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Subject: KNOX: Firearms Coalition 10/16/94 Online Report
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>From cknox Thu Oct 20 21:54:37 1994
Subject: FCO 10-16-94 
To: fco@Mainstream.com (Firearms Coalition Online)
Date: Thu, 20 Oct 1994 21:54:37 -0700 (MST)



========================================================================

                             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 16, 1994                                           Release  1.21
========================================================================

In this issue:  

Note:  This issue is a collection of Shotgun News columns and telephone 
hotline scripts from the past month.  They are in reverse chronological 
order.  I've tried to edit out some of the duplication from the phone 
scripts, but I hesitate to edit anything that has seen print.  Generally, 
I've left phone scripts with duplicate information where there was more 
detail than appeared in the column.

      *     A Pox on the 103rd Congress

      *     NRA holds Fall Board meetings -- Nuge tapped for Board

      *     Republican "Contract with American" snubs gun owners

      *     Election opportunity:  Ted Kennedy trailing

      *     Details on Mike Synar

      *     Send flowers to counter the "Silent March?"

      *     Schumer committee hears reports on Brady

      *     Turncoats paying the price

      *     "H.R. 5904" a hoax

      *     Oklahoma cops march for guns

      *     Crime Bill signed, Washington Post whines

========================================================================

Late bulletin

Neal Knox is making a marathon tour of the country over the next week.
Tomorrow (October 21) he'll be in St. Louis at the Soldiers' Memorial
at a ralley there from 5:30 to 7:30.  On Saturday, he'll be in Ste.
Genevieve (Richard Gephardt's district) at the Knights of Columbus
hall.  Monday, October 24 he'll be in Spokane, Washington visiting Tom
Foley's constituents.  On Tuesday, October 25 he'll be west of
Sacramento in Dick Fazio's district.  Finally, he'll be in Phoenix on
Thursday, October 27.  Check with local activists for times and events
of the latter meetings.  If you have details on one of the events I
don't know about, email me and I'll post it here.  I should have
Arizona information tomorrow.


A word from Chris

I had a time getting this thing out.  What with my fumbly fingers and
network problems somewhere between me and Mainstream, I've been
working at getting this thing together since Sunday.  I believe the
kinks are out and we should soon be running like a machine.

This is the first Firearms Coalition Online Report I've put together 
since the Crime Bill passed.  A combination of a work crunch and minor 
surgery (much better, thank you) had me keeping my head down over the 
past month.

I'm always open to ways to make work easier, and I just got a good one!  
Our friends at Mainstream kindly offered to host this report as a 
mailing list (they also serve rkba-alert and best-rkba, along with the
NRA, SAF, and CCRKBA).  Heartfelt thanks to Craig Peterson for 
helping out.  I've never seen Mainstream solicit funds, but I suspect 
that a token of appreciation from subscribers to this or any other list 
they host would be appreciated.  No, Craig didn't ask for that plug.  I 
just think it's appropriate to thank one's host.  Craig's address is 
craig@mainstream.com.  

Even though we are now hosted through a list server, the format of this 
bulletin will not change.  This is a one-way list.  There are chat lists 
aplenty.

If you've been under a rock for the past couple of months, it may be 
news to you that Speaker of the House Tom Foley is in deep trouble in 
his reelection bid.  Every red-blooded American gun owning boy and girl 
should do what they can to see to it that Tom Foley becomes the first 
Speaker in the 20th Century to be defeated.  To aid in that effort, I'd 
suggest offering any help you can to:

                            Reform Congress 94
                            PO Box 11481
                            Spokane WA 99211-1481
                            509-891-0620 voice
                            509-891-0621 fax

You'll note the lack of signature.  PGP insisted on encrypting this
file regardless of the fact that it's straight ascii.  Who knows.  I 
didn't have time to puzzle it out so here it is.

========================================================================

And now, a word from our sponsor

If I haven't tapped you out with suggestions to help support two other 
worthy efforts, the Firearms Coalition is a willing recipient.  Neal 
Knox takes no salary as NRA Second Vice President.  This is his 
principle livelihood.  Because of potential conflict of interest 
problems, the Firearms Coalition is now a non-profit education 
organization -- just like the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.  

