From: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com (utah-firearms-digest) To: utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: utah-firearms-digest V2 #58 Reply-To: utah-firearms-digest Sender: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk utah-firearms-digest Tuesday, May 19 1998 Volume 02 : Number 058 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 15 May 98 22:24:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Politics as usual - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 03:23:45 -0600 From: Ron Amos To: Libertarian Party of Utah , Libertarian Self-Reliance Subject: Politics as usual Politics as Usual Dept. [Thanks to Tim Rhodes for this tidbit] Representative Tim Moor sponsored a resolution in the Texas House of Representatives in Austin, Texas calling on the House to commend Albert de Salvo for his unselfish service to "his country, his state and his community." The resolution stated that "this compassionate gentleman's dedication and devotion to his work has enabled the weak and the lonely throughout the nation to achieve and maintain a new degree of concern for their future. He has been officially recognized by the state of Massachusetts for his noted activities and unconventional techniques involving population control and applied psychology." The resolution was passed unanimously. Representative Moore then revealed that he had only tabled the motion to show how the legislature passes bills and resolutions often without reading them or understanding what they say. Albert de Salvo was the Boston Strangler. - -- Ron Amos, Libertarian Candidate Utah State House District #27 Liberty is Our Destiny http://www.netcom.com/~ramos3/district27.html - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 May 98 22:24:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FEAR: Who's next? You? Me? -- The Danger of Dissent in the USA - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "R. J. Tavel, JD" Willy Chaplin published an interesting piece in the ezine, PissedOff (http://www.pissedoff.com/cgi-pissedoff/hn/get/forums/secret.html), a couple of days ago. In the essay there is a link to the May, 1998, issue of the magazine Liberty and to a very disturbing article by the author Peter McWilliams, "The DEA Wishes Me a Nice Day" (an on-line copy is at http://www.libertysoft.com/liberty/issues/65issue.html), wherein he describes a visit paid to him by the DEA last December. In the pre dawn hours on one December morning, they came into his home with guns drawn, handcuffed Mr. McWilliams, proceeded to search his home and his business and to confiscate his personal property, including his computer, his current book in progress and all backup copies. A warrant was only produced later and even then, no reason was given. (They don't have to give a reason any more thanks to one of the latest raft of annual "crime bills" passed by our ever caring congress). We could speculate that the reason for this devastating intrusion into Peter's life is because he wrote a very enlightening but politically critical book a few years ago entitled, Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country (available at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0931580536/002-7099641-9910800). Or it could be because he is apparently using medically prescribed marijuana because he is dying of AIDS and cancer. While this practice is legal in California, the Feds apparently do not condone such laws and are making life miserable for any California citizens who chose to ignore federal drug policy -- the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution notwithstanding. No, the reason the DEA has decided to make Peter's life miserable and the reason Peter is resigned to spending the rest of his life in prison, is DISSENT. Yeah, I know that folk wisdom has it that in the USA with its democracy that is the envy of the world, dissent is not only accepted but is even encouraged. Try it. Sure, you can openly complain about the trivial things, but experience has shown that on the big, big issues -- like the Vietnam war, the Cold War, and now the Drug war, expressing opposition can get you in a bunch of trouble. But Mr. Chaplin has made this claim much better than I can and I strongly recommend you take a look at his essay, "Secret Police" at http://www.pissedoff.com/cgi-pissedoff/hn/get/forums/secret.html . I quote Mr. Chaplin: "Then it hit me...like a thunderbolt! We have EXACTLY such a [police] force RIGHT NOW! It exists and is growing stronger, more repressive and more dangerous each year. It is called the Drug Enforcement Agency and it is explicitly formed and authorized to fight opposition to a war...the War on Drugs. It's tactics are unconstitutional, secretive, ruthless and brutal. Despite the fact that it has NEVER been the slightest bit effective in stemming drug