From: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com (utah-firearms-digest) To: utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: utah-firearms-digest V2 #85 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, July 14 1998 Volume 02 : Number 085 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 15:03:17 -0600 From: "David Sagers" Subject: Dangers of CCW By L. Neil Smith lneil@ezlink.com=20 Exclusive to The Libertarian Enterprise=20 Recently we've heard astonishing fallout from an impressive study of the = achievements, so far, of a growing effort -- almost amounting to a = movement -- to make it easier for ordinary folks to legally carry = concealed weapons. In states where this effort has been successful, crime = rates (in terms of violent confrontation) have fallen so dramatically even = the media can no longer deny it. Advocates of the right to own and carry = weapons rendered cynical by years of watching media act as a fourth branch = of government, rather than its adversaries as Jefferson intended, are = inclined to wonder why the hairsprayheads have decided, unprecedentedly, = to tell the truth. I suspect an answer lies in a troubling aspect of = concealed carry I've attempted to warn gunfolk about previously. When I entered the argument three and a half decades ago, the issue where = both sides were concerned was registration and licensing. Antigunners = wanted every firearm in the country listed in government directories, = every user required to obtain written permission to exercise his Second = Amendment rights -- rights to be converted into privileges, revocable upon = the whim of politicians and bureaucrats.=20 Antigunners were unsuccessful until 1968, when, grotesquely stampeded by = the assassinations of John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King = (I don't recall any similar outrage on the part of the media over the = shooting of George Wallace), government began enforcing the registration = of weapons, new and used, at the point of retail sale, under Lyndon = Johnson's Omnibus Crime Control Act. Over the next quarter-century, we managed to "live with" this law, which, = with the collaboration of a criminal justice system so putrescently = corrupt it shines in the dark, blatantly violated the letter and intent of = the Second Amendment. It helped that guns in private hands or traded = among individuals didn't enter the retail stream and remained unregistered.= It also helped that, thanks to Ronald Reagan, the outlaw BATF (what else = do you call an out-of- control agency that coldbloodedly murders 81 = individuals -- 22 of them kids -- and whose very existence is forbidden by = the Constitution?) was prohibited from computerizing forms generated under = the 1968 Gun Control Act. And there was still no provision for licensing = owners. Now, the danger of a national Sullivan Act has raised its stealthy head = again, brought on by well-intended but misguided efforts to issue = concealed carry permits. The danger is exacerbated by the fact that this = extremely circumscribed return of a fundamental liberty has produced such = remarkably beneficial results. It reminds us of the way, in the Soviet = Union, that the 5% of farmland privately owned produced 80% of the crops. = Even from our own side, we hear how crime is falling in states that = generously allow 1% of the people to carry weapons. But there can be no = "allow" where an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human = right is concerned. One more time, just to get it straight: there is no "allow". The word = applies only to slaves, collared dogs, maybe children, and government. It = does not apply to free adults. We've forgotten that, in America, unlike = any other nation on Earth, "We the People" allow government to do things = (too many, as we're belatedly starting to realize), not the other way = around. That's the point of the 9th and 10th Amendments. Second-highest = on the list of things we don't allow is interference with our right to own = and carry weapons. It's undeniable that crime has decreased wherever the right to own and = carry weapons, previously suppressed, has been converted into a privilege, = granted or denied by the state. Overlooked, however, is the fact that, in = 1994, Vermont was named (Crime State Rankings 1994) the safest state in = America. It's the only state without laws of any kind forbidding -- or = allowing -- concealed weapons. Hence the term, "Vermont Carry", which I = coined years ago to describe the proper way to observe the Second = Amendment. Where licensing proponents tip their hand is that, in many states, in many = versions of concealed carry legislation, failure to comply with their = illegal requirements becomes -- without explanation or justification -- a = felony rather than the misdemeanor it was before. In other instances, the applicant -- make that, "supplicant" -- must name = the weapon he or she will be allowed to carry, along with its serial = number. Thus we've come, the long way around, by our own clumsy doing, to = the registration and licensing we once