========================================================================

The foregoing are the opinions of Chris Knox who is solely responsible
for their content.

========================================================================

Shotgun News Column 10-10-94

                       A Pox On The 103rd
                          By NEAL KNOX
     WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 10) -- The 103rd Congress finally
left town and scurried back to their districts to ask
forgiveness.  Well they should, for no Congress in history has so
freely trampled on our firearms rights.

     If current election predictions hold true, a lot of them
won't be back -- but they will be if over-confident, lazy
gunowners don't get to the polls.

     As their parting shot, the 103rd passed the California
Desert Protection Act, containing the Larry LaRocco (D-
Idaho)/Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) amendment which allows hunting to
continue in the 1.4 million-acre East Mojave.  But the final bill
doesn't allow hunters to use motorized vehicles to get in, or
their game out.

     Congress also attempted to pass what has been called
"Hillary's Revenge" -- which would have put restrictions on grass
roots lobbying, and possibly would have required NRA to report
the names of its contributors and activists.  

     A lot of NRA members asked me why they hadn't been alerted
when both Houses initially passed the so-called "Lobby Reform"
bill last year.  That's because the grass roots provisions were
added by the House-Senate Conference only a couple of weeks
before Congress adjourned and the House passed the "compromise." 

     Thankfully it ran into a Republican filibuster which
succeeded because of a wide range of groups opposing the bill,
surprisingly including NRA, HCI, and even the American Civil
Liberties Union.

     This Congress passed the Brady Bill, which assumes that
anyone who wants to buy a gun is either a felon or mentally
distressed.  It was supposed to be a "minor inconvenience" to
wait a week, while local police screened out criminals and
incompetents.  

     It hasn't worked out that way; tens of thousands of law-
abiding citizens have been wrongfully denied due to
misidentification or non-disqualifying offenses such as too many
traffic tickets.  

     Four Federal judges have said, in NRA-backed cases, that
Brady's requirement for local police to do background checks is a
violation of the Tenth Amendment prohibition against Congress
exercising powers not granted by the Constitution.  That may get
very interesting, and not just because of its impact on existing
and proposed gun laws.

     The 103rd also passed the so-called "Assault Weapons Ban,"
the first-ever prohibition of commonly owned guns and over-10-
shot magazines.  Where does the Constitution say that Congress
may deny sale of military-pattern guns?  

     It doesn't, but it does say, in the Second Article of the
Bill of Rights -- written into the Constitution before the people
were willing to approve it -- that "the right of the people to
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

     The NRA Board of Directors determined last week that the so-
called "assault weapon ban" will be challenged, in several court
cases on various grounds including the Second Amendment.  

     That's important for you to know because several attorneys
with no Constitutional law experience are attempting to raise
funds to bring a Second Amendment challenge; it would be sheer
foolishness to bring anything but the very best case possible.

     As clear as the Second Amendment is to you and me -- and a
growing body of "Liberal" constitutional scholars -- the courts
have done their best to ignore it, hide it or cloud it.  

     Nothing could be clearer than the Connecticut Constitution
which says, in its entirety, "Every citizen has a right to bear
arms in defense of himself and the state."  Yet a Connecticut
judge recently held that that provision did not prohibit the
Connecticut law banning so-called "assault weapons."

     The NRA has spent a quarter-million dollars-plus supporting
that case, which is also backed by other gun groups.  The legal
team challenging the law includes some of the best talent in the
nation, including perhaps the foremost constitutional attorney in
the state.  Still we lost (though the case is being appealed).

     The point is:  winning a Federal Second Amendment case will
be extremely difficult, no matter how clear the Constitution.

     Bear in mind that it will be decided by judges (lawyers with
political connections).

========================================================================

NRA Fall Board meeting report

     Oct. 4 update -- A legal challenge to the crime bill's gun
ban, the fall elections, the efforts to expand NRA's grass roots
strength and Wayne LaPierre's amazingly successful book tours
dominated NRA Board and committee meetings from last Wednesday
through Sunday.

