From firearms-alert-owner Fri Jul 22 09:35:39 1994 Return-Path: firearms-alert-owner Received: from localhost (chan@localhost) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.4/8.6.5) id JAA06774 for firearms-alert-outgoing; Fri, 22 Jul 1994 09:34:36 -0700 Received: from localhost (chan@localhost) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.4/8.6.5) id JAA06765; Fri, 22 Jul 1994 09:34:32 -0700 Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 09:34:32 -0700 From: Jeff Chan Message-Id: <199407221634.JAA06765@jobe.shell.portal.com> To: firearms-alert Subject: KNOX: Firearms Coalition Online Report 7/18/94 Sender: firearms-alert-owner@shell.portal.com Precedence: bulk Status: R {Note, one section of this report did not have line breaks (the July 4 beg letter), so I added them. Presumably this will cause the PGP signature to no longer match. Chris, if you want to resend, go ahead & I'll forward a revised version along. -- Jeff C] __ Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 01:00:07 -0700 From: "Christopher W. Knox" To: fc@crl.com Subject: FCO 7-21-94 Quick addendum to this bulletin. The markup expected today (Wednesday, July 21) didn't happen, however Charles Schumer did hold some hearings on gee-whiz technological ideas. Among the ideas were the usual proposals for "smart" guns which would only work in the hand of someone with a microprocessor in a ring, or even implanted. Tanya Metaksa said she would make some hay with that one. Might be a good idea for police, since the weapon used to kill more police officers than any other is the officer's own service pistol. Other ideas were the surveillance tools that could scan crowds, or even cars and houses for firearms. Several years ago Norval Morris, the head of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration started a great controversy by suggesting discreet magnetometer scans of crowds. It's a measure of how times have changed that they're talking about this sort of stuff out loud today. Even Schumer acknowledged that the Fourth Amendment issues that rise out of this kind of technology "could be interesting." Indeed. Chris -----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 ======================================================================== July 18, 1994 Release 1.15 ======================================================================== In this issue: * Three Shotgun News columns and the latest Hard Corps Report ======================================================================== A note from Chris I've been out of town on business (not Firearms Coalition business) for the past week and haven't had access to a modem. I'd love to get a lap- top, but it's not going to happen this week. I spoke briefly with Neal Knox this evening to bring this up to date. The Conference Committee will meet this 10:00 Wednesday morning. The crime bill is currently stalled over the "Racial Justice Act," the virtual quota system/ban on executions. The Congressional Black Caucus wants the act included and has threatened to hold up passage if it isn't there. Knox's theory is that the Congressional Black Caucus is play-acting. The Caucus leadership has told its members to "vote their conscience." If they were determined to include the Racial Justice Act, they'd be taking it to the wall. Dad's suspicion is that the Congressional Black Caucus has agreed to roll over on the Racial Justice Act if the Administration agrees to invade Haiti. The last time we were there, under President Wilson, we stayed for nineteen years. My son is three. It gives one pause. In short, there is little hope that Congressional Black Caucus will bottle the bill up for us. And the chances of instilling enough starch in the backbones of the Republicans to filibuster over the gun issue are slim. It doesn't look good. And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor I'm reproducing the "beg letter" that went out with the latest Hard Corps Report. The Firearms Coalition Neal Knox Associates P.O. Box 6537 Silver Spring, MD 20916 Independence Day, 1994 Dear Friend and Supporter, Ten years ago today, I wrote a relatively few friends and acquaintances that because of what was happening in Congress -- particularly NRA's endorsement of the Biaggi/NCI armor-piercing bullet ban -- I was registering as a lobbyist, and asked those defenders of the Second Amendment to financially support me. That January the NRA Board of Directors had evicted me as a director for opposing then-Executive Vice President Warren Cassidy's formal approval of a package of amendments that gutted the McClure-Volkmer bill [which reformed the Gun Control Act of 1968 -- CWK]. (Never mind that it was board policy to oppose any amendments to the bill.) Ten years ago today I was gravely concerned not only about the effect of the legislation we were facing, but where NRA's leaders were taking us in their desire to be liked. How much things can change in ten years. The new NRA Board is more concerned about being _respected_ rather than loved, and is the most politically savvy and Second Amendment-focussed in the history of the association. (Though I'm proud to have helped elect most of them, I don't "control" that independent bunch; they've repeatedly proved it.) When the first 11 of us were elected in 1991, Cassidy bailed out and we replaced him with former NRA-ILA Director