3006 $0.89 per minute after the first 17 seconds ======================================================================== A note from Chris Firearms Coalition Web Page Goes online One would think I'd have done this long ago, working in the computer industry, but I've finally made the time to hack together a web page. It's a modest effort yet. It currently contains back issues of this newsletter. I am tinkering with it as we go along. The current temporary location is http://www.crl.com/~cknox/fco.html Our good friends at Mainstream, the host of our mailing list server (as well as NRA and CCRKBA) have agreed to host the page and to support our newly-created knox.com domain, so this URL is temporary. Keep watching for updates. And if your business is looking for Internet access, keep Mainstream in mind. See their page at http:/www.Mainstream.com If you have a choice, it doesn't hurt to do business with your friends! Smith Amendment Finally, a political note. Buried deep in the telephone log is an item about Senator Bob Smith's amendment to de-fund the Injury Prevention Center of the Centers for Disease Control. The bill has been sent back to committee but will be coming out soon. It's worth a call to your elected servants to support this amendment. The press claims that NRA wants to de-fund all of CDC. Wrong. This amendment is aimed at stopping the use of tax dollars for political aims. ======================================================================== Chris Knox wrote and is responsible for everything above this line. ======================================================================== Barr Amends H.R. 1488 By NEAL KNOX DALLAS, Texas (Oct. 1) -- The hottest news at this weekend's Gun Rights Policy Conference was that Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.), chairman of the House Firearms Legislation Task Force, on Thursday announced that he supports changes in H.R. 1488 (the semi-auto ban repeal) to eliminate a provision that arguably broadened BATF and FBI powers. The timing wasn't a coincidence. I'm confident the announcement -- which ILA Executive Director Tanya Metaksa had been talking with him about for weeks -- was to get the maximum boost for the bill from the annual ecumenical gathering of gun groups and activists, sponsored here in Dallas by Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee For the Right To Keep and Bear Arms. Early this year, after much negotiation between gun groups and senior Republicans, the repeal of the ban on "assault weapon" lookalikes and over-10-shot magazines was added to a portion of the Republican "Contract With America" crime package which contained five to 20-year mandatory penalties for possessing or using a firearm during a violent crime or "serious drug offense." Despite language that the proposed law's intent was to "supplement but not supplant" state prosecutions, and that the Attorney General was to "give deference" to state prosecutors, the potential for Federalizing all gun crimes set activists' teeth on edge, including mine. Like the "Contract's" provision to broaden law enforcement's search and seizure powers by a "good faith exception to the exclusionary rule," I felt the section could and should be cleaned up when it got to the floor. To the great displeasure of some Republicans, last February NRA-ILA helped Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Harold Volkmer (D-Mo.) prevent extending the loosened search and seizure standard to BATF. The broadened Federal powers in H.R. 1488 caused Gun Owners of America, particularly, to criticize the bill and NRA-ILA for supporting it. That was ironic; only a couple of months before GOA had been criticizing NRA-ILA for "allowing" the entire Republican crime package (including the portions they later criticized) to be split apart and passed without the gun ban repeal being attached. In any event, during a speech to the conference yesterday GOA Director Larry Pratt said that he will fully support H.R. 1488 as Rep. Barr wants to amend it -- limiting the enhanced mandatory punishment to only Federal offenses. H.R. 1488 also includes a portion of a bill by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) which specifically reaffirms the right to use a firearm for self-defense in one's home. Any person who is denied such a right -- as by a law prohibiting firearms ownership -- could sue the person or agency responsible. In letters to co-sponsors and potential co-sponsors of 1488, Rep. Barr chastised "the current Administration and the previous Congress that treated crime as an excuse for social spending programs while compromising the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens." Most significantly Rep. Barr asked them to press the leadership to bring the bill to a quick vote. The chances of this bill being enacted before the next election are slim and none -- for even if it got past the Senate filibuster that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has