From: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com (roc-digest) To: roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: roc-digest V2 #151 Reply-To: roc-digest Sender: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk roc-digest Thursday, June 18 1998 Volume 02 : Number 151 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Jun 98 20:36:53 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: New magazine (fwd) On Jun 17, Larry Gibes wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] The well known Colorado libertarian activist (and gun dealer), Bob Glass has started a new magazine called "The Partisan". He calls it the journal of the American Freedom Fighter. The goal is to provide practical, proven methods to advance the cause of liberty. It is $19.95 per year, four issues per year, about 100 pages per issue. The Partisan P.O.Box 1085 Suite G Longmont, CO 80502 See also: http://partisan.com uzi1@frii.com 303-651-0070 [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Jun 98 20:38:58 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: rkba-list: An Indictment (fwd) On Jun 17, Edgar Suter wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] The following is Dr. Blackman's statement to the NAS IOM. It is an excellent summary of the nearly innumerable types of deception displayed by those who would frighten us into abandoning our inalienable rights. Edgar A. Suter MD National Chair Doctors for Integrity in Policy Research Inc. ******************************************* STATEMENT TO THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES' INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE'S COMMITTEE ON INJURY PREVENTION AND CONTROL by PAUL H. BLACKMAN, Ph.D. National Rifle Association Instead of attempting to refute shoddy research, I'll leave that to my handouts to the Committee, including a literature review by criminologist Gary Kleck (1995; see also Kleck, 1997) summarizing the findings that guns aren't the problem and that gun laws are unlikely measurably to impact it, but disarming the law-abiding would aid the criminal since guns are used more protectively than improperly, and I'll note that criminal violence is reduced by increasing the certainty, severity, and celerity of punishment (e.g., Marvell and Moody, 1997). I've also given the committee a variety of criticisms of the public health approach to firearms and violence (Blackman, 1997; Carlson, 1996; Kates et al., 1997; see also Kates et al., 1995), since that is the predominant substitute for the overwhelming criminological failure to make a case; even criminologists who dislike guns tend to posit mixed costs and benefits while discussing what would happen to crime absent guns, without determining how or if that could be achieved. (Cook, 1983 and 1991) I'll simply list briefly some of the failings of public health literature on guns and violence, and name a sampling of the researchers whose work exemplifies those failings. If that looks a bit like an ad hominem approach, it certainly fits in where Christoffel's response to criticism aimed at the American Journal of Public Health was to suggest that the Violence Policy Center -- a good choice, I might note -- "dig up some dirt" on the critic.1 This is a field where the other half of ad hominem -- if the work was in a peer reviewed publication, criticism of the work must be invalid -- has helped a small group of criminologists get over the modest amount of scientific integrity they used to have and hypercriticize pro-gun research while mindlessly defending that of self-styled epidemiologists. Such is some of the criminological work of Cook, Reiss, Roth, the National Academy of Sciences, et alles. (Satcher, 1995; Tarlov et al., 1995; Reiss and Roth, 1993) Examples of problems with the public health approach include: Dismissing research data and findings because the results were unappealing, as with the 15 surveys showing between 750,000 and four million protective uses of firearms annually: Cook, Hemenway, and others. (Cook, Ludwig and Hemenway, 1997; Cook and Ludwig, 1997; McDowall and Wiersema, 1994) Perhaps more seriously, keeping research data secret for years to prevent possible independent scrutiny, an act worthy of the opprobrium of all honest scientists: Kellermann, Rivara, et al. (Kates et al., 1995; Blackman, 1997; U.S. House of Representatives, 1996) Taking studies with acknowledged limitations and citing them ad nauseam as if they were definitive and nationally applicable: Kellermann, Rosenberg, Mercy, and -- calling preliminary research definitive under oath -- Teret. (Kellermann, 1993a and 1994; Kellermann et al., 1991; Cotton, 1992; Butterfield, 1995b; Kellermann, 1997; Teret, 1993) Using numbers instead of rates for rhetorical purposes -- effective but unscientific: Satcher, Mercy, and lots of others. (Mercy, 1993; Satcher, 1995; Cotton, 1992) Using words like "epidemic" for emotional impact without regard to its epidemiologic meaning, and sometimes in defiance of that