Wayne LaPierre, who immediately began the arduous -- and costly -- job of turning around what he has correctly called _a dying NRA_. This February, Wayne picked Second Amend stalwart Tanya Metaksa as head of ILA. She had been my partner in reforming NRA, and is the most-qualified person in the nation. You're about to see the greatest grass roots organizing in NRA history. On May 23 the Board elected me Second Vice President, the first "chair" leading to the NRA Presidency. I admit to some unseemly pride in what has been accomplished in this decade; it could not have been done without your help. All of NRA's internal problems haven't been solved, and the recent legislative losses sure show that we haven't solved NRA's greatest challenge. _But NRA is at last on the right track_. It was to help keep it that way that I agreed to become an officer. The main reason I initially declined to run is concern whether my family can afford it -- which still worries Jay. NRA only pays the expenses of its officers and directors. While I recently began writing a regular column in _The American Rifleman/The American Hunter_, the payment is the same ($300 per month) as for the _Handloader/Rifle_ column that I gave up to get a bigger pulpit. An NRA Director can never speak for the association except with specific authorization, bun an officer is always speaking for NRA. So as an NRA officer I cannot ethically be a lobbyist for another group -- even the 99% NRA member Firearms Coalition. And that presents a problem. By retaining me as your Capital Hill lobbyist, you paid my grocery bill and house payments, some sandwiches for Hill staffers, and a fair amount of ammo, claybirds, and targets for lawmakers and aides. But your contributions also support this Hard Corps Report, our legislative hotlines, news and updates on computer bulletin boards and networks, my Shotgun News columns, and other efforts to inform and educate through radio and TV interviews and newspapers like _The New York Daily News_ and _Wall Street Journal_. You've paid our whopping phone bills, and my travel to conferences, rallies, speeches, testimony and technical assistance to state legislatures and grass roots organizations. And you've paid the people I needed to help with these efforts. Those efforts must continue. So I've decided to do the same things I've been doing, _with one exception_. I'll continue to provide you and other gunowners with the kind of information, news services and analysis you've been receiving, and I'll continue to preach the Second Amendment. _I've always told it like it is, and that won't change_. But instead of being registered as lobbyist for the Firearms Coalition, _I'm registering as an unpaid lobbyist for NRA_. That's okay with Wayne and Tanya, and I believe that it will be with you, for it has the effect of strengthening all our efforts. Since virtually all Firearms Coalition expenses will remain the same -- as will our grocery bill -- I need and will appreciate your continued support. Yours for the Second Amendment, (signed) Neal Knox ======================================================================== NEAL KNOX REPORT (Shotgun News Column) Crime Bill In Conference Committee WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 1) -- Congress shut down for the Independence Day recess with Democrats wrangling over what death penalty, prisons and firearms provisions to include in the House- Senate crime bill compromise. Republican leaders promised a filibuster if the final bill includes the "Racial Justice Act." And the Black Caucus says they'll block it if it doesn't. If -- as most expect -- the conference bill doesn't include that racial quota on executions but does include some version of the House and Senate-passed Feinstein over-10-magazine and semi- auto ban, we could see a "strange bedfellows" coalition of the Black Caucus and pro-gun stalwarts opposing the crime bill. Definitions of magazines and guns are identical in House and Senate versions. The difference is in what present owners of the guns (19 named, about 175 included by the generic descriptions) would have to do to keep or transfer them. Senate Republican leaders -- Robert Dole (Kan.), Strom Thurmond (S.C.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah) -- called for the gun provisions to be left out of the final bill but did not say they would filibuster because of guns (though others, led by Sen. Larry Craig, might do so). Republicans want $13 billion (of the nearly $30 billion in the bill) to go to prison building, with $1.1 billion for social programs, while Democrats want the money divided more equally between prisons and social programs to "eliminate the conditions that breed crime." Both sides support a program of 100,000 tuition grants to those who would agree to spend four years as police officers after graduation, then provide $10,000 grants to police departments to hire them. However, several major police groups said there's no shortage of qualified applicants, only a shortage of funds to pay them -- and some are privately concerned that the graduates would become social workers rather than cops. In other significant gun-related actions this week, the House rejected on a voice vote -- thanks to Rep. Paul Gillmor's (R-Ohio) active leadership -- an attempt to eliminate the Director of Civilian Marksmanship program