promised, Bill Clinton would like nothing better than to veto it while flanked by a horde of on-duty, ordered-to-appear uniformed cops. So why hold Republicans' feet to the fire? Why make them vote on a bill that won't pass, but will subject them to vitriolic attacks by the press? Because they promised. If they fail to uphold that commitment they will lose the support of the block of voters who Bill Clinton has acknowledged brought the Republicans to power. I have good reason to believe they will -- so get those cards, letters and phone calls to Congressmen coming in. We need to be sure that H.R. 1488 passes the House. ======================================================================== Another Registration Scheme By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 20) -- There's yet another quiet effort by BATF and the Justice Department to use existing Federal, state and local laws -- and records -- to impose a gun registration system. The evidence has been pried out of the Justice Department using the Freedom of Information Act. The Bureau of Justice Assistance in September 1994 approved a $400,000 grant (94-DD-CX-0166) to the City of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University for a "demonstration project" of what the grant application calls an "innovative Firearms Program ... that will link data from a variety of sources to support the investigatory and regulatory function of the multi-agency Gun Task Force." The Project Summary states "The goal of the system is to connect multiple Federal and local law enforcement agencies via computer, thus allowing them to share and exchange all firearms- related information generated within Allegheny County. Specifically, this information will include: applications and registrations for all firearms purchases, applications and approved licenses for firearms dealers, applications and approved carry permits for firearms, police reports on stolen and confiscated firearms, and legally required reports of pawned items within the city and the county." The "Program Narrative" specifically states that the records, available to all participating law enforcement agencies and BATF through a computer net, will include "federally required records of sales or other dispositions of firearms by licensed dealers to non-licensees (e.g. BATF Form 4473)...." It adds that all the firearms information -- including the home addresses of individuals who have purchased guns or have Pennsylvania licenses to carry firearms -- will be plotted on an existing computer mapping system (developed in five cities with National Institute of Justice grants) which presently shows drug offenses and firearms crimes. By pressing a combination of keys, any participating law enforcement agency, including BATF, can call up a map of Pittsburgh with small circles locating the homes of legal gun owners! The very last item of the 21-page "Narrative" notes: "Currently, applications for a carry permit and information from background checks are destroyed...." The system will "fix" that by permanently recording the data. Never mind that these records must be destroyed by law, and never mind that Section 926 of the Gun Control Act prohibits dealer records from being used to create a system of registration. And never mind that the grant application contains "assurances" that the proposal violates no laws. A memorandum from the Office of Justice Programs grant manager to the Acting Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance includes a fascinating note: "This proposal was developed by the ... City of Pittsburgh and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF)." The firearms community learned about this massive, illegal invasion of privacy almost by accident last February, only because long-time friend, activist and NRA Director Mike Slavonic of Pittsburgh got a tip from a friend in the Sheriff's Office. Representatives of the City's computer services division and Carnegie Mellon went to the Sheriff's office carrying a laptop, and asked to see copies of all license to carry, firearms purchase and other firearms information. They were told they had no authority to receive such information. The would-be data gatherers stated that they were working under a Justice Department grant, and that they had personally discussed the project with Attorney General Janet Reno only a few days before -- and that she had approved. Soon after they went away empty-handed, Mike got a call, then called me to see if I knew anything about such a grant. I didn't. Such grants are supposed to be public information. But one of Mike's associates went to the city, which refused to provide it. They then went to Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum. The Justice Department told Sen. Santorum he would have to file a Freedom of Information Act request. Justice Department didn't cough up the data until last month. Mike shared the thick packet with NRA-ILA, whose