meaning: Rosenberg, and Christoffel, who carefully misstated the meaning of epidemiology to exclude its real meaning while testifying under oath. (Rosenberg, 1993; Christoffel, 1996) Routinely glossing over problems of unreliable data; ignoring or failing to explain limitations of statistically significant but low odds ratios; glossing over massive odds ratios in favor of the alleged problems of small odds ratios; pretending, in community studies, that dissimilar communities are the same; and ignoring the limitations of inferences of matched case-control studies compared to general population controls: Loftin et al., Kellermann et al. (Loftin et al., 1991; Sloan et al., 1988; Kellermann, 1993a; Kellermann et al., 1992 and 1993; Bailey et al. 1997) Assuming the existence of guns in a home implies access to those guns: Lee. (Lee and Sacks, 1990) Assuming access implies problems, without making any effort to measure possible problems of assumed access: Lee, Hemenway, et al. (Lee and Sacks, 1990; Weil and Hemenway, 1992; Hemenway et al., 1995; Hemenway and Richardson, 1997) Implicitly assuming that a risk factor is causal, where, in reality, the finding of risk factors is supposed to be followed by efforts to determine whether the relationship is causal, or to determine whether another factor explains both phenomena, etc.; and then assuming various untested measures will reduce the problem, if there is one: Kellermann and lots of others. (Kellermann, 1994; Lee and Sacks, 1990; Wilkinson, 1993) Giving guns magical causal powers rather than look for underlying causes of gun ownership, thus having gun ownership cause homicides and suicides even when the guns were not involved in the deaths being studied: Cummings, Kellermann, and their colleagues. (Kellermann et al., 1992 and 1993; Cummings et al., 1997) Assuming guns are the problem to be addressed even if far more serious risk factors are uncovered which dwarf the possible risks of guns, such as mental illness for suicide -- or which would undercut assumptions that regulation of guns seems a hopeful response, such as drug abuse for homicide and suicide: Kellermann and his colleagues repeatedly. (Kellermann et al., 1992 and 1993; Bailey et al., 1997) Assuming gun laws curb crime on the grounds that things would have gotten worse without the gun laws when the data do not support the proposition, such as Loftin et al. regarding Detroit and Washington, D.C., and refusing to consider explanations others than guns or gun laws for changes in mortality trends. (O'Carroll et al., 1991; Loftin et al., 1991) Assuming the "no guns" position is easily achievable, a preposterous concept borrowed from Cook; Christoffel suggested that America should emulate the model of Japan, where banning guns was a way, she noted, for the ruling class to prevent the rise of democracy. (Cook, 1991; Sacks et al., 1994; Christoffel, oral presentation at the annual meeting of the American Trauma Society, McLean, Va., May 1992) Assuming there is only pro-gun bias, and that moneys from government and foundations are automatically pure and unsullied, despite pre-research anti-gun policy statements from the likes of Rosenberg and the CDC, the Joyce Foundation, and the California Wellness Foundation. In answer to a question, a CDC researcher told me that, yes, the ban-handguns decal on his briefcase was symbolic of objective science.2 (Kellermann, 1993b) Pretending protective use of guns hasn't occurred unless there is a corpse: Kellermann, Rushforth, and others. (Kellermann and Reay, 1986; Kellermann et al., 1993; Bailey et al., 1997; Rushforth et al., 1974; Kellermann, 1997) Identifying self-defense killings as murders, and self-defense with criminal misuse of firearms: Mercy, Kellermann, and most recently, public-health supporter, Zimring, who refers to self defense as a "social pathology." (Kellermann and Mercy, 1992; Zimring and Hawkins, 1997) That demonstrates one of the serious problems of addressing violence as a public health rather than as a criminological issue: for the medical profession, the lives of saints and sinners are equally valuable, and public health sometimes sees a young sinner's life as more valuable than that of an older saint. (CDC, 1994a) Using data dishonestly, by describing as affecting children and youth events occurring primarily to 15-19 and 15-24 year olds,3 falsely asserting increases in gun-related mortality among women when the rate is declining, or pretending data are equally applicable regardless of socio-economic status, degree of urbanization, and others: Teret, Wintemute, Rosenberg, Mercy, and others. (Teret and Wintemute, 1983; Cotton, 1992; Mercy, 1993; Butterfield, 1994a; Koop and Lundberg, 1992; CDC, 1994b; Rosenberg et al., 1992) And rarely, if ever, actually measuring trends or demographic variations in gun ownership, and relating them to data on gun-related violence or its absence. Misrepresenting the research of others. Kellermann and Mercy are worst, citing sources which contradict what