opposed. An unalienable right is one that can't be taken away by anyone for any = reason. All rights are individual rights; no group has rights beyond = those possessed individually by its members. My dictionary says a civil = right is one guaranteed (not "given" or "granted") to the individual by = law. A Constitutional right is no right at all, but a limit on the power = of government. A human right is one you possess inherently, by virtue of = being alive; it's what we mean when we say "natural" right. The right to own and carry weapons is all of these things, not one -- not = even civil rights; that's why we busted big fat segregationist sheriffs in = Smokey Bear hats and mirrored sunglasses in the 1960s -- subject to = government approval. Anti-gunners are striking back, suing to expose permits lists, violate = privacy, endanger lives. The law is with them: permits are a matter of = public record and must be disclosed. Elsewhere, we hear of discriminatory = licensing based on income or race. In terms of potential abuses, you = ain't seen nothin' yet. The Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus, SAFE (Second Amendment is For = Everyone), and GOLF (Gun Owners' Liberation Front) were the first to = demand nothing less than Vermont Carry -- repeal of any law having = anything to do with how people carry weapons. We're gratified that SWARM = (Safety for Women And Responsible Motherhood) and GOA (Gun Owners of = America) have followed suit. It's time for the National Rifle Association to join us in calling for a = national non-system of Vermont Carry. No prerequisites, no records, no = nothing. Then watch the crime rate start to fall.=20 L. Neil Smith's award-winning first novel, The Probability Broach, which = has long been out of print, will be republished by TOR Books this October. = A complete list of his novels and collection of his essays and other data = may be reached on the World Wide Web through http://www.webleyweb.com/lnei= l/. Permission to redistribute this article is herewith granted by the = author, provided that it is reproduced unedited, in its entirety, and = appropriate credit given. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A Juror's Creed: As an American juror, I will exercise my 1000 year old = duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a = particular case or instructions I am given, but through my ability to = reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. = - -- L. Neil Smith - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ .. My concealed carry permit is my birth certificate - L. Neil Smith - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 98 08:14:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Handguns - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 03:05:07 -0400 From: "John A. Quayle" Subject: Handguns [Federal Register: July 13, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 133)] [Rules and Regulations] [Page 37739-37743] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr13jy98-20] [[Page 37739]] _______________________________________________________________________ Part VI Department of the Treasury _______________________________________________________________________ Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms _______________________________________________________________________ 27 CFR Part 178 Posting of Signs and Written Notification to Purchasers of Handguns; Final Rule [[Page 37740]] - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms 27 CFR Part 178 [T.D. ATF-402; Ref: Notice No. 855] RIN 1512-AB68 Posting of Signs and Written Notification to Purchasers of Handguns AGENCY: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Department of the Treasury. ACTION: Final rule. - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) is amending the firearms regulations to require that signs be posted on the premises of Federal firearms licensees and that written notification be issued with each handgun sold advising of the provisions of the Youth Handgun Safety Act. EFFECTIVE DATE: September 11, 1998. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marsha D. Baker, Regulations Division, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Washington, DC 20226 (202-927-8210). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background The Youth Handgun Safety Act (YHSA), 18 U.S.C. 922(x), generally makes it unlawful for a person to transfer a handgun to anyone under 18 years of age or for anyone under 18 years of age to knowingly possess a handgun. Certain exceptions are set forth in the statute. In enacting the YHSA in 1994, Congress found that criminal misuse of firearms often starts with the easy availability of guns to juvenile gang members. In addition, Congress found that individual States and localities may find it difficult to control this problem by themselves. Therefore, Congress found it necessary and appropriate to assist the States in controlling violent crime by stopping the commerce in handguns with juveniles nationwide and allowing the possession of handguns by juveniles only when handguns