lawyers and lobbyists are studying it with great interest. ======================================================================== Ruby Ridge Revealed By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 10) -- Sen. Arlen Specter's hearings into what Federal law enforcement did to the Randy Weaver family has no similarity to the highly partisan House Waco hearings -- except that the same government agents are continuing to insist that they did nothing wrong and will never do it again. Even ABC's Sam Donaldson declared that "what the government did to Randy Weaver is unconscionable." The night the Specter hearings opened, he invited viewers of "Prime Time" to the "American killing ground" of Ruby Ridge. The story Donaldson laid out on television, and which Weaver emotionally laid out on the first day of hearings, was that Weaver was pursued for three years by a paid BATF undercover informant who coaxed him to provide two sawed-off shotguns. When Weaver refused to become an informant, BATF brought charges, telling the U.S. Attorney of a non-existent criminal conviction record -- for a man who had never had a traffic ticket. Weaver was indicted for violating the National Firearms Act. After a magistrate wrongly told Weaver that if convicted he would lose his home -- little more than a large shack that he had built on Ruby Ridge -- he resolved not to go to trial. But the government's official notice informed Weaver the trial would be a month after the actual scheduled date. When Weaver failed to show up for the trial he didn't know about, but before the date he had been informed the trial would be, he was indicted for failure to come to trial. Because BATF told the U.S. Marshal Service that Weaver was a dangerous fugitive and "a major firearms supplier," they called in their "Special Operations Group" -- a paramilitary-type elite organization similar to the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team. The Marshal Service bought the land next to Weaver's and two agents moved onto it, posing as husband and wife. After an 18-month stakeout and two dozen reconnaissances on Weaver's property, three camouflaged members of the special group were called in for another look at 2:30 a.m. Aug. 21, 1992. Though ordered not to provoke a confrontation, they were armed with a .223-caliber M16 machine gun, a shotgun and a suppressor-equipped submachine gun. The team threw rocks toward the house to determine how the dog, Striker, would respond. The yellow lab took off after the Marshals, pursued by Weaver's "adopted son" Kevin Harris, 24, and Sammy Weaver, 14, on one trail and Randy -- who hoped Striker was trailing a deer -- on another. What happened next is disputed. The trial jury believed Harris, who said Sammy saw a Marshal kill the dog; he was cursed and shot at by Sammy. Randy shouted for the boys to get home. As Sammy ran up the trail, he was shot in the arm, almost severing it, then in the back, killing him -- the Marshals claimed by accident, and claimed they didn't know Sammy had been killed. Harris then shot and killed Marshal Billy Degan. He and Weaver were later acquitted of murder charges. The Justice Department was informed that Marshals were "pinned down" and the FBI Hostage Rescue Team was sent out. On the plane, the commander rewrote the "rules of engagement" to say HRT snipers "could and should" use deadly force against any armed male adult outside the cabin. The commander says the unconstitutional rules were approved by Larry Potts, subsequently appointed by FBI Director Louis Freeh as his deputy -- and now demoted and under investigation for covering up whether he approved the "shoot to kill" rules. Within hours, without any warnings, Weaver and Harris were badly wounded and Weaver's wife was killed by an FBI sniper as she stood in the cabin door holding her baby. The Justice Department has settled a lawsuit with the Weaver family for $3.1 million -- which prevents anyone from believing that the government "did nothing wrong." Sen. Patrick Leahy said he was still stunned by the fact that three lives were lost, "millions of dollars spent, careers are being ruined ... and all of this comes from selling two sawed off shotguns." Reporting on what happened to the Weaver family, commentator Robert Novak said on national television: "Jackbooted storm troopers, anyone?" ======================================================================== Republican Antis Balk at AW Ban Repeal The Republican leadership, which has committed to having a vote on the repeal of the semi-auto and magazine bans, is running into opposition to bringing it up from the same 40-odd Republicans who voted for the ban last year. And there's opposition from an indeterminate number who see no reason to force yet another controversial vote -- one that the media will blister them for -- when Bill Clinton will without question veto the bill. There's a mighty big reason: If the Republicans fail to do what they promised