From: EdgarSuter@aol.com Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 03:22:47 -0400 To: firearms-alert@shell.portal.com Subject: "do something _effective_ and _legal_" September 12, 1995 An Open Letter and Proposals to the Contra Costa County Supervisors to Reduce Violence in Our Community Dear Contra Costa County Supervisors, There are some effective measures that Contra Costa County may take to reallocate existent resources to reduce the supply of crime guns. (1) Utilize the resources of the existent California Department of Justice "Firearms Dealer Compliance Inspection Program" - Under existent law (CPC 12070 et seq.) and funded by California's gun dealers themselves the California Department of Justice has established the _Firearms Dealer Compliance Inspection Program_ (FDCIP). As outlined in the appended September 6, 1995 letter from the manager of FDCIP, Ms. Michelle Dille, it is the mandate of the FDCIP to investigate Federal Firearms Licensees to ensure compliance with existent federal, state, and local law. As we have noted in our appended monograph, Targeting Deceit - An Analysis of the Report on Residential Firearms Dealers and Ammunition Registration in Contra Costa County, California Penal Code Section 12070 provides 12 subsections, each of which details multiple exceptions to the requirement for Federal Firearms Licensees to possess a California Department of Justice Certificate of Eligibility (COE). So, _contrary_ to the gross deceptions of Mr. Soto et al. in their report, "Taking Aim at Gun Dealers," possessing a Federal Firearms License (FFL) without the COE is _not_ presumptive evidence of wrongdoing. Contra Costa County may avail itself of the already existent authority, mechanisms, and funding under FDCIP to ensure that Contra Costa County FFLs fall into the exempt categories. If investigation uncovers wrongdoing, such as illegal gun dealing, the authority, mechanisms, and funding are already in place to prosecute the perpetrators. While we do not encourage draconian punishment for innocent paperwork or inadvertent technical violations, we certainly encourage the prosecution of illegal gun dealing. Interestingly, the City of San Martin in Santa Clara County recently performed such an investigation and discovered that all of their Federal Firearms Licensees were in compliance with the law. No illegal activities were found. (2) To the extent possible, identify and prosecute the source of every crime gun retrieved in Contra Costa County - As repeated studies by the National Institute of Justice have shown, only 7% of crime handguns are obtained in retail gun transactions. For this reason, it is most unlikely that investigating retail gun dealers will uncover a source of crime guns. Further, because residential gun dealers are typically low volume outlets and because they invite their customers into their homes, they are _more_ security conscious, _more_ likely to know their customers, and, so are _less_ likely to be tricked into straw gun sales (a qualified buyer illegally acting as agent to purchase guns for unqualified, criminal buyers). Rather than squandering resources on unlikely sources of crime guns, it is more sensible to target the important known source of crime guns - the black market in stolen or "borrowed" guns. When criminals in Contra Costa County are caught with guns, find the source of those guns. Expectedly, most traces of crime guns will "dead end," finding only the last lawful owner from whom the crime gun was stolen, but, _if_ there are illegal sources of crime guns in Contra Costa County, this is the way to find it, _not_ by wasting time, effort, and money badgering legitimate gun dealers. By way of analogy, if we wanted to find drug kingpins, would we start by searching the homes of every law-abiding citizen in Contra Costa County or would we begin by investigating known street level drug dealers? When a crime gun was stolen from a lawful owner, prosecute the criminal for possession of stolen property and _do not plea bargain away the gun charges_. When an illegal source of crime guns is uncovered, prosecute and _do not plea bargain away the gun charges_. When a gun is used in the commission of a crime, prosecute and _do not plea bargain away the gun charges_. If convicted of such gun charges, encourage the judges of Contra Costa County to make the sentences sequential rather than concurrent with other sentencing. The only "gun control" shown to be significantly effective is sentence enhancement for the criminal use of guns, but such laws work only if the charges are not plea bargained away by prosecutors. (3) Cease funding Mr. Andres Soto and his politicized and ineffectual department - Mr. Andres Soto is a Board Member of the Violence Policy Center, an extremist organization so rabid in its pursuit of gun prohibition that it broke away from Handgun Control Inc. as too moderate. Mr. Soto's proposals to the Contra Costa County Supervisors mirror exactly the incremental approach to gun prohibition espoused by the Washington DC Violence Policy Center in their strategy paper, Cease Fire. _We cannot imagine the Contra Costa County Supervisors appointing and funding a National Rifle Association Board Member to direct official gun policy in this county. It is no more appropriate to appoint and fund an extremist such as Mr. Soto to such a position_. As our appended monograph makes crystal clear, Mr. Soto [and his department], in pursuit of the Violence Policy Center's goals, have offered outdated data, misrepresentations, and outright falsehoods both in testimony and in the report, "Taking Aim at Gun Dealers." Despite the California Attorney General's explicit opinion on the subject, Mr. Soto and his department have encouraged city governments to scoff at California state law, the statute preempting the regulation of guns and gun sales. As a result, Mr. Soto has embroiled taxpayers in an expensive lawsuit. Until recently, Mr. Soto and his department, by their own description, have enjoyed over $500,000 funding annually, but with what result? Lies, lawsuits, and ongoing violence. The taxpayer's money is better spent elsewhere. Please do not be misled by the old data, misrepresentations, and outright falsehoods in Mr. Soto's Taking Aim at Gun Dealers. Please do not be seduced by the false promise of a "quick fix" into ignoring the issues of the state's preemption of regulating gun sales. If Contra Costa County wants to "do something" about gun violence, "do something" effective, "do something" legal, "do something" that does not violate state preemption, "do something" that targets criminals, not legitimate small businessmen, "do something" supported by all good citizens, including the 50% of Contra Costa residents who are gun owners. We stand ready to assist you in every way to enact effective, legal, and constitutional approaches to reducing gun violence by fighting criminals, but we will resist you in every legal way possible if you target legitimate gun owners and gun dealers. Please do not hesitate to call upon us for assistance. All the resources of our national physician think tank are at your disposal. Respectfully. Edgar A. Suter MD National Chair Doctors for Integrity in Policy Research, Inc. 5201 Norris Canyon Rd. #140 San Ramon CA 94583-5405 FAX 510-277-1283 Exhibits (2)