are possessed and used under certain limited circumstances. In a memorandum to the Secretary of the Treasury dated June 11, 1997, the President stated that a major problem in our nation is the ease with which young people gain illegal access to guns. The President observed that firearms are now responsible for 12 percent of fatalities among American children and teenagers. The President's memorandum directed the Secretary of the Treasury to propose regulations that would require the posting of signs and issuance of written notices warning handgun purchasers of the provisions of the YHSA. Notice of Proposed Rulemaking In response to the concerns raised by the President's memorandum, ATF published Notice No. 855 in the Federal Register (62 FR 45364) on August 27, 1997. To enforce the provisions of the YHSA and to ensure that handgun purchasers are familiar with its provisions, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposed regulations requiring that signs be posted on the premises of Federal firearms licensees and that written notification be issued by licensees to nonlicensed handgun purchasers warning as follows: (1) Federal law prohibits, except in certain limited circumstances, anyone under 18 years of age from knowingly possessing a handgun, or any person from transferring a handgun to a person under 18; (2) A violation of the prohibition against transferring a handgun to a person under the age of 18 is, under certain circumstances, punishable by up to 10 years in prison; (3) Handguns are a leading contributor to juvenile violence and fatalities; and (4) Safely storing and locking handguns away from children can help ensure compliance with Federal law. The proposed rule stipulated that signs provided by ATF must be posted by licensed importers, manufacturers and dealers on their licensed premises where prospective handgun purchasers can readily see them. In addition, the written notification to be issued to each handgun purchaser must be made available either by providing the purchaser with an ATF Publication or some other type of written notification that contains the same language, e.g., a manufacturer's or importer's instruction manual or brochure provided to the handgun purchaser. Analysis of Comments ATF received sixty-two (62) comments during the comment period in response to Notice No. 855. These comments were received from fifty- three (53) members of the public, one (1) Member of Congress, four (4) Federal firearms licensees (FFLs), and four (4) firearms industry organizations. Five (5) of the respondents were in agreement with the proposed regulations. Fifty-seven (57) respondents opposed certain provisions of the proposed regulations. - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 08:36:43 -0600 From: "David Sagers" Subject: Fwd: Modern Framing Techniques, A Gross Miscarriage of Justice Received: from vader.thnet.com ([206.98.115.1]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Tue, 14 Jul 1998 05:55:11 -0600 Received: from bruce26.thnet.com (bruce26.thnet.com [206.98.115.126]) by vader.thnet.com (8.8.7/8.7.3) with SMTP id GAA11150; Tue, 14 Jul 1998 06:47:57 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199807141147.GAA11150@vader.thnet.com> Comments: Authenticated sender is From: "Distribution" Organization: The Vigo Examiner To: Distribution@vader.thnet.com Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 06:38:55 +0000 Subject: Modern Framing Techniques, A Gross Miscarriage of Justice Reply-to: Distribution@Vigo-Examiner.com Priority: normal X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.23) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline GUEST EDITORIAL Modern Framing Techniques A Gross Miscarriage of Justice by RICHARD V. PITNER MSG USA (ret) rvpitnr@whidbey.net. The following is a truthful, documented report on the Arrest, Trial and incarceration of John Irvin Pitner. John Irvin Pitner formed the Washington State Militia about four years = ago. The goal of this group was strictly non-violent and instructive to the public concerning the violations of the Constitution and the inherent danger of a New World Order. The BATF investigated the group and classified= them as no danger to anyone. John Pitner's political philosophy was that violence would not correct any problems at this stage of the development = of the NWO and the continuing intrusion of foreign troops on United States Lands. A three time convicted Felon, one Edward Maeurer offered his services to the FBI in Bellingham, Washington while in Jail for forgery. The District Agent for the FBI, Ramon Garcia, accepted his offer and paid him enough money to pay his bail on the charge that he was in jail for. Maeurer had previously approached the County Sheriff with the same offer, but was rebuffed. Maeurer had been previously fired as an informant for the FBI because he had divulged his undercover status to a friend. In June 1996 Maeurer began attending meetings of the WSM, and by August he was reporting to Agent Garcia that he had observed a "fortified room" at John Pitner's house, where boxes of dynamite, a box