in 1994, the nation's firearms owners will not provide the massive political effort that played such a key role in last year's landslide (and if anyone doubts what gunowners did, ask Bill Clinton). That's the reason the Republican House leadership will bring the repeal ban to a vote before the year is out: to keep gun owners politically active and pro-gun Democrats voting Republican. If they fail to do it, we could easily see the Republicans slip back into their comfortable role as the Congressional minority -- and four more years of Bill Clinton. - -------------- ======================================================================== Telephone Log Call 1-900-225-3006 for a legislative update. $0.89 per minute after the first 17 seconds. Sept. 28 update The Senate has delayed the vote on the Labor; Health & Human Services appropriations bill. It had nothing to do with Sen. Bob Smith's amendment to defund the Injury Prevention Center of the Centers for Disease Control. The issue that blocked today's expected vote was the bill's language allowing replacement of striking workers, which is strongly opposed by Organized Labor. The entire bill has been sent back to committee for revision of that provision. Because the Senate will be shut down most of next week for the Yom Kippur observance, and the following Monday is Columbus Day, no action will occur before Tuesday Oct. 10. The anti-gun community is actively weighing in on the CDC Appropriations fight. Hospitals are beginning to call Senators trying to convince them how vital the Injury Prevention Center is to public health. Former Surgeon General and anti-gun activist C. Everett Koop even called Sen. Bob Smith this morning, wanting to know why he was sponsoring the amendment and telling him how many programs the Injury Prevention Centers has to protect children. Sen. Smith reminded him of how those programs merely duplicate programs and projects conducted by other agencies. This is now going to be a major fight. Please ask your friends to write, since we now have time for letters to get to Washington. The Senate Ruby Ridge hearings have recessed for a couple of weeks. They were expected to close yesterday or today, but now Sen. Specter wants more time to prepare for and to hear comments from senior FBI officials, including probably a full day for Director Louis Freeh. Kevin Harris, who had earlier declined to testify, appeared with his attorney. He said that when U.S. Marshals began firing at 14-year-old Sammy Weaver, he shot toward Marshal Billy Degan, but didn't intend to kill anyone. Harris shot three times from the hip with a bolt action .30-06. Although Seen. Dianne Feinstein was rough on Harris, she has also been rough on Federal Law Enforcement officers. So has Ranking Minority member Herb Kohl, who told the FBI that he wanted to hear someone admit that Sniper Lon Horiuchi's second shot, which hit Harris and killed Vicki Weaver, shouldn't have been fired. Director Freeh won't have an easy time with this committee. ======================================================================== Sept. 23 update This is a legislative alert. Spread the word to your friends. This week, probably on Wednesday, Sen. Bob Smith of New Hampshire will offer an amendment to strike all funding for the Injury Prevention Center from the Center for Disease Control budget. That will be one part of the Labor and Human Services Appropriations bill. It will be a tough fight. Please call your senators at 202 224 3121. On Thursday the CBS morning show featured Dr. Tim Wheeler, who with Dr. Ed Suter and other physicians, are attempting to get better quality research concerning medicine and guns. The principal source of funding for biased anti-gun research is the U.S. Government's Injury Prevention Center. Dr. Wheeler showed CBS viewers a copy of the Spring 1995 issue of the Injury Prevention Network Newsletter, which is loaded with anti-gun propaganda. The publication states "This newsletter was supported in part by Grant #R49/CCR903697-06 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC)." One section is devoted to "What Advocates Can Do." It gives handy suggestions like: * Put gun control on the agenda of your civic or professional organization. Tell your lawmakers to * oppose repeal of the assault weapons ban; * support the Brady Law; * restrict ammunition availability by caliber and quantity; * Work for campaign finance reform to weaken the gun lobby's political clout. Those are your tax dollars at work. You can put a stop to it by calling your Senator and asking him to support Sen. Bob Smith's amendment to eliminate all funding for the Injury Prevention Center of CDC. There are a string of other Federal agencies that already do what the Injury Center is supposed to be doing, but which aren't involved in gun politics. The number again is 202 224-3121. ======================================================================== Sept. 21 update The issue at today's