from the defense appropriations bill. And Sen. Patrick Moynihan's (D-N.Y.) Finance Committee rejected, by 15-5, his proposal for the committee's health care "reform" bill to be partially financed by a 50 percent excise tax on handgun ammunition and a $10,000 per year occupational tax on importers and manufacturers or handgun ammunition. However, that health care package -- which the committee approved -- leaves in place a 10,000 percent excise tax on handgun bullets or ammunition that perform like Winchester Black Talon. The definition could be stretched to fit most expanding pistol bullets. --- House Speaker Tom Foley's (D-Wash.) seven-minute delay in dropping the gavel on the Schumer/Feinstein semi-auto ban -- until gun-banners talked two Congressmen into switching their votes -- pretty well told us that Speaker Foley had switched sides. He confirmed it last week when he told Spokane reporters that he "would have broken (a tie) in support of the legislation." He also said he would have voted for the Brady Bill Speaker Foley has long been supported by NRA, for he had a clear pro-gun record and has frequently been of great assistance to gun owners -- particularly since the Speaker largely controls when and how bills and amendments are brought to a vote. There is a lashing out against "assault weapons" in Foley's district due to a mass murder with a MAK-90 with 70-round drum at an air base at Spokane in June, though only the magazine would be affected by Feinstein/Schumer. Foley is expected to have a tough race this fall, and there has been speculation that even if re-elected he couldn't be re- elected Speaker unless he takes a "Liberal" position on guns. Whatever triggered his announcement, gun owners in his district reacted like a wife who learns that a husband of many years has been slipping around with other women. They're gearing up for a divorce. ======================================================================== NEAL KNOX REPORT (Shotgun News Column) But Wait, There's More! WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 20) -- Even as the gun-grabbers are mounting their final assault on military-style firearms -- the House-Senate conference that will put some of the Feinstein ban in the crime bill -- they are rolling the drums for three other major attacks. Sen. Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) says there will be a 50 percent excise tax on both handguns and handgun ammo as part of the health care deform bill. Sens. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) are kicking off yet another assault: legislation to allow crime victims to sue gun dealers and private sellers for allegedly improper or illegal transfers. Hearings were scheduled last Tuesday on the Bradley/Schumer handgun registration and owner licensing bill, S. 2053/H.R. 4300, but were delayed because of the crime bill conference, which began two days later (June 14). All three of those separate bills are part of "Brady II" (S.1878/S.1882/H.R.3932) by Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) and Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and others. The House-Senate crime bill conference began with only opening statements; the real work -- debating and voting on specific issues -- will begin this week. Though President Clinton has publicly called for the crime bill to be on his desk before Independence Day, that's not going to happen. There's simply too much for the conference committee to argue about. And even after they've reached an agreement, both the House and Senate must vote on the compromise -- and either Senate "Liberals" or "Conservatives," or both, could mount a filibuster if they don't like what's in it. But a successful filibuster means holding 41 Senators in opposition to the bill -- and that's not easy. House and Senate staff have agreed on a draft bill that includes many contentious provisions -- particularly huge chunks of money for prisons, for social programs and for police scholarships. But the working draft does not yet include the two thorniest sections -- the so-called "assault weapons" ban and the so-called "Racial Justice Act." The House-passed version of the semi-auto ban covers the same over-10-round magazines and 180-odd guns (while naming "only" 19) as in the Senate-approved Feinstein amendment. But unlike the Senate's bill, the House version doesn't require owners of the guns to immediately register them with dealers, and all individual record-keeping requirements may be dropped. There are proposals to eliminate the magazine ban and the generic definition -- and even cut down the number of named guns that would be banned -- if the NRA would agree to support the final crime bill, or at least not oppose it. But agreeing to accept the ban of even a single gun -- no matter how ugly -- would undermine gun owners' claims to be defending the Second Amendment. It's like the old story about the woman who agreed to go to bed with a man for $1 million but was outraged when he offered $20. Once principle has been breached, all that's left is haggling about price. A lot of folks foolishly believe that we should give "a little bit" so Schumer and Metzenbaum would leave alone the guns that most of us own and use. That, supposedly, would improve our image, and make us look more reasonable. In fact, it's a prescription for disaster. You can't