use or abuse, it HAS BEEN ALMOST COMPLETELY EFFECTIVE IN SUPPRESSING DISSENT!" If this is true -- and I believe it is -- we are all at risk. Not because we are taking un-approved drugs but because we actively express our disapproval about what the government is doing to the citizens and its abuse of the Constitution. So, the old-timers would say, what else in new? Dissent has always been dangerous. Maybe, it would be prudent to just keep our mouths shut (as the German citizens did before WW2). But that is hard to do when we read what Mr. McWilliams has to say about it: "If the DEA has seized my computer to silence me, it has failed, as I hope this article illustrates." A good point. [Posted by Leon Felkins] - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 May 98 22:24:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Idaho Judge Lodge Linked to Hansen Nightmare 1/2 - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 14 May 1998 20:22:54 -0600 To: "New Republican Discussion List" From: spiker To All, The corrupt District Federal Judge detailed in this newspaper article is the same man who dismissed the court case against Lon Horiuchi, the murderer of Randy Weaver's wife and son. Truth Surfaces in Hansen Ordeal Banker's Political Prisoner http://www.conghansen.com/backg.htm (EDITOR'S NOTE: This article contains graphic descriptions of torture that some may find offensive) Dept. of Finance/Judge Lodge Linked to Hansen Nightmare by Don Harkins and Edward Snook Diesel Therapy: A prison term which describes the most inhumane, degrading and painful of punishment; normally reserved for the most violent and uncontrollable of prisoners. A prisoner is shackled at the feet and handcuffed at the wrists, reinforced with a box-like structure which stiffens the chains and locks the wrists at a 90-degree angle. The handcuffs are connected to a waist chain that is connected to another chain which connects the shackles. Once this shackling is complete, a prisoner can barely move. The tightened manacles pinch the nerves and restrict the flow of blood causing severe pain and swelling. Legs swelling with blood are particularly damaging to the feet, as toenails under pressure from blood-blisters press up against shoes for long periods of time and soon become infected and deformed, causing such excruciating pain that they require surgery or the pulling of the nails out by the roots. Diesel therapy gets its name, not from the "cruel and unusual" bondage, but from being forced into bus after bus and onto plane after plane, shackled as described, and being shuttled from one prison to another, for weeks on end, 20 hours per day in chains, for no other reason than to cause pain and suffering and give the prisoner a "message." Welcome to diesel therapy and the world of seven-term Congressman George Hansen who was found guilty in the court-room of the infamous Federal Judge Edward Lodge on bogus charges of bank fraud which were manipulated into an issue by the Idaho Department of Finance which illegally used the same agents previously employed by the IRS in their failed attempt to "get Hansen." People who have been reading past editions of The Idaho Observer and The Oregon Observer will recall that the Judge Lodge/Idaho Department of Finance connection has already been uncovered in the bogus securities laws violations charges levied against Boise businessman and winemaker Petro (Pete) Eliopulos. "After Ed Snook of The Oregon Observer and I met with Hansen and he told me in a six-hour meeting what had happened to him, I was more shaken than I have ever been in my life. If (West One) bank officers Knox and Neaville had not subsequently been convicted of crimes which came to light in the bogus investigations of me and my businesses, they could have done to me what they did to Hansen," said Eliopulos, who was shocked that a U.S. Representative, or anybody for that matter, could be treated this way in America. What could an esteemed member of the U.S. Congress have done to deserve such treatment? Judge Lodge prescribed torture for Hansen. Congressman Hansen found innocent of crimes manufactured to thwart congressional accountability. After four years of imprisonment, after ten years of persecution, after being ruined professionally and financially and after being permanently damaged physically, in December, 1995, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Hansen's sentence for bank fraud because the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled on May 15, 1995, that Hansen's previous conviction as a member of Congress had been overturned. A series of events were triggered to allow crimes to be manufactured which led to the imprisonment and torture of Congressman George Hansen. Idaho District Federal Judge Edward Lodge, who has been used by bankers and government officials for a decade to "legalize" their