     And Directors received the welcome news that NRA continues to
operate in the black while membership continues to grow.  The goal
of reaching 3.4 million paid members before 1995 has already been
reached.

     The Directors ordered the immediate preparation of multiple
legal challenges to the crime law, including on Second Amendment
grounds.  

     The quickest way to invalidate the gun sections are on such
legalistic arguments as vagueness, because the guns are not
properly identified.  That type of case could be won in a matter of
months while a full-blown Second Amendment challenge will take a
half-dozen years.

     Wayne's book is within the Top 20 on several major best-seller
lists.  It has already sold far more than the total of all the
books which bash NRA.

[The Board meetings could get livelier after the next election.  
Among the candidates nominated by the Nominating is one Theodore
Nugent.  He'll be the one with the waist-length hair and the guitar.
Yes, rockers it's the Motor City Madman himself.  Hunter Thompson
never thought up anything so weird.  But it works!  -- Chris ]

                            ****

     Last week the Clinton Administration was talking about
allowing Russia to sell U.S. citizens Makrov pistol and the MAC-90
"sporterized" version of the AK-47S.  The supposed reason was to
keep cash-strapped Russia from selling military arms to Iran.

     Clinton's constituency -- and talk show callers -- shouted
"Hypocrisy."  Yesterday the Administration backed off.


                            ****

     This morning's Washington Post gave front page treatment to
Republican Ellen Sauerbrey's surprisingly strong run for governor
of Maryland -- a state with 2 to 1 Democrat registration.

     That kind of play by the Post indicates that the Post isn't
happy.  Which makes me very happy.  

     I urge Maryland gun owners to get involved in her campaign. 
She isn't just a tax-cutting conservative, she's a proven defender
of gun rights in the Maryland legislature.

     In general, across the nation pro-gun candidates from both
parties are doing well.  Four-term Congressman Jimmy Hayes, a
Louisiana Democrat with a solid pro-gun record, was said to be in
trouble due to the anti-incumbent mood.  But he won his primary
this weekend.

========================================================================

Republicans sign "Contract with America" 

     Sept. 27 update -- The Republicans laid out their legislative
program today, promising to pass it -- or attempt to -- in the
first 100 days after winning control of the House.

     Noticeably missing was any mention of repealing any of the new
or old firearms laws.  I suggest you point that out to Republicans. 
But don't hold your breath until they gain control.

     It's possible, but unlikely.  

     It is likely that the Republicans will gain 25 to 30 seats,
and enough of them are pro-gun, replacing anti-gunners, that the
new House will take on a pro-gun tint.  Whether it is strong enough
to pass repeal legislation is a good question, but that question
may be meaningless for Bill Clinton isn't going to sign any pro-gun
legislation -- unless attached to legislation that he can't veto.

     The polls show that a lot of Democrats are in trouble --
including Speaker Tom Foley, who received only 35 percent of the
votes and four Republicans took 65 percent in Washington State's
all-candidates primary.

     Republicans have a better chance of taking control of the
Senate.  Even Ted Kennedy is in trouble -- running neck and neck
with a Republican who must be an improvement, even if not much of
one.

     There are six or eight close races against "F"-rated
incumbents.  And a couple more where "F" incumbents -- like Dianne
Feinstein of California and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey -- are
challenged by somewhat better Republicans.

     If the Republicans can gain seven net seats, pro-gun stalwart
Orrin Hatch of Utah would replace virulent anti-gunner Joe Biden of
Delaware as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

     Now that would be delightful!

========================================================================

Shotgun News Column 10-1-94

                      Election Opportunity
                          By NEAL KNOX
     WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 1) -- Ted Kennedy is trailing!

     That Massachusetts newspaper poll tells you what great
possibilities we have in this watershed election.

     Ask Slithery Mike Synar (D-Okla.), a turncoat who was
defeated in his party primary by an unknown, unfunded, 71-year-
old NRA member and retired school principal.