of grenades, fertilizer, and fully automatic weapons were kept for the group. Garcia's response was to initiate a formal investigation of the WSM. Maeurer was being amply paid by Garcia for these later proved lies. He collected over $25,000 of the taxpayers money from Agent Garcia for his ability to fabricate, lie and swear under oath that his data was true. Maeurer was also guilty of fraud while working for the FBI as he was drawing Labor and Industry payments at the same time he was being paid by the FBI. That is a felony and if any of us ordinary people did that, we would wind up in = Jail. The Judge in this case ignored that fact and did nothing about it. The = same as when the two FBI Agents, while under oath on the witness stand, = admitted that they had entered John Pitner's house without a Warrant. All this = Judge had to say about that was "I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM HEARING THIS!" Nothing further was done about it. During the fall of 1995 and early winter of 1996, Maeurer continued to = send reports of illegal activities to Garcia, including reports that the group possessed stolen night vision devices taken from Fort Lewis, Washington, and that they were plotting to kill Federal Agents, and intended to assassinate David Rockefeller. All of this was fabricated by Maeurer to insure that his pay check would continue to come in. In February, 1996 Garcia prepared to insert an undercover FBI Agent into the WSM, namely, SPECIAL AGENT MICHAEL GERMAN. German would establish a false identity as "ROCK", A childhood friend of Maeurer's from California, and would pose as a buyer and seller of surplus military equipment. As a prelude to that plan, Garcia ordered the paid informant to submit to = a polygraph examination, administered by Special Agent Raymond Lauer. On February 20th, during the pre-test interview, Maeurer recanted his = previous reports about seeing fully-automatic weapons, grenades, and dynamite at Pitner's home. Now he was not sure any of them had actually been there, only their boxes. Agent Lauer then administered the test, which Maeurer FAILED. After the first Polygraph, and informed that he had failed, Maeurer again changed his story about what he had, or had not, seen in Pitner's house. The fortified room became Pitner's Garage. The report about stolen night-vision devices was recanted. He also admitted that he had again told someone he was working as an undercover FBI Informant. Agent Lauer then administered the test for the second time, and again, Maeurer FAILED. (At Trial, this evidence of failed polygraph tests was precluded from the Jury by the Presiding Judge, John Coughenour, and Maeurer testified to his original FBI reports). This is the false data that was presented to the Grand Jury and caused a false indictment to be determined by that Grand Jury. Therefore, the entire case began and ended based on the testimony of a LIAR. [NOTE: Judge John Coughenour earlier this year dropped Manslaughter = charges against FBI assasin Lon Horiuchi, citing Article 6 of the US Constitution as redering federal agents not subject to State laws such as Murder or Manslaughter. ED] Despite such clear evidence that Maeurer was unreliable, and that operational security had been breached, Agent Garcia proceeded with the undercover investigation, and Agent German was ordered to infiltrate the WSM, posing as "ROCK". At this stage, Special Agent Garcia was invested heavily into the investigation and in spite of evidence that nothing was wrong, he continued to press forward. In late April, Pitner's wife left him. In early May, he began to suffer from visual problems and disorientation, which his family physician, Dr. Scott Tarleton, diagnosed as a temporary short term stroke. Later that = same month, Pitner resigned as Director of the WSM due to his illness, marital and financial problems. After repeatedly urging Pitner to re-assume leadership of the WSM (to no avail), Maeurer and Agent German began to assume absolute control of the organization themselves. They were both appointed members of a four person leadership council, and began to take charge of daily operations of the members. Up to this time, nothing had happened that was illegal within the group. This was because John Pitner would not have tolerated any activity that was illegal. In fact, he would have probably reported them to the FBI himself for the things that they = set up after he was no longer active in the group. [NOTE: Federal agents normally refuse top level leadership positions because any crimes they order or permit to be committed are legally sanctioned or ordered by the US government. They prefer the role of "helpful advisor." ED] During the remainder of the undercover FBI investigation, the two of them (Maeurer and German) developed plans to obtain chemicals for home made C-4 Plastic Explosives, to instruct the members on how to make Pipe Bombs, and how to convert semi-automatic weapons to fully Automatic, and to convince the other WSM members that Pitner was not to be trusted anymore. Selected members of the group were directed by the