unethical and criminal activities, was given the job of putting Hansen away and seeing to it that he learned a lesson. Judge Lodge saw to it that Hansen received "diesel therapy" coming and going to prison from the judge's court at great cost to the government, even though Hansen should have been allowed to make such trips at his own expense. On the way from his hometown of Pocatello to federal prison in Petersberg, VA , Hansen was bused and flown, nearly immovably shackled, at taxpayer expense, to jails all over the country. Not Hansen's lawyer, his wife, nor his allies in Congress were able to locate him. Hansen had simply disappeared for a month into the custody of the Federal Marshal's Service. Hansen's wife didn't know whether he was dead or alive. And even when the Supreme Court overturned Hansen's original case and the Appeals Court vacated his current sentence, Hansen still got the Judge Lodge treatment of another dose of diesel therapy from Virginia back to Idaho. What had Hansen, who was a model prisoner, done to deserve the most brutal, torturous and barbaric type of treatment this country's penal system is capable of inflicting on a prisoner? Congressional Accountability Project Retired Congressman Tom Kindness (R-Ohio) stated , "I believe that George's recent trial and conviction on charges of "bank fraud" was the direct result of a campaign by various members of the bureaucracy to stop the CAP." CAP, the Congressional Accountability Project, was being launched by Hansen and a group of investors interested in good government. CAP was going to utilize nation-wide television and a national 900 number to make congresspersons instantaneously accountable to the American people for their votes on the House and Senate floors. - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 May 98 22:24:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Idaho Judge Lodge Linked to Hansen Nightmare 2/2 "This was a project which would, in my opinion, have had a major impact on the votes of congressmen since it would have made them instantaneously responsible to the people by making their votes known immediately after being cast," commented journalist John Voss. Hansen and his associates were on the verge of making CAP fully operational and accessible to the American public when the government, through the Idaho Department of Finance with the illegal help of former IRS agents, a revenge-minded Justice Department and the corrupt Judge Lodge, manufactured bank fraud charges against him. Judge Lodge's provably compromised court ultimately found Hansen guilty and prescribed diesel therapy to teach him a lesson. Why did the "Honorable" Judge Lodge treat Hansen like Public Enemy #1? George Hansen was the only member of Congress able to pull the strings necessary to visit the hostages in Iran in 1979 and expose the big-bank scam behind the crises. George Hansen was the author of the book To Harass Our People, an indictment of the IRS, wherein he demanded its dismantling. George Hansen was the congressman who was so outraged by what he discovered about the IRS while researching his book that he wrote and helped to pass the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights. George Hansen was the first man to propose the flat tax as a damage control alternative to protect the people from IRS abuses. George Hansen was the man who took on OSHA, WPPSS, and the INS, and George Hansen was the man who fearlessly and repeatedly made public his findings when investigations turned up government corruption and citizen abuse. The "system" decided it had to teach Congressman Hansen a lesson because, had he been allowed to continue serving on Capitol Hill, he would soon likely be the chairman of the powerful House Banking Committee. So, why did Judge Lodge, whose personal reasons for needing to keep the well-documented criminal nature of the banking industry below public scrutiny, with the help of the Idaho Department of Finance, trump up a bank fraud conviction by denying the admission of exonerating evidence in court in order to throw Hansen in prison and make sure that he was punished severely with diesel therapy? Was it because Congressman Hansen was getting close to the truth and accumulating the political power it would take to finally and totally expose the banking industry and government for its criminal abuses of the American people? Judge Lodge's Court of Kangaroos CAP was apparently the final straw and abusive criminal government had to put Hansen down. On the eve of CAP becoming fully operational, powerful special interests and political enemies derailed the project and forced a domino effect of financial repercussions upon Hansen and his associates. The government then took the situation it had created and indicted, prosecuted and convicted Hansen of bank fraud. Though the treachous Judge Lodge and