Ruby Ridge hearings was who changed and who approved the illegal and unconstitutional order to FBI's snipers that any armed adult male outside the cabin could and should be shot. The major witnesses were Danny Coulson, who managed the Waco tragedy, and former Deputy Director Larry Potts, who testified despite his attorney's recommendation that he take the Fifth. Potts emphatically declared that he approved stronger rules than normal just to alert his men to be more vigilant, but that he only approved rules saying deadly force "can be used" not "should be used." He added that he wasn't present when the ground team sent in the revised rules, and that he never saw them. He also said that merely possessing a weapon constituted an immediate threat. Sen. Specter quietly told him that he saw no virtually difference between the two versions. Surprisingly, Sen. Diane Feinstein wanted to see the rules that had been sent to FBI. Sen. Specter replied that he did too, but that the FBI wasn't being cooperative. At one point Sen. Larry Craig said If nothing went wrong, and no one did anything wrong, Then why are we here? ======================================================================== Sept. 20 update We got a look at the strange reasoning of the FBI in "protect the organization" mode today in Sen. Specter's Ruby Ridge hearings. Supervisory FBI Agent Charles Matthews, who was in charge of the FBI's internal review, found that his superiors and personal friends had committed no offense. He took their word over that of the agents on the ground who said that Headquarters had approved the shoot-on-sight rules of engagement. Matthews said sniper Lon Horiuchi's shot-without-warning at Randy Weaver was "in defense of the helicopter," though the helicopter was nowhere near. He said the shot was discharged "when it was time to save lives." And with a straight face Matthews claimed Horiuchi's second shot, which wounded Kevin Harris and killed Vicki Weaver, was justified because Harris "had not dropped his aggressive posture" and was merely moving to another position, inside the cabin. To put it mildly, Senators from both parties were skeptical. In a return to reality, FBI negotiator Fred Lancely said he had never seen such extreme rules of engagement -- which a never- released Justice Department report declared were illegal and unconstitutional. Larry Potts, who claims he never approved those rules -- despite other witnesses who said he did -- will testify tomorrow. Director Louis Freeh promoted Potts to Deputy Director despite having censured him for his performance at Ruby Ridge, and despite the ground commanders accusation -- repeated in yesterday's hearing -- that Potts involvement was being covered up by the top ranks of FBI. ======================================================================== Sept. 19 update J. Edgar Hoover must be rolling over in his grave. Today, four more FBI agents exercised their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid testifying about their roles in the Randy Weaver shootings. The one who did testify, Eugene Glenn, who was Field Commander at Ruby Ridge, did so against the advice of his lawyer. He is the one who had the courage to protest his being solely blamed for the "shoot-to-kill" rules, when they had been approved by his superiors. Amazingly, he told the Senate today that because the Justice Department decided its agents had done nothing criminal that he and others should not be subject to prosecution by the state of Idaho. That viewpoint, that Federal agents shouldn't have to abide by state law, precisely indicates the kind of Federal law enforcement arrogance that brought us Waco and Ruby Ridge. Speaking of Waco, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold two days of hearings Sept. 26 and 27. A friend on Capitol Hill told me this morning that the first day will focus on how BATF fouled up the original raid; the second day will be on how the FBI screwed up the negotiations, and the disastrous final attack. The objective will be to see what can be done to prevent a repetition of such tragedies. I'm told that witnesses will be theologians and psychiatrists, and perhaps the Texas Rangers, but not Federal officials. Rep. Ernest Istook of Oklahoma seems to be losing his battle to "defund the left" by prohibiting non-profit groups which receive Federal grants from spending significant amounts of money for lobbying. A good example of how taxpayer dollars are being misused is a booklet published this spring by something called the Injury Prevention Network Newsletter. It contains a laundry list of what activists can do to promote anti-gun legislation. The booklet states it was funded in part by a grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention -- which is part of HHS. That's my taxes being used to lobby to take my guns, and that's wrong. ======================================================================== Sept. 15 update U.S. Marshal Larry