Undercover Agent and the = Informer to begin constructing Pipe Bombs, [NOTE: Ordered by the governenment to commit the crime. ED] and started delivering them to the two undercover Agents. "ROCK" (German) was supposedly selling them to raise funds for the group. Again, John Pitner, being no longer associated with the group, had no knowledge of these illegal happenings going on as initiated by the Undercover Provocateur's. Special Agent German rented a warehouse in Bellingham, Washington to use for meetings, weapons storage, and stockpiling supplies and equipment. He went to the BATF and asked for help in acquiring a couple of semi-automatic= weapons to use in entrapping the people of the WSM by getting them to convert the weapons to fully automatic. The BATF turned him down, telling him that they had also investigated this group and found them not = dangerous at all. He acquired a pair of M-15 semi-automatic rifles and the necessary parts for conversion to fully automatic. One of the members had some gunsmithing experience and was selected as the one to do the job. Incidentally, the warehouse in Bellingham was also planted with tape recorders, audio and video cameras. The person who was going to do the conversion said he could not do it without a machine tool of a certain type. German promptly went out and bought him one. Again, I remind you = that John Pitner was not privy to any of this. In fact, the group was told by the two Agents that John Pitner was specifically not to know of these activities they were embarking on. A class was scheduled for 27 July, where "ROCK" would teach how to make a home-made C-4, after he had obtained the ingredients needed. The FBI made plans for a mass arrest of everyone who attended. Separate plans were made for John Pitner's arrest. FBI Agents Garcia and Cathy Fahey made a pretextual visit to Pitner's = home, which had been placed on the market for sale, posing as prospective buyers on July 25th. Pitner was out of town in Seattle, working for his sister = who owned a landscaping business during that time. The Agents met with = Pitner's Real Estate Agent at the home and went through the entire house, familiarizing themselves with the layout, and examining the contents of = the house. Agent Garcia discovered two legal Rifles in a bedroom closet. This was done WITHOUT A WARRANT!! At 5:43 on the afternoon of the 27th, following the arrest of those in the warehouse, FBI Agents Cathy Fahey, Stephan, and Burroughs - posing as two interested buyers and the Real- Estate Agent, went to Pitner's home, introduced themselves and asked to see the house. Pitner agreed, even though they had no appointment. Once inside the house, the Agents = abandoned their subterfuge, pulled their weapons and placed Pitner under arrest. = This was also done WITHOUT A WARRANT!! Pitner offered no resistance, never raised his voice, was completely cooperative with all requests made by the arresting officers. He provided truthful information when asked for the location of firearms in the house. He was asked to consent to a search of the Garage and outbuildings, and signed a written consent to search. The Agents did NOT ask him for consent to search the house which they had already done illegally by surreptitious means. The Agents searched the Garage and outbuildings and found nothing. At no time were there any illegal weapons, bombs, bomb parts, fuses, grenades, dynamite, fertilizer, or residue ever found at Pitner's house, or in his possession. As Pitner was placed in the Police car for transport to jail, Special Agent = Burroughs commented to him, " well, Mr. Pitner, we don't have anything on you it seems, but we're going to see to it that you go to jail for a couple of years, anyway" Then, he laughed. The Trial which ensued was a collage of evidence tampering by the Federal Judge and the Prosecutors, the denial by the Judge of the protection of = the 2nd and 9th amendments to the Constitution, continuous overruling of objections by the defense, and a statement made by the Judge that THE 1ST AMENDMENT MAY WORK IN THE STREET, BUT NOT IN HIS COURT [emphasis added. ED]. It was obvious from the beginning of this trial that Justice was not the obvious target of these people. In fact, the way that the charge was made included John Pitner in all of the Provocateuring that the FBI Agent and the Criminal informant did. The charge was against "JOHN I PITNER ET AL". In this way, the Federal Prosecution included John as being also involved in the illegal acts that they provoked the others into doing. It was get these guys even if you have to cheat, lie, provoke, ad infinitum. Along with the obvious violations of court procedure, the prosecution used means other than evidence to make these people look bad. One graphic example of that was the Federal Prosecutor utilizing verbal blasts by saying JOHN PITNER in a loud voice, and then make the correction saying, = "I mean John Kirk" in a low voice making the emphasis on John Pitner's name = to the Jury when he was talking about John Kirk. He did it several times during this trial. John Pitner was charged