they're supposed to support; but it's common to cite sources which fail to support the statement for which they're cited. (Mercy, 1992; Kellermann et al., 1992; Sloan et al., 1988) Pretending no criticism of peer-reviewed publications is valid -- an attitude which can be dangerous when treatment of gunshot wounds is at issue: Journal of Trauma, AJPH. (Satcher, 1995; Fackler, 1997a and 1997b) The CDC goes further and perceives scientific criticism as disloyalty warranting blackballing and censorship: Rivara, Kellermann, Christoffel, Rosenberg. (Personal communications from CDC employees) The CDC sees encouraging shoddy research as important enough to defy congressional bans on such research and lobbying. (Federal Register 62:12202, March 14, 1997) And, finally, rhetorically comparing gun and violence research to tobacco research, perhaps hoping to validate lousy research by citing research by others in a different field, which has been somewhat more successful: Kellermann, Rosenberg. (Butterfield, 1994b; Raspberry, 1994; Kellermann, 1997) Instead of further muddying the water, this committee should remove criminal violence and intentional injury from its purview. Thank you. REFERENCES Bailey, J.E., A.L. Kellermann, et al. 1997. "Risk Factors for Violent Death of Women in the Home." Archives of Internal Medicine 157:777-782. Blackman, P.H. 1997. "A Critique of the Epidemiologic Study of Firearms and Homicide." Homicide Studies 1:169-189. Butterfield, F. 1994a. "Teen-age Homicide Rate has Soared." New York Times, Oct. 14, p. A10. Butterfield, F. 1994b. "New Tactics Used in Fight Against Crime." New York Times, Oct. 16, p. A25. Carlson, T. 1996. "Handgun Control, M.D." The Weekly Standard, April 15, pp. 23-26. CDC. 1994a. "Firearm-Related Years of Potential Life Lost Before Age 65 - -- 1980-1991." Journal of the American Medical Association 272: 1246. CDC. 1994b. "Homicides Among 15-19-Year-Old Males -- United States, 1963-1991." Journal of the American Medical Association 272:1572. Christoffel, K.K. 1996. Deposition in case of E. Gaffney v. City of Chicago et al., No. 91 L 16289, Cook County Circuit Court, January 26-February 2. Cook, P.J. 1983. "The Influence of gun Availability on Violent Crime Patterns." Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research 4:49-89. Cook, P.J. 1991. "The Technology of Personal Violence." Crime and Justice: A Review of Research 14:1-71. Cook, P.J., J. Ludwig, and D. Hemenway. 1997. "The Gun Debate's New Mythical Number: How Many Defensive Uses Per Year?" Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 16:463-469. Cook, P.J. and J. Ludwig. 1997. Guns in America: National Survey of Private Ownership and Use of Firearms. National Institute of Justice Research in Brief, U.S. Dept. of Justice (May). Cotton, P. 1992. "Gun-Related Violence Increasingly Viewed as Public Health Challenge." Journal of the American Medical Association 267:1171-1174. Cummings, P., T.D. Koepsell, D.C. Grossman, J. Savarino, and R.S. Thompson. 1997. "The Association between the Purchase of a Handgun and Homicide or Suicide." American Journal of Public Health 87:974-978. Fackler, M.L. 1997a. "Wound Ballistics Literature Review #2." Wound Ballistics Review 3:36-43. Fackler, M.L. 1997b. "Wound Ballistics Literature Review #4." Wound Ballistics Review 3:46-48. Fingerhut, L.A. and J.C. Kleinman. 1989. Firearm Mortality Among Children and Youth. NCHS Advance Data No. 178 (Nov. 3). CDC National Center for Health Statistics. Hemenway, D., S.J. Solnick and D.R. Azrael. 1995. "Firearms Training and Storage." Journal of the American Medical Association 273:46-50. Hemenway, D. and E. Richardson. 1997. "Characteristics of Automatic or Semiautomatic Firearm Ownership in the United States." American Journal of Public Health 87:286-288. Kates, D.B., H.E. Schaffer, J.K. Lattimer, G.B. Murray and E.W. Cassem. 1995. "Guns and Public Health: Epidemic of Violence, or Pandemic of Propaganda?" Tennessee Law Review 62:513-596. Kates, D.B., H.E. Schaffer and W.C. Waters IV. 1997. "Public Health Pot Shots: How the CDC Succumbed to the Gun 'Epidemic'." Reason, April, pp. 24-29. Kellermann, A.L. 1993a. "Preventing Firearm Injuries: A Review of Epidemiologic Research." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 9(suppl.):12-15. Kellermann, A.L. 1993b. "Obstacles To Firearm And Violence Research." Health Affairs 12(4):142-153. Kellermann, A.L. 1994. "Do Guns Matter?" Western Journal of Medicine 161;614-615. Kellermann, A.L. 1997. "Gunsmoke -- Changing Public Attitudes toward Smoking and Firearms." American Journal of Public Health 87:910-913. Kellermann, A.L. and D.T. Reay. 1986. "Protection or Peril?: An Analysis of Firearm-Related Deaths in the Home." New England Journal of Medicine 314:1557-1560. Kellermann, A.L. and J.A. Mercy. 1992. "Men, Women, and Murder: Gender-Specific Differences in Rates of Fatal Violence and Victimization." Journal of Trauma 33:1-5. Kellermann, A.L., R.K. Lee, J.A. Mercy and J. Banton. 