     Synar could be joined in retirement by Speaker of the House
Tom Foley, who is also running behind.  He received only 35
percent of the votes in the all-candidate primary.  Until this
year, when he turned his back on gun owners who had long
supported him, he had never gotten less than 55 percent.

     The Senate's leading anti-gunner, Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, is
retiring.  His son-in-law and long-groomed heir, Joel Hyatt, is
also trailing.
     There are a string of incumbent F-rated Democrat Senators --
including HCI board member Dianne Feinstein -- who are in even-
money races.  

     If Republicans win a net seven seats, pro-gunner Orrin Hatch
will replace virulent anti-gunner Joe Biden as Senate Judiciary
Chairman.

     That's an additional incentive for California gun owners to
hold their noses and vote for Rep. Michael Huffington, or New
Jerseyans to vote for State Sen. Chuck Haytaian -- and have the
pleasure of taking out Feinstein and Lautenberg.

     In most of the other close Senate races, the differences are
stark -- "A's" running against incumbent "F's."

     In virtually every state, even where there's no difference
between Congressional candidates, there are state and local races
that will have an impact on your gun rights.

     Are you registered to vote?  If you don't vote, you will
have no right to complain about what state and federal
legislators are doing to your gun rights during the next two
years.

     ILA Director Tanya Metaksa has recent professional polls
indicating that 92 percent of NRA members are registered to vote
in some Congressional districts.  

     Despite ILA's voter registration efforts, we can credit much
of the increase to the same fellow who has sold more NRA
memberships -- and more guns and ammunition -- than anyone in
history:  William Jefferson Blythe Clinton.

     Clinton's name is printed in invisible ink on nearly every
ballot -- which is why perhaps 140 to 150 Congressional races
could go either way this year, compared to a normal 40 or 50.

     Early on, NRA-ILA estimated that they would be involved in
perhaps a dozen major races.  They're actively involved in close
to 40, plus many secondary races where there's a real contest
between a pro-gunner and anti-gunner.  

     That huge effort is stretching ILA's manpower -- and
straining its treasury -- so if you haven't yet contributed to
the NRA Political Victory Fund, your help is needed. 

     Like some of you, I've growled over a couple of PVF
contributions that shouldn't have been made -- to incumbents with
a checkered past who threw us a few favorable votes, then shafted
us on the crime bill.  But 99 percent of ILA's PVF money is well
spent, particularly where it's being used in independent NRA
campaigns, rather than contributed to an incumbent.

     Before you vote, carefully consider NRA-ILA's ratings in
(and on the cover) of the October Rifleman/Hunter.  Those ratings
aren't the same as "school grades;" a "C" isn't a passing grade
-- unless the opponent is an "F".  

     An "A+" candidate is one who has voted for gun rights on
every critical gun rights issue, not merely someone who says he
will vote right.  Regardless of party, that candidate should be
re-elected.

     It isn't unusual to have a third-party candidate who isn't
even rated by ILA.  That's because NRA-ILA is a lobbying
organization, not a political party.  ILA's duty is to help elect
people who will vote right.  

     Someone who can't be elected will never have an opportunity
to vote right.  But your vote for that non-electable candidate
may defeat the less-good candidate -- and elect the worst
candidate, the one who will always vote against you.


========================================================================

Details on Mike Synar defeat

     Sept. 20 update --  Oklahoma Congressman Slithery Mike Synar
went down in flames tonight, defeated in a Democrat runoff by a
71-year-old retired school teacher and NRA member who forced
Synar into the runoff with $3,550.

     Synar, who is the Democratic Majority Whip, spent $300,000.

     He ran against NRA.  

     Two years ago NRA mounted a major campaign against Synar, 
helping to push him into a general election runoff, but he won by a 
hair.

     When Synar first ran in 1978 he begged for NRA support --
and to my shame, I gave it to him.  I was then the ILA Director. 
The longer he stayed in Congress, the more he turned against gun
owners -- and the people of Oklahoma.  

     It's politicians like Synar who caused Oklahomans to pass a
term limit initiative by three to one today.

                            ****

Send flowers to counter the "Silent March?"