the government disdained the patriotic financial sacrifices made by Hansen's supporters for good government and callously prevented his efforts to re-pay them, it did not prevent Hansen from publicly pledging that these law breaking government bullies could never seal his lips, nor stop him from somehow paying back the people he owed and thereby keeping his word. Every attorney who has read the court transcripts is concerned and confounded as to how George could have been convicted on bank fraud charges when the supervising bank officers were not only acutely aware of his financial operation and transactions, but were actively assisting him in his efforts for over ten years! "George defrauded no one and we can prove it," stated Congressman Kindness. Hansen was not really imprisoned and tortured by "our" government for bank fraud, though that was the government's excuse to lock him up and shut him down. Hansen was actually a political prisoner who was guilty of attempting to provide the American people with the ammunition of knowledge so they could successfully fight back against the senseless encroachment of government oppression which more and more is ruining the lives of all of us. Hansen dedicated his civil service to facilitating a return to a "our" government that felt threatened enough by his noble activities to see to it that he was imprisoned and tortured for daring to tell citizen/taxpayers the truth. Hansen was the only U.S. statesman who cared enough to risk his own safety and political career to visit the hostages in Iran in 1979. While in Iran, Hansen saw first hand what happens to political prisoners, who were beaten mercilessly, who had finger and toe nails ripped out by the roots and who had been shackled until they were permanently disabled physically. Hansen has also experienced first hand the same inhumane torture and it happened to him in the most "civilized" nation on earth, the only difference being that Hansen was denied treatment and pain-killers and had to rip his own deformed and infected toenails out. If there has ever been a time when your country needed you to stand up for everything it means to be an American, that time is right now. Subscribe to Truth in Journalism; subscribe to The Idaho Observer ____ $20.00 for 12 issues ____ $35.00 for 24 issues ____ Contribution of $___________ Name: __________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________ City: ___________________________ State: _____ Zip: _________ Phone: _________________________ Email: __________________ Print, clip, and mail to: The Idaho Observer PO Box 1806 Post Falls ID 83854 - - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 23:11:16 -0600 From: "S. Thompson" Subject: Dr. Finnell Takes On CDC. TV interview Monday Val Finnell, M.D. Takes on the CDC: > I will be a guest on "Endangered Liberties," a talk show on America's > Voice (cable) on Monday, May 18th at 10:00 pm to discuss the Centers for > Disease Control's (CDC) support of the biased and incompetent medical > "research" on the issue of gun ownership. > > The show is broadcast live and accepts call-ins and e-mail: > takeaction@americasvoice.com > > Please tune in if you have cable. If you don't, you can still view the > broadcast in RealVideo using RealPlayer at the following website: > > http://www.americasvoice.com/ > > Just click on the button that says, "Watch Now." > > You can download the RealPlayer free at: > http://www.real.com/products/player/index.html > > Again: > > Endangered Liberties on America's Voice cable network at 10:00 pm, > Monday May 18th. Watch on TV or on the web. Call in-and e-mail. > > Thanks, > > Val Val is a friend and fellow member of Doctors for Integrity in Policy Research. If you have the ability to check this out, please do. Sarah - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 14:34:45 -0700 From: DAVID SAGERS Subject: RNC / New York Times -Forwarded Received: from web185c.bbnplanet.com (web185c.bbnplanet.com [207.121.186.185]) by web185c.bbnplanet.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id QAA08622; Mon, 18 May 1998 16:15:45 -0700 (PDT) Received: from BRONZE.RNC.ORG by BRONZE.RNC.ORG (LISTSERV-TCP/IP release 1.8b) with spool id 15472 for PRESSLIST@BRONZE.RNC.ORG; Mon, 18 May 1998 16:11:36 -0700 Received: from web185c.bbnplanet.com (web185c.bbnplanet.com [207.121.186.185]) by web185c.bbnplanet.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id QAA08394 for ; Mon, 18 May 1998 16:11:35 -0700 (PDT) Approved-By: shenry2@IX.NETCOM.COM Received: from dfw-ix7.ix.netcom.com (dfw-ix7.ix.netcom.com [206.214.98.7]) by web185c.bbnplanet.