1991. "The Epidemiologic Basis for the Prevention of Firearm Injuries." Annual Review of Public Health 12:17-40. Kellermann, A.L. et al. 1992. "Suicide in the Home in Relation to Gun Ownership." New England Journal of Medicine 327:467-472. Kellermann, A.L. et al. 1993. "Gun Ownership as a Risk Factor for Homicide in the Home." New England Journal of Medicine 329:1084-1091. Kleck, G. 1995. "Guns and Violence: An Interpretive Review of the Field." Social Pathology 1:12-47. Kleck, G. 1997. Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control. New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Koop, C.E. and G.D. Lundberg. 1992. "Violence in America: A Public Health Emergency: Time to Bite the Bullet Back." Journal of the American Medical Association 267:3075-3076. Lee, R.K. and J.J. Sacks. 1990. "Latchkey Children and Guns at Home." Journal of the American Medical Association 264:2210. Loftin, C., D. McDowall, B. Wiersema and T.J. Cottey. 1991. "Effects of Restrictive Licensing of Handguns on Homicide and Suicide in the District of Columbia." New England Journal of Medicine 325:1615-1620. McDowall, D. and Brian Wiersema. 1994. "The Incidence of Defensive Firearms Use by US Crime Victims, 1987 through 1990. American Journal of Public Health 84:1982-1984. Marvell, T.B. and C.E. Moody. 1997. The Impact of Prison Growth on Homicide." Homicide Studies 1:205-233. Mercy, J.A. 1993. "The Public Health Impact of Firearm Injuries." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 9(suppl.):8-11. O'Carroll, P.W., C. Loftin et al. 1991. "Preventing Homicide: An Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Detroit Gun Ordinance." American Journal of Public Health 81:576-581. Raspberry, W. 1994. "Sick People with Guns." Washington Post, Oct. 19, p. A23. Reiss, A.J. Jr. and J.A. Roth. Understanding and Preventing Violence. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Rosenberg, M. 1993. "The Faces of Injury." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 9(suppl.):3-7. Rosenberg, M., P.W. O'Carroll and K.E. Powell. 1992. "Let's Be Clear: Violence is a Public Health Problem." Journal of the American Medical Association 267:3071-3072. Rushforth, N.B., C.S. Hirsch et al. 1974. "Accidental Firearm Fatalities in a Metropolitan County (1958-1973)." American Journal of Epidemiology 100:499-505. Sacks, J.J., J.A. Mercy, G.W. Ryan, R.G. Parrish. 1994. "Guns in the Home, Homicide, and Suicide." Journal of the American Medical Association 272:847-848. Satcher, D. 1995. "Gunning for Research." Washington Post, Nov. 5, p. C2. Sloan, J.H., A.L. Kellermann et al. 1988. "Handgun Regulations, Crime, Assaults, and Homicide: A Tale of Two Cities." New England Journal of Medicine 319:1256-1262. Surgeon General's Workshop. 1986. Violence and Public Health Report, Leesburg, Va., October 1985. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Tarlov, A.R., P.J. Cook, J. Kelsey and M. Moore. 1995. Firearm Injury Prevention: Report of the Special Panel to Evaluate the Quality of Research on Firearm Injury Prevention that has been Supported by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teret, S.P. 1993. Testimony, John Doe & Jane Doe v. Portland (Me.)Housing Authority, Cumberland County Superior Court, Docket No. 92-1408 (December). Teret, S.P. and G.J. Wintemute. 1983. "Handgun Injuries: The Epidemiologic Evidence for Assessing Legal Responsibility." Hamline Law Review 6:341-350. U.S. House of Representatives. 1996. Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, Appropriations for 1997, Part 7, 104th Congress, Second Session, March 6. Weil, D.S. and D. Hemenway. 1992. "Loaded Guns in the Home: Analysis of a National Random Survey of Gun Owners." Journal of the American Medical Association 267:3033-3037. Wilkinson, F. 1993. "Gunning for Guns." Rolling Stone, Dec. 9, pp. 35 and 39. Zimring, F.E. and G. Hawkins. 1997. Crime is Not the Problem: Lethal Violence in America. New York: Oxford University Press. 1As the recipient of an open letter from Edgar A. Suter, M.D., Doctors for Integrity in Policy Research, K.K. Christoffel's Internet response in attempting to forward the message to her colleagues at Northwestern (July 16, 1997, 11:23:52 EDT) was: "Does this group have a web page; if so, does it list members? Might VPC dig up some dirt on it." 2Re: Rosenberg and the CDC: Fingerhut and Kleinman, 1989; Raspberry, 1994; Butterfield, 1994b; Surgeon General's Workshop, 1985, pp. 52-54. Re: Joyce Foundation: remarks of Deborah Leff, Steve Teret, and its contributions to such anti-gun "educational" groups as Handgun Control's Center to Prevent Handgun Violence and the HELP Network. Re: California Wellness: Explanation of its grant to the Rand Corp. by Rand's Peter Greenwood at the 1996 annual meeting of the Homicide Research Working Group, Santa Monica. Personal communication from CDC researcher at the Third National Injury Control Conference, Denver, April 1991. 