     Here in Washington today, a coalition of anti-gun groups
staged what was falsely called a "grass roots" silent march of
38,000 shoes placed around the reflecting pool.  That was the
number of gunshot deaths in 1991 -- most of them suicides.

     A Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter asked me this afternoon
how I responded to "such an emotional appeal."

     I told her that if I could have afforded it I would have
answered those 38,000 shoes with 400,000 roses -- each
representing one life saved due to private gun ownership.  

     Florida State University criminologist Dr. Gary Kleck
completed a survey this spring that indicates that people defend
themselves, their property, or other people up to 2 1/2 million
times per year -- and that because they were armed, 400,000 lives
were saved.

                            ****

     And on Capitol Hill, Rep. Charles Schumer's crime
subcommittee heard from spokespersons from BATF and the Justice
Department testify on how gun laws are being enforced.

     Assistant Attorney General Jo Ann Harris said that she had
no information that anyone had been prosecuted for attempting to
make an illegal firearms purchase in the seven months that the
Brady Bill has been in effect.  I repeat, zero known
prosecutions.

     Schumer asked BATF Associate Director Charles Thompson
whether they had noted any decline in criminal activity as a
result of the Brady Law.  Thompson said they had not, but they
have noticed an increase in thefts from gun dealers. 

     Schumer was not happy with those responses. 

========================================================================

                      Slithery Mike Slides
                          By NEAL KNOX
     Washington, D.C. (Sept. 21) -- The NRA helped nail Rep. Mike
Synar (D-Okla.) in yesterday's Oklahoma runoff.  He was defeated
by a 71-year-old NRA member and retired school principal, Virgil
Cooper, with only hand-painted signs and $3,550.

     Synar campaigned against NRA -- the same NRA whose support
he pleaded for and got until he turned his back on Oklahoma gun
owners.  

     ILA had telephoned members throughout the weekend, telling
them Cooper was a fellow member and urging them to get to the
polls.

     It was particularly satisfying for me because I was the ILA
Director who was first suckered by Slithery Mike's forked tongue. 
I confessed that sad fact to a rally of pro-gun Oklahoma law
enforcement officers at the state capital two weeks ago, and
asked them to help turn him out.  They did.

     Yesterday's elections indicate another turncoat is in
trouble:  House Speaker Tom Foley picked up only 35 percent of
the vote in Washington's unusual primary in which all candidates
run for nomination and he was the only Democrat.  He had never
before failed to get at least 55 percent.

     Foley, who is -- or was -- a handloader and shooter, had
long supported gunowners until this year.  He held the gavel on
the 216-214 vote on banning so-called "assault weapons" for seven
extra minutes, until two fellow Democrats switched their votes.

     Foley later said that if he had voted (the Speaker usually
doesn't) he would have supported that ban and the Brady Bill.  

     Like Synar, he has forgotten who brung him to the party --
and kept him there.

                            ****

     There's a "gun bill" floating around, "H.R. 5904," by
Schumer, et al, that supposedly would make unlawful the
possession of "Sniper Weapons" -- "bolt action rifles greater
than .22 caliber."

     It's a hoax.

     The format of the bill is not the usual House typeface or
style.  Besides, Congress hasn't reached that high a number.

     The bill is disinformation -- designed to get our folks
stirred up about something that the anti-gunners are not doing,
so we pay less attention to what they are doing.

     Handgun Control Inc. Chair Sarah Brady made a pitch for what
they are doing -- trying to pass "Brady II" (S. 1878/H.R. 3932)
-- in this morning's "Washington Post."

     That article talked about the 38,000 empty shoes, simulating
the "victims of gun violence" in 1991 -- most of whom killed
themselves -- which HCI and other anti-gun groups had placed
around the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial.

     The press played it up -- though they had virtually ignored
10,000 shoes filled with live feet which had come to the same
site last month to protest the loss of gun rights.  

     "Brady II" calls for all handguns to be registered and
licensed, private sales prohibited, and, among much else, a $300,
three-year "Arsenal License" which would have to be obtained from
BATF (after getting local police approval) by anyone possessing
over 20 guns or 1,000 rounds of ammunition or primers.