make a yapping mongrel dog go away from your door by throwing him an occasional bone. He only yaps louder and gets bigger and stronger. The majority of gun owners didn't care when Congress passed the ban on "cop-killer bullets" (armor-piercing bullets that had never killed a cop), and the restriction on "plastic guns," or even when they enacted the "Brady" waiting period bill. And a lot don't care about those military-style guns that are now hanging by a thread. But has passage of any of those bills -- with some gun owners' blessings -- improved our image and sent the anti-gunners away happy? Or did it merely whet the other side's appetite? The piling on of regulations, executive orders and ever-more prohibitive gun bills proves what some of us have been saying for years: our foes will not rest so long as any of us own any type of gun. ======================================================================== NEAL KNOX REPORT (Shotgun News Column) Revenge A Tasty Dish WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 9) -- Tuesday night's election returns from New Jersey and California were absolutely delightful! California Sen. David Roberti, co-sponsor of the Roberti- Roos ban on so-called "assault weapons," was defeated 55-45 in his bid for Treasurer. And in the Republican primary for retiring Congressman Bill Hughes' seat, New Jersey Assemblyman Bill Gormley -- the sole Republican who supported, and provided the passing vote, for that state's iniquitous "assault weapon" law -- was trounced 61-39 by Assemblyman Frank LoBiondo, co-sponsor of the bill to repeal it! As I told some 200 firearms owners at a get-out-the vote dinner attended by LoBiondo Saturday night, "Revenge is a savory dish best when served cold." Our folks dished it up. A headline on the front page of this morning's Los Angeles Times says: "Roberti Defeat Comes At Cost Of Victory In The Recall." Roberti is wailing that he had to spend nearly all his money -- some $800,000 -- and time defending against the recall instead of campaigning statewide. That was the intention of the boys that put the recall together. They knew that even if they didn't win the first recall in 80 years they would bleed Roberti so badly that he couldn't survive. And that's why Roberti looked so glum when national television reporters told him how lucky he was to be recalled, and to get all that publicity. A few days before the recall Roberti told CBS: "They want to send a message to any politician who dares fight them that they're going to make it so costly and so expensive that they're not going to fight the gun lobby." That's exactly right, Mr. Roberti. In New Jersey, Assemblyman Gormley began the race as a clear favorite; in fact, the press was saying he would walk all over Frank LoBiondo. With the strong backing of his Atlantic City base and the state's political establishment, he heavily outspent Frank, and was endorsed last Friday by former Republican Gov. Thomas Kean, who also supported the gun ban. Naturally, given the sharp distinctions between the candidates, both local and statewide sportsmen's and firearms groups were heavily involved in the race, and were part of LoBiondo's core support. In the final stage NRA not only alerted its members but ran a $30,000 independent expenditure radio campaign. Bill Hughes -- father of the infamous "Hughes Amendment" to freeze the population of legal machine guns, and long-time leader of House anti-gunners -- has represented the district for two decades, but it's much more pro-gun and conservative than he is, and tends to vote Republican in Presidential elections. So Frank should be able to win the general election, particularly since his best-known opponents, State Sen. Zane, a pro-gun Democrat, withdrew from the race. The state assembly passed LoBiondo's repeal bill then overrode Gov. Jim Florio's veto; the Senate passed the companion bill, but failed to override the veto. Incredibly the press played up the barely sustained veto as a great victory for Handgun Control Inc., when in fact -- thanks to Frank LoBiondo -- it was a disaster that HCI only narrowly averted. We need Frank in the Congress. To help put him in Bill Hughes' seat, you can contribute to "LoBiondo for Congress," 738 E. Landis Ave., Vineland, NJ 08360. -- Last fall, shortly after voting for the Feinstein "assault weapon" ban, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) asked to speak at last Sunday's Bozeman High School commencement ceremonies. The school's seniors twice voted by about 200 to 10 to reject him. But the school invited him to come anyway. Many of the seniors responded by wearing "I'm the NRA" bumper stickers on their gowns and mortar boards. The school refused to give them their diplomas unless and until they wrote apologies to Baucus. Montana Shooting Sports Association President Gary Marbut told me: "The only way Baucus can get favorable mail from Montana nowadays is if school officials threaten to flunk students who don't write him nice letters." ======================================================================== Hard Corps Report, July 5, '94 Crime Bill Stalled In Conference The House-Senate Crime Bill Conference -- which will determine the fate of the differing gun and magazine bans approved by each house -- began June 16 and promptly hung up in a tangle among Democrats over whether to include