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id PAA08331 for ; Mon, 18 May 1998 15:56:00 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from smap@localhost) by dfw-ix7.ix.netcom.com (8.8.4/8.8.4) id OAA17822 for ; Mon, 18 May 1998 14:52:46 -0500 (CDT) Received: from vna-va10-40.ix.netcom.com(207.223.177.168) by dfw-ix7.ix.netcom.com via smap (V1.3) id rma017802; Mon May 18 14:52:17 1998 X-Sender: shenry2@ix.netcom.com X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 2.2 (32) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Message-ID: <2.2.32.19980518195449.0069f0fc@ix.netcom.com> Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 15:54:49 -0400 Reply-To: Sean Henry Sender: RNC Press List From: Sean Henry Subject: RNC / New York Times To: Multiple recipients of list PRESSLIST This is a very important summary of how the Clinton Administration has sold US security interests -- and why. Please forward it to your own lists. Mike Collins RNC Press Secretary (202) 863-8550 (Voice) (202) 863-8773 (Fax) (800) 317-4967 (Pager) E-Mail: mcollins@rnchq.org Visit Our Web Site: http://www.rnc.org ESSAY / By WILLIAM SAFIRE U.S. Security for Sale WASHINGTON -- A President hungry for money to finance his re-election overruled the Pentagon; he sold to a Chinese Military Intelligence front the technology that defense experts argued would give Beijing the capacity to blind our spy satellites and launch a sneak attack. How soon we have forgotten Pearl Harbor. October 1996 must have been some tense month for Democratic fund-raisers. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times had begun to expose "the Asian connection" of John Huang and Indonesia's Riady family to the Clinton campaign. The fix was already in to sell the satellite technology to China. Clinton had switched the licensing over to Ron Brown's anything-goes Commerce Department. Johnny Chung had paid up. Commerce's Huang had delivered money big time (though one of his illegal foreign sources had already been spotted). The boss of the satellite's builder had come through as Clinton's largest contributor. But public outrage was absent. The F.B.I. didn't read the papers and Reno Justice did not want to embarrass the President. And television news found no pictorial values in the Asian connection. Stealthily, the Clinton Administration held back the implementation of the corrupt policy until Nov. 5 -- the day the campaign ended. Now the reporting of Jeff Gerth and The Times's investigative team is putting the spotlight of pitiless publicity on the sellout of American security. We begin to see how the daughter of China's top military commander steered at least $300,000 through the Chung channel to the D.N.C. (Apparently Mr. Chung skimmed off a chunk and may be spilling his guts lest he have to face his Beijing friends.) We begin to learn more of the Feb. 8, 1996, visit of the arms dealer Wang Jun to the Commerce office of Ron Brown, and Wang's "coffee" meeting that day with the President, the very day that Clinton approved four Chinese launches -- even as China was terrorizing Taiwan with missile tests. Clinton's explanation, which used to slyly suggest that China policy was not changed "solely" by contributors, has now switched to total ignorance: shucks, we didn't know the source of the money. But this President's D.N.C. did not know because it wanted not to know; procedures long in place to prevent the unlawful inflow of foreign funds were uprooted by the money-hungry Clintonites. Today, two years after this sale of our security, comes the unforeseen chain reaction: as China strengthens its satellite and missile technology, a new Indian Government reacts to the growing threat from its longtime Asian rival and joins the nuclear club. In turn, China feels pressed to supply its threatened ally, Pakistan, with weaponry Beijing promised us not to transfer. This makes Clinton the Proliferation President. Who has helped keep this sellout of security under wraps? In the Senate, John Glenn was rewarded with a space flight by Clinton for derogating the leads to China of the Thompson committee. Fred Thompson's warnings about China's plan to penetrate this White House were then scorned by Democratic partisans; his Government Operations Committee should now swarm all over this. The House's aggressive agent of the Clinton cover-up, Henry Waxman of California, is finally "troubled" by the prospect of damning evidence he prevented the Burton committee from finding. At least three Democratic partisans who foolishly followed Waxman in blocking the testimony of Asian witnesses may have difficulty explaining their cover-up vote to even more troubled voters in their districts. The Gerth revelations lead to more questions: Where were the chiefs of the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency, their intelligence so dependent on satellites, on the satellite technology sale to China? Is anybody at Reno Justice re-examining testimony taken by independent counsel investigating corruption at Commerce before Ron Brown's death? Does Brown's former lawyer claim "dead man's