From firearms-alert-owner Fri May 6 20:08:18 1994 Received: from localhost (chan@localhost) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.4/8.6.5) id UAA22724 for firearms-alert-outgoing; Fri, 6 May 1994 20:06:45 -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 UAA22714 for ; Fri, 6 May 1994 20:06:42 -0700 Received: from gatekeeper.nra.org (gatekeeper.nra.org [192.231.143.12]) by nova.unix.portal.com (8.6.7/8.6.5) with SMTP id UAA05521 for ; Fri, 6 May 1994 20:05:58 -0700 Received: by gatekeeper.nra.org (5.65/DEC-Ultrix/4.3) id AA02730; Fri, 6 May 1994 23:04:08 -0400 Date: Fri, 6 May 1994 23:04:08 -0400 Message-Id: <9405070304.AA02730@gatekeeper.nra.org> Reply-To: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org Originator: press-release@nra.org From: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org (NRA Alerts) To: firearms-alert@shell.portal.com Subject: COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF DOESN'T KNOW MILITARY FIREARMS X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: NRA Press Releases Sender: firearms-alert-owner@shell.portal.com Precedence: bulk Status: RO FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: NRA Public Affairs 703-267-3820 May 3, 1994 COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF DOESN'T KNOW MILITARY FIREARMS Heston, Congressman, military representatives urge Clinton to either learn about firearms or stop trying to impose restrictions on the Second Amendment (WASHINGTON) -- President Bill Clinton, Commander-in-Chief, has demonstrated that he really doesn't know the first thing about military firearms, said actor and civil rights leader Charlton Heston today at a news conference featuring Members of Congress and representatives of the U.S. military. "If President Clinton had just spent a couple of weeks at boot camp, he'd at least know the difference between a battlefield firearm and the semiautomatic firearms he's trying to ban," said Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a decorated 20-year veteran . "These guns he says are `bad' in reality function exactly like the semiautomatic shotgun Clinton hunted with last winter. Heston urged the President to either educate himself about firearms or cease his efforts to ban ownership of lawful firearms that have been around for over 100 years. "Teddy Roosevelt hunted with a semiautomatic. And the semiautos Clinton wants to ban function just like the semiautos that were around during Teddy Roosevelt's days," Heston said. NRA's Wayne LaPierre repeated his challenge to the President to meet on the firing range on Wednesday at the Fairfax Rod and Gun Club, in Virginia. "If he has the conviction of his beliefs to even show up, the NRA will prove -- beyond any doubt -- that his `bad' guns don't spray bullets, they don't fire faster and they aren't more powerful than the guns Clinton says he doesn't want to ban," LaPierre said. "They function the same and, if he has the courage to be there, we'll prove it to him face-to-fac e for all Americans to see." Also at the news conference was Congressman Duncan Hunter, a veteran of the U.S. Army. "I just hope our Commander-in-Chief doesn't ever send our soldiers into a fight armed with any of his so-called `battlefield' guns," Hunter said. "We'd lose that fig ht, because these guns are not at all like real military firearms. Clinton just doesn't know what he's talking about." David Kopel, author of The Assault Weapons Panic, was also on hand to discuss the facts about the use of so-called "assault weapons" in violent crime. "The truth is, the guns the President says are `bad' are actually rarely used to commit violent crime -- less than one-half of one percent of violent crimes are committed with one of these firearms," Kopel said. "Even in the murder capital of the U.S. -- Washington, D.C. -- no murders were committed last year with one of the kinds of guns Clinton wants to ban. Once again, the President just doesn't know what he's talking about." -- nra -- -- This information is presented as a service to the Internet community by the NRA/ILA. Many files are available via anonymous ftp from ftp.nra.org Be sure to subscribe to rkba-alert by sending: subscribe rkba-alert Your Full Name as the body of a message to rkba-alert-request@NRA.org Information can also be obtained by connecting to the NRA-ILA GUN-TALK BBS at (703) 719-6406.