the "Racial Justice Act," which amounts to a racial quota for the death penalty. The Senate had rejected "Racial Justice" and the House approved it by only five votes, because a brutal murderer could escape the death penalty if he could produce statistical evidence that more blacks than whites were sentenced to death in that jurisdiction. The Black Caucus, backed by "Liberals" opposed to the death penalty, is adamant that the provision be in the bill. They had gone along with an agreement to expand the Federal death penalty with full expectations that the death penalty racial quota would eliminate most, if not all, Federal and state executions. On the eve of the Independence Day recess (until July 12) Senate Republican leaders -- Robert Dole (Kan.), Strom Thurmond (S.C.) and Orrin Hatch (Utah) -- promised a filibuster if the final bill includes "Racial Justice." And the Black Caucus says they'll block it if it doesn't. The Republican leaders called for the gun provisions to be left out of the final bill, but did not say they would filibuster on guns alone (though others, led by Sen. Larry Craig (R-Id.), might do so). Conferees from both sides claimed on The McNeill-Lehrer News Hour that they were willing to compromise -- but not on the fundamental issue of using racial sentencing statistics. So for the moment, at least, the crime bill is hung up. Congress routinely works its way around such impasses; the odds are that some crime bill is eventually going to come out. The question is: how many gun prohibitions will be in it. Definitions of what magazines and guns would be banned from production (except for police use) are identical in the House and Senate versions. New over-10-shot mags would have to be dated and serial numbered, and older high-capacity mags could be kept -- and transferred -- only if treated as if firearms. The difference in the bills is in what present owners of the guns (19 named, about 175 included by the generic descriptions) would have to do to keep or transfer them. Under the Senate-passed crime bill, presently owned guns would have to be registered with a dealer within 90 days, and could be transferred only if the seller and buyer followed a complicated procedure and forever kept the records -- subject to fines, jail and permanent loss of the right to own any firearm. The House version, which passed 216-214 May 5 as a separate bill (H.R. 4296) does not include the registration requirement, and drops the permanent prohibition on gun ownership for a paperwork violation. It does require that the seller of a "grandfathered" gun obtain a Form 4473 from the buyer. But during floor debate, Crime Subcommittee Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) agreed to work in the conference committee to remove all requirements that individuals keep records of transfers of grandfathered guns -- an "improvement" that may have provided the two-vote margin by which the bill passed. Most Hill observers believe that the Crime Conference Committee Report -- which must be approved by both Houses -- will not include "Racial Justice" but will include some version of the House and Senate-passed Feinstein over-10-magazine and semi-auto ban. If that happens, we could see a "strange bedfellows" coalition of the Black Caucus, conservatives concerned about the bill's massing of Federal powers, and pro-gun stalwarts -- all opposing the crime bill, but for different reasons. Republicans want $13 billion (of the nearly $30 billion in the bill) to go to prison building, with $1.1 billion for social programs, while Democrats want the money divided more equally between prisons and social programs to "eliminate the conditions that breed crime." Both sides support a program of 100,000 tuition grants to those who would agree to spend four years as police officers after graduation, then provide $10,000 grants to police departments to hire them. However, several major police groups said there's no shortage of qualified applicants, only a shortage of funds to pay them -- and some are privately concerned that the graduates would become social workers rather than cops. The opening statements reveal the range of disagreement: House Judiciary Chairman Jack Brooks (D-Tex.) said the bill will have "limited impact." Senate Judiciary Chairman Joe Biden (D- Del.) said it is of great import, but on a limited scale -- whatever that means. Rep. Don Edwards (D-Calif.) talked only about the "Racial Justice" provision, calling for its passage to "eliminate the last vestige of slavery." Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) talked only about "assault weapons" and "racial justice," deploring the fact that more blacks are on death row, and ignoring the fact that more blacks are murderers -- and murder victims. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) said there is nothing useful in the crime bill except the gun ban. With such disagreements among the Democrats, it was no surprise that the first "markup session" on the bill was postponed, then cancelled when the Democrat caucus couldn't agree on what to put in the bill. Meanwhile, there are efforts to get NRA to agree to accept a less-restrictive bill -- one that would perhaps eliminate the magazine ban and most of the banned guns -- in exchange for NRA's endorsement of the final crime bill. That would take the heat off politicians of both parties who don't want to vote against a crime bill. But ILA Executive Director Tanya Metaksa has made it clear that NRA will oppose the final crime bill if it includes any gun- banning provisions. ======================================================================== DCM Funding Dodges Bullet The long-targeted Director of Civilian Marksmanship program, authorized a starvation-level $2.4 million for next year, avoided Rep. Carolyn Maloney's (D-N.Y.) effort to strike even that from the Defense Department appropriations bill June 29. Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio), whose district includes Camp Perry, site of the National Matches, had been in direct contact with state rifle and pistol associations counseling them when to contact his colleagues. He led the effort to reject the motion, which was settled by voice vote. For practical purposes the DCM program is supporting only junior marksmanship programs and sales of M1 rifles to competitors. About 450,000 Garands remain in storage. ======================================================================== Moynihan Loses Handgun Ammo Tax From Health Bill Sen. Patrick Moynihan's (D-N.Y.) Finance Committee last week rejected, by 15-5, his attempt to help fund health care "reform" with a 50 percent excise tax on handgun ammunition and a $10,000 per year occupational tax on importers and manufacturers of handgun ammunition. However, that health care package -- one of four major versions -- leaves in place a 10,000 percent excise tax on handgun ammunition with bullets that expand leaving sharp uniformly spaced points, like the Winchester Black Talon. The bill's definition could be stretched to fit most expanding pistol bullets. A similar ammunition tax section is included in Brady II, S. 1878/H.R. 3932 (Ed. Note -- Incorrectly identified earlier as H.R. 3925). The same bill without the tax section is numbered S. 1882. An effort to impose a 35 percent excise tax on firearms and ammunition to fund a House health care program was defeated on a tie vote in a Democratic caucus last week. It will be back. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) had scheduled June 14 hearings for his and Rep. Charles Schumer's (D-N.Y.) handgun registration and licensing bill (S.2053/H.R.4300) which are also taken from Brady II. The hearings were cancelled when the House-Senate Crime Conference Committee was scheduled to begin June 16. Sens. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) offered another provision of Brady II as an amendment to the Products Liability bill (which died due to a filibuster triggered by trial lawyers). Their amendment would have allowed crime victims to sue gun dealers and private sellers for allegedly improper or illegal transfers. Simpson Knifing Used For Gun Ban The O.J. Simpson trial -- for murders committed with a knife - -- is being used by Handgun Control Inc. and its handmaidens to push yet another gun prohibition law. Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) is sponsor of a bill -- taken from the Senate crime bill -- to forever deny firearms ownership to anyone who has ever been put under a court order because of a threat of domestic violence. Such court orders are easy to get, even without any proof. The House crime bill would prohibit gun possession only while a court order is in effect, which The Washington Post says is too narrow. HCI's champion against spousal abuse, Rep. Torricelli, is rumored to have beaten up his now-divorced first wife in an Italian restaurant in Englewood, N.J. a few years ago, sending her to the hospital. No police report exists on the alleged incident. ======================================================================== Speaker Tom Foley Endorses Gun Ban House Speaker Tom Foley's (D-Wash.) seven-minute delay in dropping the gavel on the Schumer/Feinstein semi-auto ban May 5 -- until gun-banners talked two Congressmen into switching their votes - -- pretty well told us that Speaker Foley had switched sides. He confirmed it last week when he told Spokane reporters that he "would have broken (a tie) in support of the legislation." He also said he would have voted for the Brady Bill Speaker Foley has long been supported by NRA, for he had a clear pro-gun record and has frequently been of great assistance to gun owners -- particularly since the Speaker largely controls when and how bills and amendments are brought to a vote. There is a lashing out against "assault weapons" in Foley's district due to a mass murder with a MAK-90 with 70-round drum at an air base at Spokane in June, though only the magazine would be affected by Feinstein/Schumer. Foley is expected to have a tough race this fall, and there has been speculation that even if re-elected he couldn't be re- elected Speaker unless he takes a "Liberal" position on guns. Whatever triggered his announcement, gun owners in his district reacted like a wife who learns that a husband of many years has been slipping around with other women. They're gearing up for a divorce. ======================================================================== ABC Day 1 Targets Knox A much-delayed ABC Day 1 program, profiling Neal Knox as "NRA's Top Gun" was broadcast July 4. Host Forrest Sawyer said Knox " really believes in the right to bear arms," but said his critics believe he is "tearing NRA apart," and