     Sarah boasted of the "success" of the Brady Law:  "In the
first month alone, more than 23,000 possible felons were stopped
from buying handguns."  (By her standards I'm a "possible rapist"
because I have the necessary equipment -- like I'm a "possible
murderer" because I own a gun.)
     
     Even the relatively few real felons who attempt illegal
purchases aren't prosecuted, according to testimony in Charles
Schumer's Crime Subcommittee this morning.  Assistant Attorney
General Jo Ann Harris said she had no information that anyone had
been prosecuted for attempting to make an illegal firearms
purchase in the seven months that the Brady Bill had been in
effect.  

     Schumer asked BATF Associate Director Charles Thompson
whether BATF had noticed any decline in criminal activity as a
result of the Brady Law.  Thompson said they had not, but they
have noticed an increase in thefts from gun dealers! 


========================================================================

                          Cops For Guns
                          By  NEAL KNOX

     Oklahoma City, Okla. (Sept. 10) -- Today's gun rights rally
on the steps of the Oklahoma Capitol was probably the smallest at
which I've spoken, but it was unique because most of the 200 or
so attending were carrying guns.  And badges.

     It had been put together in only two weeks due to the
private efforts of three State of Oklahoma law enforcement
officers -- Glen McEntyre, Vince O'Neill and Jack Holloway, and
Janet Ingram, an office supervisor in the state's law enforcement
education and training center.  

     I was in Oklahoma on unrelated business and heard of it the
day before from an old friend who learned of it from an Oklahoma
Highway Patrolman. 

     I called NRA and Law Enforcement Alliance of America to to
offer to speak.  Neither group knew anything about it, nor did
any of the activists they called.

      After 11 p.m. last night I reached "Mack" McEntire, who is
the State of Oklahoma Law Enforcement Firearms Training
Coordinator.  He and his friends had organized the impromptu
rally on their own time and using their own money to protest
Congress' continuing violation of firearms rights and --
particularly -- the claims of President Clinton and national law
enforcement groups that "law enforcement officers" support such
gun laws.

     As one of today's speaker's put it:  "To say that a police
chief speaks for line cops is as silly as saying that the
chairman of General Motors speaks for assembly line workers."

     Another, a member of Fraternal Order of Police, asked the
assembled cops how many of them had been surveyed by their
organizations for their views about firearms laws.  Not one hand
went up.

     And when the name of the FOP President "Dewey Stokes,
President Clinton's pet cop" was mentioned, there was a chorus of
boos from the crowd.

     There was another round of boos when Congressman Ernest
Istook (R-Okla.) mentioned FOP lobbyist Richard Boyd, a native
New Yorker who had been an Oklahoma City police lieutenant when
he was FOP president.  

     Rep. Istook said Boyd "pointed his finger at me and demanded
that I change my position on gun control or else I'd be hearing
from Oklahoma FOP members."

     "I'm sure glad to be here this morning hearing from law
enforcement officers who feel the same way I do!"

     Rep. Jim Inhofe, who is running for the U.S. Senate, told
the group that when he went to the national FOP convention in
August at Tulsa, he had been warned that he would cause the FOP
to support his opponent if he spoke out against "gun control."

     But he did "and they cheered.  And the next day they
endorsed me."
 
     McEntire said that Rep. Mike Synar (D-Okla.) had bragged to
that same FOP National Convention that he had taken a lead role
in supporting "gun control."  One Oklahoma officer "stood up on a
table and told Synar 'with those views, you don't represent me
and you don't represent any officer I know from Oklahoma.'

     "There was cheering and pandemonium that lasted for ten
minutes.  By the time order was restored, Synar was gone."  

     I told the group that although Synar is "running against the
NRA," he came running to NRA in his first election, in 1978,
assuring us what a strong defender of gun rights that he would
be.  

     I confessed that, as NRA-ILA Executive Director, I had sent 
an ILA staffer to Oklahoma to help in his campaign, and that
while Federal Division Director, Wayne LaPierre had come to
Oklahoma and cut television spots for Synar.