with two counts, selling an automatic weapon and conspiracy against the United States. The jury, a confused group under the domination of Judge Cougenhour, found him guilty of selling the automatic weapon when another man was the one that confessed to doing it. The = weapon, a Korean version of the UZI, was brought home by the young man's uncle after military duty during that war. It was an antique almost 50 years = old. John Pitner never saw this weapon, and of course never touched it, so therefore could not have sold it. In fact, the young man who was also convicted of selling it sold it to one of the FBI Agents for $1,500.00, exactly what John Pitner was asking for a Mustang car he had for sale. Somehow, the sale of the car got inter- twined with the young man talking about the weapon and wondering what it was worth. Use you imagination!! I would like to see that tape examined by a sound engineer to see if it has been tampered with. Added evidence that John Pitner had nothing to do with the sale of the weapon is that the young man who was convicted of it = signed an affidavit to the effect that John Pitner had nothing to do with the sale, nor knew about it. He also stood up in court and verbally stated the same thing. No one believed him I guess, but they believed a proven liar, the Criminal Informant Edward Maeurer, a three time felon. As of this writing, the young man convicted of selling the weapon is out of jail. He was released after spending about 18 months in prison. He has three years of probation to endure always with the fear that he will be framed as John Pitner was and returned to prison for something that he DID NOT DO. The current status of John Pitner is that he will have completed two years in custody as of July 28th, 1998. To date, he has not been sentenced for the illegal conviction because the prosecutors have indicated they would like to re-try him and two others on the conspiracy charge. John's = Attorney has filed an Appeal to the 9th Circuit Court, asking that the Double Jeopardy rule be applied and to stop the Federal Prosecutors from pursing this false charge of Conspiracy. This appeal was filed several months ago, and it was just placed on the Docket. This means that it could be another 14 months before the case is heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. John Pitner has competed most = of the time that sentencing guidelines show, and is perhaps looking at = another year and a half before anything more happens. JUST WHERE IS THE CONSPIRACY NOW?? I believe that there is a Conspiracy, by the Federal Government, to contain John Pitner as long as they can, or even longer if they are = allowed to get away with it. This entire miscarriage of Justice has caused John Pitner to lose his = wife, his property and his reputation. The Federal Government has managed, in their zeal to attack anyone who says anything about them, to destroy this Veteran of the US Army (who did his part and didn't go to Canada or hide behind a Rhodes Scholarship to get out of the draft). He did his duty the same as his father who gave 26 years of honorable service to the US Military. To all who read this, I implore you to make yourself heard so we can force some kind of decision out of these delaying, lying, conniving Lawyers who are daily ruining peoples lives in this Country. They must be stopped or our Country is doomed to become a third world nation after the rest of the world, through the UN, has raped us of all our 225 years of Freedom. GOD HELP US IF IT IS NOT STOPPED. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= http://www.Vigo-Examiner.com TEXT VERSION Enjoy a free 90 day trial subscription to The Vigo Examiner. You will receive one to three of our top articles each day. =20 Send your subscription request, and all other communication to Editor@Vigo-Examiner.com. - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 14:20:53 -0600 From: "David Sagers" Subject: Fwd: THIS HAPPENED IN ILLINOIS A FEW DAYS AGO !!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE READ Received: from wvc ([204.246.130.34]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Tue, 14 Jul 1998 11:37:05 -0600 Received: from fs1.mainstream.net by wvc (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id LAA15892; Tue, 14 Jul 1998 11:26:26 -0600 Received: (from smap@localhost) by fs1.mainstream.net (8.8.8/8.7.3) id NAA27341; Tue, 14 Jul 1998 13:32:42 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 13:32:42 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost(127.0.0.1) by fs1.mainstream.net via smap (V1.3) id sma027038; Tue Jul 14 13:26:48 1998 Message-Id: <35AB87B6.538CAC5C@mo.net> Errors-To: listproc@mainstream.com Reply-To: voyager@mo.net Originator: noban@mainstream.net Sender: noban@Mainstream.net Precedence: bulk From: "John C. Wilson" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: THIS HAPPENED IN ILLINOIS A FEW DAYS AGO !!