is "out of step" with the membership -- which is Handgun Control Inc.'s line. Former Directors Nate Arenson and Dave Edmondson accused Knox of "turning NRA into a political organization" and foolishly "refusing to compromise" on firearms legislation. ABC didn't mention that both of them, plus three other "Knox critics" that they had interviewed but didn't show except in background shots, were all former NRA directors who had been deposed when Knox and his harder liners were elected by the membership. Knox said that while he believed the overall segment was positive -- since the editors left in some of his key points -- he was disappointed by what was filmed but hit the cutting room floor. "ABC continued to portray me as single-handedly directing NRA, which is neither accurate nor fair to Wayne LaPierre and other officers of NRA," Knox said. "My major point, stated repeatedly in three different filmed interviews, is that no gun law has ever reduced the crime rate. That never showed, though they did allow me to point out that the D.C. law had failed. "And they included most of my wife Jay's excellent comments about guns, NRA members, and having 'come from a long line of women who have defended themselves with guns.' "The ABC interviewers were fascinated by one evil-looking, quite powerful semi-auto pistol with magazine ahead of the trigger guard -- the kind of gun they call an 'assault weapon' -- until I told them it was an 1896 Mauser Broomhandle, and that that particular gun was almost 80 years old. "While we were at the skeet range, where I was trying to teach Michelle McQueen how to shoot, she said, 'Neal, this is great fun, but it has nothing to do with those awful assault weapons.' "I told her that she was holding the most deadly form of short-range assault weapon, a common shotgun. The Damascus, Md., Izaak Walton League president, Mac McCollum walked out with a milk jug filled with water, which Michelle reluctantly shot. "When it blew up, Michelle looked and sounded like she had been hit in the stomach. The program showed me loading her gun and insisting 'You do the honors,' but the devastating effect of that one-ounce load of No. 9's wasn't shown." Knox said that the program grew out of a "Wall Street Journal" profile last October, when all four networks, including CBS 60 Minutes wanted to follow him around Capitol Hill with cameras. He turned down all of them until he learned that ABC Day 1 had filmed the deposed directors in Florida and South Dakota (even flying one former director to a South Dakota pheasant hunt and paying for his hunting license). "Against the advice of a lot of my friends, who were as worried as I was about the string of anti-gun programs on Day 1," Knox said he and his wife agreed to the interview, "figuring that even 30 percent positive was better than 100 percent negative." "We came out with enough positives that someone in charge of scheduling repeatedly postponed the program, gave it no advance promos, and -- after telling me they had decided not to do it on Memorial Day because not enough would be watching -- ran it on the Fourth of July when it was pre-empted, literally in some markets, by fireworks displays." ======================================================================== School Punishes Pro-Gun Students Bozeman High School officials accepted Sen. Max Baucus' (D- Mont.) offer to speak at commencement ceremonies last month, despite the school's seniors having twice overwhelmingly voted against him -- largely because of his vote for the Feinstein semi- auto ban. At the ceremony, many of the seniors wore "I'm The NRA" bumper stickers on their gowns and mortar boards. The school refused to give them their diplomas unless and until they wrote apologies to Baucus. Montana Shooting Sports Association President Gary Marbut said: "The only way Baucus can get favorable mail from Montana nowadays is if school officials threaten to flunk students who don't write him nice letters." ======================================================================== Recall Blamed For Roberti Loss California Sen. David Roberti, co-sponsor of the Roberti-Roos ban on so-called "assault weapons," was defeated 55-45 in his bid for state Treasurer. Political reporters -- and Roberti -- blamed his defeat on the gunowner-created recall, which he won. But it drained his time and treasury, costing him some $800,000 -- several times what the recall cost his foes. A few days before the recall Roberti told CBS: "They (gun groups) want to send a message to any politician who dares fight them that they're going to make it so costly and so expensive that they're not going to fight the gun lobby." ======================================================================== Gun Rights Defender Wins Jersey Primary In a head-to-head Republican Congressional primary contest between the only Republican Assemblyman to vote for the Florio semi-auto ban, and the co-sponsor of the repeal, pro-gunner Frank LoBiondo won. Establishment-backed, well-funded Bill Gormley had been expected to easily win the right to seek retiring Congressman Bill Hughes' seat -- which has been redistricted Republican. Neal Knox spoke at a pre-election political dinner sponsored by firearms groups which were part of LoBiondo's core support. In the final stage of the campaign NRA not only alerted its members but ran