3This has been politicized by the President, who espouses virtually all firearms proposals based on alleged utility in protecting children, an effort assisted by the CDC's politicization of firearms research and Mark Rosenberg's role both as head of that research and advisor to the presidential firearms working group. (Wilkinson, 1993) [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Jun 98 08:14:23 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: CRIMESTRIKE: VA Habitat For Humanity Under Fire (fwd) The section on IOLTA's is interesting, and may be of future use in litigation or legislation in the Several States..... On Jun 17, NRA Alerts wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] NRA CrimeStrike's CrimeWatch Weekly Breaking news on critical crime-fighting issues, policies and legislation Vol. 4, No. 24 June 16, 1998 VA Habitat For Humanity Under Fire For Decision On Parolee Yesterday, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a study that found the number of families in need of low-cost housing has increased dramatically over the last few years, and that today, two families compete for every one unit of low-cost housing available. The report comes at a time when one chapter of Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization that uses volunteer labor to build houses it then sells at low cost to needy families, has come under criticism for selling one of these scarce residences to a convicted murderer one who, authorities allege, tried to kidnap a 12-year-old last month. In 1995, the Prince William County, VA, chapter of Habitat for Humanity decided to sell its first house to Donald R. Dannemiller, a married, 37-year-old house painter with five children. Soon thereafter, fliers appeared in the neighborhood warning that in 1976, Dannemiller was convicted of the death of his 13-year-old stepsister, having had a sexual relationship with her and then shooting her in the head. The community confronted the local Habitat chapter, which confirmed Dannemiller's murder conviction, adding that Dannemiller was paroled from prison in 1982 after serving six years. The chapter stood by its decision despite community objections, and in February 1996, the Dannemillers moved into their new Dumfries, VA home. Residents had their worst fears realized on May 15, when Dannemiller was arrested for trying to force a 12-year-old girl into his van, and then shooting her and a witness with a pellet gun when the girl escaped. Investigators said the suspect was spotted later in a nearby county after a second girl reported being shot with a pellet gun by a man in a van that matched the earlier victim's description. Will Newman, Executive Director of the neighboring Northern Virginia chapter of Habitat for Humanity said, "I have a very hard time understanding how a Habitat affiliate could have done this knowing full well that [Dannemiller] had a criminal record of that kind." Ulysses X. White, president of the Prince William Chapter, continues to stand by his chapter's decision. High Court Strikes Blow To Misuse Of IOLTA Funds The Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program, which was intended to benefit the poor in need of legal assistance but has been accused of "funding the left" instead, is in jeopardy now, following yesterday's Supreme Court ruling in Phillips v. Washington Legal Foundation. The IOLTA program works as follows: lawyers holding clients' money on a short term basis are required to maintain the funds in specialized interest-bearing trust accounts. Through the IOLTA program, states pool the money into one much larger account that, in all states combined, generates $100 million in interest annually. If these clients funds were not pooled, the interest would be minimal. IOLTA collects the interest on clients' funds, then uses it to make grants to recipients without the clients' consent or even knowledge. According to The Washington Times, IOLTA grantees have included the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union, opponents of welfare- eligibility requirements in Massachusetts and supporters of mandatory busing in Texas. The Court ruled that IOLTA funds are clients' private property, which could pave the way for a finding of unconstitutionality under the Fifth Amendment, which prohibits the government from "taking" property without compensation. However, it is now up to Texas courts to determine whether the IOLTA program constitutes a "taking" of what the Supreme Court has now held is private property. New Report: 1.7 Million Behind Bars As of June 30, 1997, United States authorities had 99,175 criminals incarcerated in federal prisons, 1,059,588 in state prisons, and 567,079 in local jails, for a total of 1.7 million criminals behind bars, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics' report, "Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 1997." Between July 1, 1996 and June 30, 1997, the number of inmates in jail, as opposed to state or federal prison, grew by 9%. This is the largest growth since 1989 and nearly twice the annual average growth since 1990. Jails