     "Synar claims that NRA has changed, but Wayne is now NRA
Executive Vice President; the ILA Executive Director, Tanya
Metaksa, was then my Deputy at ILA.  We're the same folks, but
Mike sure isn't." 
   
     NRA-ILA helped force Synar into a runoff in 1992, but he
squeaked back into office.  Last week, a 71-year-old retired
school principal and NRA member, Virgil Cooper, forced Synar into
a runoff for the Democrat nomination -- after raising and
spending only $3,555.  The nomination will be settled Sept. 20.  

       The Oklahoma law enforcement rally, small though it was,
was a great success.  But it underscored the need for NRA members
to be able to know who each other are.  The first major step
toward that is by calling the volunteers whose phone numbers are
listed in the September American Rifleman and American Hunter.

========================================================================

Crime Bill signed

     Sept. 15 update -- Even the Washington Post snorted about
the crime bill signing ceremony Tuesday, calling it "an effort to
use a deadly issue as a political prop."

     The Post called the bill "barely good enough to sign."

     Of course, what they liked was the freeze on so-called
"assault weapons."  

     "But," the Post said, "no one should have any illusions
about what was accomplished.  Assault weapons play a part in only
a small percentage of crime."

     That isn't what they were saying before the bill was passed.

     Then the Post revealed all:  "The provision is mainly
symbolic; its virtue will be if it turns out to be, as hoped, a
stepping stone to broader gun control."

                            ****
                     
     We had some good folks running in Tuesday's primaries who
didn't make the cut.  But thankfully, some good ones did.

     One of the most important races was Minnesota, where former
Minneapolis Police Chief Tony Bouza declared in the closing days
of the campaign that if he were elected governor, he would push
for all privately owned handguns to be confiscated.

     He nose-dived from first in the polls to third.  

     The nation's gun owners are certainly appreciative that Bill
Clinton waited for so long before signing the crime bill.  I was
told many days ago that magazine manufacturers were producing
over ten-shot magazines at a rate of one million per day.

     I'm told we have at least a two-year supply of grandfathered
guns and a ten year supply of high capacity magazines -- so
ignore those premium prices.

     If the crime bill would really have had any effect on crime
Clinton would have signed it immediately.  The fact that he
didn't sign it until he could have a big show proves that he
didn't know and didn't care that gun manufacturers could and
would continue to produce now-banned guns and magazines, for he
know they have nothing to do with controlling crime.

     Or else he and his Administration are incompetent.

     Or both.

========================================================================

Copyright 1994 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.  

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PGP Users

I grabbed a copy of PGP 2.6 for the Mac off of Berkeley's FTP site last 
night and it won't work with my system.  I'll be migrating to a PC soon 
anyway, so bear with me.

Remove the asterisks to use this key.  

*-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.3

mQCPAi1tPEUAAAEEALs5MUajMVKA9QQkiibPXDLzUOzXvgIkTY5/pU4iczGolC/T
JjBcUuzFXXVSAeJkoJTJNbI/OKVGJrAeoqNdCpHkKXaWg6J3dCxZikkHHSoO2tRW
GeVsJHT9+q5KozqqVGxisIoyQvF6MmfGalJY7jnfwacxi2SY3Q5t55+a10qVABEB
AAG0J0NocmlzdG9waGVyIFdhcnJlbiBLbm94IDxja25veEBjcmwuY29tPg==
=rsvv
*-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

We recommend encryption of sensitive data such as credit card numbers.
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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:____ [  ]

                                   Bill my MasterCard [  ]   Visa [  ]
                             Quarterly [  ];  Monthly [  ];  Once [  ]

                Card No. ______________________ Expiration Date  _____ 

Mr. [  ]
Mrs.[  ]______________________________  Signature ______________________
Ms. [  ]
Address __________________________________________ Phone _______________

City _____________________________________________ State ____ Zip_______

Email Address ______________________

Print and mail, or send via Email to nealknox@genie.geis.com

                      Firearms Coalition
                      Box 6537
                      Silver Spring, MD 20916






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