a $30,000 independent expenditure radio campaign. If you'd like to help, contact: LoBiondo for Congress" 738 E. Landis Ave. Vineland, NJ 08360 ======================================================================== U.N. Enters Gun Law Fight The United Nations Disarmament Commission, with the blessing of the Clinton Administration, has adopted a working paper that calls for prohibitive U.S. gun laws. The objective is "harmonization" of gun laws in countries around the world. The effort, which was initially rejected by the U.S. last December, is led by drugs-corrupted Colombia where "any purchase of arms is illegal." U.S. Ambassador to Canada James Blanchard recently said Americans and Canadians will have to put with border controls "until the United States resolves its gun problems." In May the Clinton Administration banned importation of all Chinese "munitions" -- defined as everything except shotguns and their shells -- while extending "Most Favored Nation" trade status to China. "Harmonization" of trade laws -- including those affecting firearms -- is the goal of the proposed World Trade Organization, which would reduce the sovereignty of the U.S. to one vote among 113 nations. Approval of the WTO is pending in Congress. ======================================================================== Gunowner Rallies Have Good Success Initial reports of Fourth of July rallies by gunowners at state capitals and elsewhere around the country indicate that this purely grass roots effort had considerable success. The rallies grew out of a long-simmering sentiment for a "March on Washington," which a handful of individuals have called for Aug. 14 at the Lincoln Memorial. Originally those non- Washingtonians called the D.C. rally for July 4 weekend -- when it would have conflicted with the annual Park Service celebration and fireworks display, and another 100,000 people wouldn't have been noticed. Glad Hall of Carbondale, Ill., intends to walk in colonial costume from Salem, Ill., to the D.C. Rally holding mini-rallys in each city along the way. Gun Owners of America provided the group -- which calls itself the Committee of 1776 -- with an 800 number manned by volunteers in South Carolina. The events have mainly been promoted by ads in Shotgun News and on the computer nets. Average turnouts of about 1,000 have been reported from Oklahoma, New Mexico, Austin and El Paso, Texas, Florida, Kansas and Maine; about 150 in Michigan, and about 3,000 in Pennsylvania and California. Three rallies, including one that drew about 3,000 in Columbus, made CNN. The Park Service has granted Ron Long, the chairman, a permit for "more than 1,000" and will provide portapotties. Speakers will include Roy Innis, Larry Pratt of GOA and Aarron Zelman of JPFO. For more information call 503-939-GUNS or 803-269-6704. ======================================================================== Connecticut Law Upheld A state trial judge upheld Connecticut's ban on military-style semi-autos saying that the state constitution clearly declares a right to keep and bear arms but that the law doesn't violate it. The case, supported by NRA and other gun groups, will be appealed to the state supreme court. Brady Partially Stricken NRA-backed Tenth Amendment challenges to the Brady Act have been won in three of four Federal district court cases. The plaintiffs, all sheriffs, challenged the law's requirement that they perform background checks. None of the courts agreed to strike the entire law. The main importance of the decisions is that they undercut Congressional efforts to require the states to impose gun restrictions. ======================================================================== Gunowners Generally Doing Well In States Gunowners have done well in most state legislatures this year, including pushing through liberalized concealed carry laws in four states. Last week the California Senate <197> in what some called a sympathy vote and going-away present for Sen. David Roberti <197> passed his latest semi-auto and magazine ban by 21-14. Pennsylvania approved a broadening of the state's preemption law to block a Philadelphia semi-auto ban but Gov. Robert Casey has said he will veto it. And in Delaware last week a one-gun-per-month law was defeated. ======================================================================== 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. ======================================================================== PGP Users 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. ======================================================================== 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 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.3 iQCVAgUBLim/8Q5t55+a10qVAQEhegQAn/uuSS+wB9XUJb/FtNV9CqcpK4NazZkl dKlJ4+81Vd7NrK0VhKe9Ac5cg8BwzSo0ix1eW9fhC85s4hojcIMhr8nL2BafkjGe uvMznMlcPOjLhIXq365/WZYKpL6alg7+zfsHsBpel2urZMqxvOBvWB7UeHI/k9zg U8zVTiz5EAU= =paT5 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- "If you want to have a large population and to provide it with arms so as to establish a great empire, you will have made your population such that you cannot handle it as you please." -- Machiavelli _The Discourses_ To receive the Online Firearms Coalition Bulletin send mail to cknox@crl.com with "subscribe" as the subject. 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