From: JimPell@aol.com
Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 16:42:37 -0400
To: ba-firearms@shell.portal.com
Subject: Letter to State Sen. Bill Lockyer

The following letter is mailed today to State Senator Bill Lockyer (District
10 Hayward) from NRA member Jim Pell:
=============================
Bill Lockyer
California State Senator
205 Capitol Bldg.
Sacramento, CA 95814

In Re: Polanco's Resolution Criticizing NRA

Dear Senator Lockyer,

I learned today of Sen. Polanco's recent resolution that came to a vote in
the California senate on August 21. I am told that it was an attack on the
leadership of the National Rifle Association, stemming from the NRA's
previous, caustic criticism of of federal agents.

Sen. Polanco's ploy is a matter of style vs. substance. Sen. Polanco is using
the NRA's regrettable style to attack the substance of the NRA's position.
 The style is of only passing interest; the substance of the NRA position is
as real as the citizen deaths at Ruby Ridge and Waco, and the alarming trend
within the federal government to misuse it authority.

Issues of style aside, if the NRA hadn't pushed so hard, would FBI Director
Freeh ever have found out about the intransigence in his department? We have
the crude-but-effective NRA to thank for shining daylight on the problem.
Once Mr. Freeh had the facts, he did the right thing.

Checks-and-balances keep America free. NRA participation is citizen
participation, plain and simple. What can we think about legislators who
resent and deplore citizen participation, or who attack it on the basis of
style?

Please do what you can to keep the California Senate focused upon protecting
individual rights, improving state and local government, and reducing the
federal presence in our lives.

Sincerely,
Jim Pell