privilege" on notes? Did N.S.A. tape overseas calls of suspect Commerce officials? Who induced Commerce to lobby Clinton for control of satellite technology? And the most immediate: Will homesick prosecutor Charles LaBella, beholden to Janet Reno for his political appointment in San Diego, dare to offend his patron by calling for independent counsel? - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 14:38:47 -0700 From: DAVID SAGERS Subject: Repercussions of military killing of civilian teen-ager along border - LONGish -Forwarded Received: from legacy.lgcy.com ([209.63.171.101]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Sun, 17 May 1998 13:59:14 -0600 Received: from cor.oz.cc.utah.EDU by legacy.derail.org (NTList 3.02.13) id la668653; Sun, 17 May 1998 13:58:01 -0600 Received: from localhost (shb4391@localhost) by cor.oz.cc.utah.edu (8.8.7/8.8.7) with SMTP id NAA04444; Sun, 17 May 1998 13:57:52 -0600 (MDT) Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 13:57:52 -0600 (MDT) From: Scott Bergeson X-Sender: shb4391@cor To: Libertarian Party of Utah , discussion@derail.org Subject: Repercussions of military killing of civilian teen-ager along border - LONGish Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-Info: Evaluation version at legacy.lgcy.com X-ListMember: dsagers@ci.west-valley.ut.us [discussion@derail.org] - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 13:41:44 -0400 From: Leroy Crenshaw To: liberty-and-justice@pobox.com Subject: L&J: Repercussions of military killing of civilian teen-ager along border Repercussions of military killing of civilian teen-ager along border 12.34 p.m. ET (1635 GMT) May 17, 1998 By Eduardo Montes, Associated Press EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- As the Marines approached, Esequiel Hernandez Jr. writhed on the ground in agony, dying from the military-issue M-16 bullet that had torn into his side. On that rainy evening one year ago, the 18-year-old goatherd became the first American civilian casualty of U.S. troops enlisted to fight the war on drugs. He may have been the last. The military suspended its drug patrols along the border two months later and not one armed soldier has returned since. "We don't know when and if those missions will be reinstated. To be very honest, we don't believe they will. The entire operation was put under scrutiny. I just don't see us going back into that business,'' said Lt. Col. Jere Norman, spokesman for Joint Task Force Six, the agency that coordinates anti-drug missions between the military and civilian authorities. The Pentagon created the El Paso-based JTF Six in 1989 after the White House declared drugs a national security threat, opening the door to limited military involvement in interdiction efforts. Civil rights advocates quickly protested, arguing the move eroded the 1878 Posse Comitatus act prohibiting the military from performing civilian law enforcement functions. It was "against the democratic values and beliefs of this country since the Declaration of Independence,'' said Maria Jimenez, director of the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project, a watchdog group. Critics also said the government was inviting tragedy, and Hernandez's death on May 20, 1997, seemed to prove them right. Hernandez, who lived in Redford, a remote border town 200 miles southeast of El Paso, had been grazing his goats near the Rio Grande when he crossed paths with a four-man Marine patrol assigned to keep watch on a suspected drug smuggling route. What happened next has been a subject of debate. The Marines said Hernandez fired at them twice with his .22-caliber rifle, prompting the camouflaged soldiers to trail him for about 20 minutes. When he raised his rifle a third time, Cpl. Clemente Banuelos, fearing a fellow Marine was in danger, fired a single shot that struck Hernandez under the right armpit. Within the hour, the teen-ager was dead. Family members say Hernandez would never have knowingly fired at the Marines and that he carried the rifle only to shoot targets and protect his goats from wild dogs. Local and federal authorities acknowledge he wasn't involved in any wrongdoing when he was killed. The military maintains Banuelos and his three fellow Marines acted appropriately. Banuelos was cleared by two grand juries, one federal and one convened by Presidio County. The decision outraged Hernandez's family and many Redford residents. "It's something that you can't understand, why it happened, why they had to kill him, why it had to be done,'' said Hernandez's older brother, Margarito. "We can't accept they had a reason to kill him. It was wrong.'' The Hernandez family is pursuing a claim against the government and has been negotiating with the Justice Department for compensation, said family attorney Bill Weinacht. And Presidio County District Attorney Albert Valadez is considering whether to reopen the case because he feels the county grand jury's examination left unanswered questions. Margarito Hernandez and civil rights advocates are pleased that the military missions have been discontinued, but they fear the Pentagon could reverse the decision. And in any event, JTF Six will still be involved with police, including training them in military tactics. "It's a different threat,'' said Tim Dunn, author of "Militarization of the U.S.