Cooper emotionally declared during today's Ruby Ridge hearings that the first shot fired in the Aug. 21 1992 firefight was when Randy Weaver's friend Kevin Harris killed Marshal Billy Degan with a .30-06. That simply doesn't square with the fact that Marshal Degan fired seven rounds from his M16 before Harris shot him. Cooper was armed with a suppressed MP-5 9mm submachinegun, loaded with expanding Winchester Silvertips. He fired a three- shot burst at Harris and missed. He fired a second three-shot burst "in the direction of firing to my right." Cooper claimed he could not have killed Sammy Weaver because he saw Sammy running up the trail after he fired. But Sammy was killed by a 9mm that hit him in the back. The Justice Department report was a cover-up yet it concluded that Sammy was probably killed by Cooper. Sammy's arm had almost been blown off by a bullet that also knocked the recoil plate off his Ruger Mini-14. As wound ballistics expert Marty Fackler said during the trial, that could have been done with a .223 such as the M16's that both Degan and Marshal Arthur Roderick were carrying. It's most unlikely that a 9mm could have knocked off the Ruger buttplate. Roderick shot the dog Striker, which was probably the first shot. Kevin Harris said Sammy shot at the Marshals -- and missed - -- after he saw Striker killed. Roderick told the subcommittee today that he thought Randy Weaver had by accident killed his own son with the 9mm he was carrying. That could have been determined by analyzing the bullet residue in Sammy's body and on his shattered gunstock. Recovered bullets would easily show whether they came from Randy's Ruger or Cooper's MP-5. But such elementary tests and comparisons apparently weren't conducted by the FBI lab, which was harshly criticized by the judge, the prosecutors and the U.S. Marshal service. The Justice investigation said the lab "was unwilling or unable to provide assistance in their areas of expertise." The FBI Lab's sloppy work included such screwups as allowing three sample bullets to get loose in shipping, ruining evidence. Two days ago we learned that the FBI laboratory is the subject of a separate investigation following allegations of a lab supervisor that their work is poor and their data is sometimes twisted to assist prosecutions. Everything we're reporting is a matter of public record. The question is how much of that which contradicts the Marshals' tale will be reported by the press. ======================================================================== Sept. 12 update A California appellate court upheld the Brady law in a 2-1 split decision Friday. The ruling overturned Montana and Arizona decisions striking down the law on Tenth Amendment grounds. Three other District courts in other regions have also struck down the law's requirement that local police conduct background checks on handgun purchasers. Old friend Dave Hardy, who is Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack's attorney, tells me he intends to immediately file a request for a rehearing of the Brady case before the entire 20-member court. He cites a case where the same appellate court ruled the opposite way on a case with parallel facts. A judge appointed by President Reagan ruled in favor of the Brady Law, while a Clinton-appointed judge ruled against it. As Dave said, "Go figure." With one exception, the weekend's talk shows ignored the Ruby Ridge hearings. Only Robert Novak even mentioned the hearings. He said it is an outrage that BATF admitted faking a police record against Randy Weaver, and said they'd do it again. Bob said "Jackbooted stormtroopers anyone?" The NRA Board meetings ended Sunday with a speech by Des Moines Assistant Police Chief and NRA Director Kayne Robinson who warned against Federalizing law enforcement. The Board almost unanimously approved a resolution opposing weakening of the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. A widely circulated petition for a proposed bylaw amendment to prohibit all "direct or indirect" remuneration or contracts with Directors was withdrawn by the its proponents after hearing explanations of issues which had been characterized in the press as "conflicts of interest." All financial dealings between NRA and its officers, such as my columns in The American Rifleman and American Hunter, are required by the NRA bylaws to be reported to the membership -- and are faithfully reported. ======================================================================== Sept. 14 update The FBI's Ruby Ridge sniper team stood firmly together at today's hearings before Sen. Arlen Specter's subcommittee. The team -- less agent Lon Horiuchi -- insisted that the rules of engagement hadn't really been changed because the helicopter crew was in danger of being shot at any time the chopper was airborne. The snipers disagreed with a Justice Department investigation which determined that the second shot -- the one which killed Vicki Weaver -- was unconstitutional. One sniper insisted that he would have fired that second shot if Agent Horiuchi hadn't. Sen. Fred Thompson countered by pointing out that the shot which killed Vicki and wounded Kevin Harris was fired at the last possible instant. Agent Horiuchi has exercised his Fifth Amendment right not to testify for fear of self-incrimination. On another front the Justice Dept. is investigating claims by one of its senior scientists that the FBI lab is doctoring results to help prosecutors. The judge in the Randy Weaver trial was extremely critical of the FBI lab's performance. I've long known of serious problems in some sections of BATF, but never in FBI. A U.S. Senator told me weeks ago that the problems in Federal law enforcement are far worse than anyone realizes. It's beginning to look like he's right. ======================================================================== Sept. 1 update Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorlick is eager to put five senior FBI Agents in jail, if we can believe her protests about the hearings into Ruby Ridge by Sen. Arlen Specter. However, she's giving fully cooperation -- providing any documents or information the Senate wants, so long as they are subpoenaed. Those hearings will start with BATF's efforts to get Weaver to violate gun laws so he would agree to serve as a BATF undercover agent. A lot of other issues will be on the front burner when Congress comes back next week, including the anti-terrorism bill, to which Rep. Charles Schumer hopes to attach President Clinton's proposed ban on handgun ammunition capable of penetrating a Kevlar vest. Yesterday the FBI is reliably reported to have met with ammunition manufacturers, who declined the FBI's request to "voluntarily" quit producing ammo that could penetrate a policeman's vest. First, the problem is criminals shooting policemen, not with policemen being shot through their vests. Second, most handgun hunting ammunition will penetrate a vest, and so will much other conventional ammo. There is a noticeable reluctance for House members to consider a repeal of the semi-auto and magazine ban, as the Republicans had promised -- so next week start calling your Congressman at 202-224-3121. A California violence task force appointed by Attorney General Dan Lungren has called for less violence in the entertainment media and bans on "Saturday Night Specials" and hollow-point bullets -- the exact opposite of the high-powered ammunition and non-deforming bullets that FBI is trying to ban. If both sides won, there'd be no handgun ammo left -- and that's the objective. ======================================================================== Copyright 1995 by Neal Knox Associates P.O. Box 6537 Rockville, MD 20916. Reproduction and distribution of this bulletin by any means is encouraged so long as this statement is retained. ======================================================================== Do not put your credit card number in e-mail. ======================================================================== Dear Neal, I use the information you provide to protect my gun rights. Enclosed is my contribution so that you can continue your work: $500 [ ] $250 [ ] $50 [ ] $25 [ ] Other:____ [ ] Quarterly [ ] Bill my MasterCard [ ] Visa [ ] Monthly [ ] Once [ ] Card No. ________________________________________ Expiration Date _____ Mr. [ ] Mrs.[ ]________________________________________________________________ Ms. [ ] Signature_______________________________________________________________ Address__________________________________________ Phone ________________ City _____________________________________________State ____ Zip________ Email Address ______________________ Print and mail to: Firearms Coalition Box 6537 Silver Spring, MD 20916 ======================================================================== PGP users: Remove the leading asterisks from the BEGIN and END lines before using this key. *-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.2 mQCNAy8Q4mIAAAEEALKdSCTF6BvTg4luk1IOYtiQyxPotnTjjijSawo9htwZeFS/ KU0WAPkeDuhgKSN3H5242irpkfUu8g84fAPBH6a6joaFN7OchRa49WXnz2dReT0V iT9xeec9rPSASH04dz+lEONeDZ17yh/JGt+tjYq0CIenFZ9JMCGz4I2lBJDFAAUR tCdDaHJpc3RvcGhlciBXYXJyZW4gS25veCA8Y2tub3hAY3JsLmNvbT6JAJUDBRAv pxqvIbPgjaUEkMUBAS8BA/9PP4teu4vja6dTXkOMhVN8xgf1fl66VCc2V4A0/lli uRdf75GS1uQd+pzPIZoIReU440uuLfNSMqAAjCLHDja9ViAUllTk7YIKJMe53+nZ UnQndT2a6ikeQgh/kFxFM1z4NHgTBZ/KMg3td45WzEA3XpjWACrXWNAtYplaQ0hg Iw== =VDsh *-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMHYB8iGz4I2lBJDFAQHV6gP/cvFMxedghpYS/oZGe9cd2rVOsJ7dLg3v m0NtN+T13ccOpdUFXLkeToOHYCt1fYICl4CLkewxF3t3GeGNfWWFb/QK1tPQ94uF mh/5B1B+FhGsfgtpJmJ3d/Ha+csBv/kxOgXdmtS9Cr3mRM4E6EA3o640wIxZGmiY uymplGd5gqQ= =nWFI -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To receive the Online Firearms Coalition Bulletin send mail to listproc@mainstream.com containing in the message body: subscribe fco New! http://crl.com/~cknox/fco.html