are locally-operated and house persons awaiting trial, conviction or sentencing; persons sentenced to short terms (generally less than one year); juveniles awaiting transfer to juvenile facilities; and the "overflow" of criminals who cannot be housed in federal or state prisons due to prison overcrowding. Parolee Shoots Tourist Parolee Kendrick James Johnson allegedly robbed German physicist Wolfgang Mensch and his wife on May 26 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and then shot Mr. Mensch, 59, in the abdomen. Mensch remains in the hospital, where he has been overwhelmed by well wishes from the community. Johnson is charged with attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery, and gun charges. =+=+=+=+ This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA. This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Jun 98 08:11:07 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Gun Shipping Pointers (fwd) On Jun 18, BludyRed@aol.com wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] I received this in the mail. It contains pointers concerning the shipment of firearms. I considered the information appropriate to post to the list. Regards, Dennis Baron Forwarded Mail >>As a gun owner and an 11-year UPS driver, I get alot of questions from people regarding the safest way to ship and insure firearms through UPS. Theft of firearms and other items by UPS employees, though rare, unfortunately does occur but there are a lot of surpisingly simple and inexpensive ways to virtually gurantee that you wont be a victim. Please pass this information along to anyone who may benefit from it. There are 2 ways that things get stolen from UPS...pilfering and overlabeling. Pilferers are mostly thieves of opportunity. Handguns, jewelry, cameras and prescription narcotics are their favorite targets because they are easily identifiable and can quickly be shoved into a pocket or inside of a shirt due to the SMALL SIZE of the packages they come in. The red and black "adult signiature required" (ASR) labels that are legally required to be on these package are often a dead giveaway.They are also called "steal me stickers" by thieves. Since most UPS facilities are fenced in and require employees belongings to be searched upon exiting, the size of the item is critical. The BEST way to protect your handgun is to simply put it in a big box. One gunsmith on my route "disguises" his handguns by putting them in used Amway boxes!! This works VERY well. Look at the box you are shipping your handgun in...if you can stick it inside your pants or under your shirt easily, it is vulnerable. As far as the ASR labels go, you are required by law to have them on firearms shipments. What many customers dont know, however, is that they can get a more "discreet" ASR label that is incorporated into the UPS tracking label. These are better because the words "adult signiature required" are very small and unnoticeable. More importantly, this barcode will electronically "prompt" the driver at the other end to get a signiature...if he accidentally tries to "release" the package on the customers porch without getting a signiature he will be unable to do so since the DIAD (that electronic clipboard that you sign) will read the barcode and will force him to get a signiature in order to complete the delivery. You can order these special tracking labels through your Customer Service rep, or you can print them yourself with the UPS shipping software. Another more sophisticated method of theft is "overlabeling". This involves several conspirators who plan ahead and may get jobs at UPS for that very purpose. What they do is to print up a bunch of fake labels, with generic barcodes and phony return addresses, that are all addressed to a storage unit or apartment that they have rented in advance. One or more employees who are sorting and processing these packages will then slap the phony label over the authentic one, and the package will then proceed along its merry way to the "destination" where an unsuspecting driver will deliver it to another accomplice who signs for it using a fake name. This will go on for a week or so until the thieves move on to another address to avoid suspicion. Since the original barcode is covered up, it is impossible to even trace these packages and they simply "vanish". The theives who do this will also target handguns and jewelry, but since they arent trying to sneak it past a guard they have the freedom to target larger packages such as rifles, TV's and computers. How do you avoid this? Its simple...put an address label on ALL 6 sides of the box. A package so labeled will be passed up by a prospective thief, since he must now try to cover up 6 labels instead of only one. This is too risky, since the areas where these packages are sorted are often under electronic surveillance. If you are a gunsmith or store owner who ships UPS, and the package you are shipping is worth over $1000, then inform the driver who picks it up and have