-Mexico Border.'' "It's a more severe threat if they're out there with guns,'' he said. "But if the other facets of the relationship ... continue, that's still dangerous.'' Supporters of military involvement see a different threat. "We should not unilaterally retreat from the war on drugs because there is a tragedy,'' said Paul Marcone, chief of staff for Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio. "The (suspension's) net effect is that we have more cocaine and heroin coming into the United States.'' Traficant plans to reintroduce legislation this year to allow increased military participation. But Norman, the JTF Six spokesman, said he's not sure civilian agencies want soldiers to return. "If it became available to us, we'd have to take a long hard look at it,'' said Tomas Zuniga, a Dallas-based spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. "Shame on me once, but not shame on me twice.'' - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 16:00:37 -0700 From: DAVID SAGERS Subject: BATF Proposed regulations: Immediate action needed! -Forwarded Received: from listbox.com ([208.210.124.23]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Mon, 18 May 1998 00:00:38 -0600 Received: (qmail 17507 invoked by uid 516); 18 May 1998 05:59:37 -0000 Delivered-To: rkba-co@majordomo.pobox.com Received: (qmail 17479 invoked from network); 18 May 1998 05:59:31 -0000 Received: from hpfcla.fc.hp.com (1@15.254.48.2) by majordomo.pobox.com with SMTP; 18 May 1998 05:59:31 -0000 Received: from neptune.fc.hp.com by hpfcla.fc.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.20/15.5+IOS 3.20) id AA274941170; Sun, 17 May 1998 23:59:30 -0600 Received: by neptune.fc.hp.com (1.38.193.4/15.5+IOS 3.22) id AA15009; Sun, 17 May 1998 23:59:29 -0600 Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 23:59:29 -0600 From: Dave Post Message-Id: <9805180559.AA15009@neptune.fc.hp.com> To: rkba-co@majordomo.pobox.com Subject: BATF Proposed regulations: Immediate action needed! Sender: owner-rkba-co.new@majordomo.pobox.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: rkba-co@majordomo.pobox.com Posted to rkba-co by Dave Post - ----------------------- This is about the *proposed* permanent Brady Bill regulations The BATF comment period is about to end ( midnight May 20, 1998. ) If you wish to be taken off my distribution list, I will immediately honor your wishes. === I am sorry that this is redundant for subscribers to RKBA-CO. But I wanted to thank those subscribers ( you know who you are. ) If it wasn't for them, Gun Owners of America and Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership many of us would not have found out about this. The NRA is asleep at the wheel. I e mailed my concerns, along with the proposed regulations to Tanya Metaska, NRA/ILA three weeks ago and have heard nothing back. The proposed regulations are available from me or the government ( Government Printing Office ) at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dbsearch.html link: Federal Register link: GPO Access Search Page http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html Federal Register, Volume 63, (1998) was already selected in a form searched for "alcohol, tobacco and firearms" http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/multidb.cgi fr19fe98P Implementation of Public Law 103-159, Relating to the Permanent This issue cannot wait! No time to procrastinate. The commentary period is nearly over. I have attached a sample letter that you can use and modify. In the letter are the mailing address and important reasons the proposed regulations should be withdrawn. Please act now. Don't wait for the 'good ol' boys' at the NRA. David Post post@fc.hp.com These opinions are mine and mine alone. ============================================================================ May 17, 1998 3954 Boxelder Dr. Loveland, CO 80538 Chief, Regulations Division Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms P.O. Box 50221 Washington, D.C. 20091-0221 Attention: Notice No. 857 (proposed regulations to implement the "instant check" provisions of the "Brady Act"). To Whom It May Concern: I am writing to express objections to the proposed regulations. The proposed regulations defer citizens privacy to the hands of the Justice Department, but the DOJ has not been prohibited from keeping databases of firearm purchases. They have no obligation to secure their records or maintain citizen privacy. This is an attempted end-run around laws designed to regulate the BATF. The Batf has overstepped it bounds. The original intent of the Brady Bill was for the BATF to implement a check if, and only if, the states did not implement it or it was not adequate. Therefore the BATF check is not necessary. The proposed regulations appear to apply to all firearms, handguns and long guns. This is completely beyond the scope of the Brady Bill. Again, the BATF oversteps its bounds. The Brady Bill intent was to exempt states which had implemented their own instant check system. The proposed regulations fail in this respect. Finally, the proposed regulations should be directed, not toward areas of state law, but toward the very poor record of booking those violators of federal law who attempt to purchase a firearm when they have been prohibited by previous criminal activity. These proposed regulations should be withdrawn, and rewritten according to the above guidelines. David F. Post For Help with Majordomo Commands, please send a message to: Majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the word Help in the body of the message - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 16:09:37 -0600 From: "S. Thompson" Subject: Forfeiture Hearing on Wednesday I've taken the liberty of forwarding this message from Arnold Gaunt because I believe asset forfeiture is an issue of concern to firearms owners. I have no information other that what Arnold has written, so please direct questions to him. Sarah >Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 20:08:36 -0700 >From: "Arnold J. Gaunt" >Reply-To: ajgaunt@xmission.com >Organization: XMission >X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.04Gold (Win16; I) >To: ajgaunt@xmission.com >Subject: Forfeiture Hearing on Wednesday > >This is another reminder of the civil asset forfeiture hearing by the >Business, Labor, and Economic Development Interim Committee. The >hearing is scheduled for 3:35 PM on Wednesday, May 20, in Room 403 of >the State Capitol. This is our opportunity to inform the Legislature >that asset forfeiture is unjust. Please plan to attend if you possibly >can. > >I will be presenting to the Committee a summary of some of the worst >forfeiture abuses that have occurred in Utah. Other topics that are >worthy of consideration and might be presented and developed by others >are: > >1. The inherent presumption of guilt in forfeiture proceedings > >2. The use of confidential informants, paid with asset forfeiture >proceeds, and the distortion of justice which results. > >3. How drug dealers can use their assets as a trade for reduced charges >and sentences. > >4. Since drug dealers make their money from junkies who steal from >innocent people or from those who effectively are stealing from their >families, why are police entitled to forfeiture proceeds instead of >victims of the drug trade? > >5. Why should drug users continue to be treated as victims when their >choice to use has caused the supply problem? Users of drugs ought to be >treated as the cause of supply rather than its victims. If the >Legislature must do something about drugs, then let's eliminate demand >instead of pursuing foolish and proven ineffective "supply side" >approaches which involve and threaten the liberty of all. Under "supply >side", all are directly or indirectly participants in drug commerce. > >6. If we don't allow our soldiers to loot from the enemy, nor allow our >tax auditors to earn commissions on successful audits, why do allow the >police to confiscate the property of innocent owners? > >7. If asset forfeiture is all about Pablo Escobar (now deceased) and >his billions, then why can't the police/prosecutors produce statistics >to back this phony assertion? > >8. Since the police have seized many homes for alleged meth lab >operations, why was not the Red Lion Hotel seized on the same basis? > >9. With regard to real property, why shouldn't owners be entitled to >the same protection as banks who can avoid forfeiture by showing they >didn't know of the alleged misuse of the property. > >10. How can the police and prosecutors be so certain of guilt when no >one is ever charged with a crime in most forfeitures? > >11. Why should prosecutors have greater incentive to pursue forfeiture >cases than murder or robbery cases, since they are reimbursed with >proceeds on successful forfeiture actions. > >I'm aware that some of you may have objections to some of these topics, >but they are intended merely to promote deeper consideration of this >issue and possibly motivate you to address the Committee. > >See you on Wednesday. > > > >http://www.le.state.ut.us/~1998/interim/html/0520blea.htm > > - - ------------------------------ End of utah-firearms-digest V2 #58 **********************************