him initial the pickup record. These "high value" packages are audited,segregated from other packages, they are not sorted or run over conveyor belts, and they are subject to a chain-of-custody type procedure that will prevent their being stolen. I feel 100% safe in saying that a handgun that is shipped in a larger- than-normal box of good quality, with a discreet ASR barcode and address labels on all 6 sides, will NEVER get stolen or lost. Its an unfortunate that a few of the 16 million pieces a day that we ship are in danger of being stolen, but if you take these simple precautions you wont be a victim. << [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Jun 98 14:23:08 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Fratrum: PDD 63 (fwd) On Jun 18, Eugene W. Gross wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Joseph Farah's column discusses the government's move toward martial law. Bit by bit, the story is getting out. It will not hit the public's radar until the banks are threatened and emergency orders limiting cash withdrawals are declared. Pay close attention to Sen. Robert Bennett's analysis: "It is entirely possible that every organization in America could get its own computers fixed ... and still have major problems. When people say to me, is the world going to come to an end, I say I don't know. I don't know whether this will be a bump in the road ... or whether this will in fact trigger a major worldwide recession with absolutely devastating economic consequences in some parts of the world." He understands the systemic nature of y2k: you have to fix all of the world's computers in order to secure any computer. Noncompliant data must be locked out of every system. Second, he's not sure that y2k is not a threat to the survival of the modern economy. He does not downplay it. He does not dismiss it with the standard, "yes, it's a problem," followed by assurances that "we'll get this fixed in time." He understands that "we" means the while world, which clearly isn't going to happen. This is from WORLD NET DAILY (June 18). * * * * * * * * * Presidential Decision Directive 63 "In the event of a Y2K-induced breakdown of community services that might call for martial law," will the military be ready? asked Sen. Robert Bennett, R-UT, chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, of Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre. His reply? "We've got fundamental issues to deal with that go beyond just the Year 2000 contingency planning. And-- I think you're right to bring that up." Later, Bennett added ominously: "The world as a whole is almost doomed to have major problems because other countries are way behind, however badly prepared we are" to handle the problem. "It is entirely possible that every organization in America could get its own computers fixed ... and still have major problems. When people say to me, is the world going to come to an end, I say I don't know. I don't know whether this will be a bump in the road ... or whether this will in fact trigger a major worldwide recession with absolutely devastating economic consequences in some parts of the world." . . . It is, no doubt, this kind of panicky and opportunistic thinking that led President Clinton to issue Presidential Decision Directive 63 -- one of the most ominous and least understood orders to emanate from a White House notorious for issuing such directives. It was released by the White House, like so many others, with little fanfare May 22. Single-spaced, "The Clinton Administration's Policy on Critical Infrastructure Protection," prints out to some 15 pages. While it never explicitly mentions the Y2K bug, one can't help thinking it was in the mind of the authors, who dwell heavily on the importance of "cyber-based information systems." . . . So what does the White House have in mind? Clinton is calling for a plan to ensure "essential national security missions" as well as general public health and safety by the year 2000. Interesting that he would pick that date. The plan must also provide ways for state and local governments to maintain order and deliver minimum essential services and the private sector to keep the economy humming. Not interested in the federal plans? You may have to be. The document states that "it is preferred that participation by owners and operators in a national infrastructure protection system be voluntary." Note that word "preferred." The president's national security adviser will serve as the clearinghouse for developing the plans. The first drafts from federal agencies is due on his desk this November. The military plays a big role in the plans. The Defense Department serves as the "executive agent" through the end of this fiscal year, after which, Clinton's favorite department, Commerce, takes over. Link: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/btlines/980618.btl.pres.directive6.html [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ End of roc-digest V2 #151 *************************