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE READ X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Anti-Gun-Ban list Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline This incident happened a few days ago in Illinois, in the Granite City/Edwardsville area. The wife of a Granite City alderman was arrested and charged for allegedly carrying a loaded weapon into the Madison County Courthouse on Wednesday morning ( 7-8-98) The womans name is Pamela Partney, she was stopped by a madison county Sheriff's Department deputy after he noticed the gun in her purse as she passed through the courthouses X-Ray equipment. Partney told the deputies that she had forgotten that the weapon was still in her purse. She was charged with Unlawfull use of a weapon. The gun she was carrying was a 6.35-caliber semiautomatic handgun. Pamela Partney is the wife of Granite City alderman Dan Partney who has been prominent in Democratic politice in Madison County. Dan Partney has said he and his wife are upset at the way the situation played out. He said his wife was treated like a common criminal. Mrs Partney was at the courthouse for a civil suit she is currently involved in. Police set her bail at $15,000 Mr. Partney said his wife carries the gun for saftey reasons, that she works a night shift and travels on rual roads to St. Genevieve, MO where she resides in the couples other residence. Mr. Partney also said his wife brings the gun in from the car in her purse every morning when she comes home from work, but because of the schedualed court appearance Wednesday his wife was off work for a day and forgot to remove the gun from her purse. Dan Partney was quoted as saying " My wife tried to explain the situation, her lawyer tried to explain and nobody listened, so my wife spent the entire day in the Madison County Jail " also " She's very upset, its been a very emotional and traumatic day " A court hearing has been scheduled for July 25 for Pamela Partney to appear on the gun charge. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= - ---- Here is the kicker about this story. This case is going to be prosecuted by Madison County States attorney Bill Haine. Several years ago an Attorney named Rod Pitts was busted for shooting an AK-47 into the air just for the hell of it. He was charged with a felony. Well this Rod Pitts had a very extensive firearm collection. Bill Haine had the case and let Rod Pitts go on a misdemenor charge because he was an attorney and a felony conviction would hurt his attorney standing and also because of Mr. Pitts extensive weapons collection, because if he was convicted of a felony he would have to get rid of all his guns. Mr Pitts got the easy treatment. Buy would you or I get the same, better question yet will Pamela Partney get the same preferencial treatment. Lets make sure she dont!!!!!!! If anyone wants to verify this story as true you can get a copy of the Alton Telegraph Thursday July 9, 1998 edition. The story is on page A-5 in the lower right hand corner. The story appeared in this paper and was also on the local radio stations. We need to put pressure on Bill Haine to prosecute this case the same as you and I will get prosecuted. I might mention that Madison County is heavily a Democratic County, infested with those who do not believe WE the people should carry weapons for self defence. Our State Police are the same way. Its because of them we cant get concealed carry in Illinois (my opinion). So I guess the story goes like this, The Elites can carry and the citizens cant be trusted. Contact info below : States Attorney Bill Haine 618-692-6280 Reporter Dennis Grubaugh 618-656-7500 This guy wrote the Alton Telegraph story Madison County Sheriff Bob Churchich 618-692-4433 >From what I have learned this charge is a Class 4 Felony. If anyone contacts these people, some follow up post would be appreciated. John - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 17:08:14 -0600 From: "David Sagers" Subject: Fwd: FCO 7-13-98 Received: from wvc ([204.246.130.34]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Tue, 14 Jul 1998 01:30:50 -0600 Received: from lists1.best.com by wvc (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id BAA15570; Tue, 14 Jul 1998 01:20:10 -0600 Received: (from daemon@localhost) by lists1.best.com (8.9.0/8.8.BEST) id XAA02715 for fco-errors@lists.best.com; Mon, 13 Jul 1998 23:07:02 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <199807140607.XAA02715@lists1.best.com> From: Chris Knox Subject: FCO 7-13-98 Date: Mon, 13 Jul 1998 23:05:30 -0700 (MST) BestServHost: lists.best.com Sender: fco-errors@lists.best.com Errors-To: fco-errors@lists.best.com Reply-To: chris@nealknox.com To: fco@lists.best.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Online Report to the F I R E A R M S C O A L I T I O N 7771 Sudley Rd., No. 44=20 Manassas, VA 20109 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D See last page for subscription and administrative information. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D July 13, 1998 Vol. 5, No. 6 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D In this issue: Hard Corps Report for June 6 Shotgun News Columns=20 June 1 -- 'Instant Check' Headache June 11 -- 'Instant Check' Hearings July 1 -- Clinton's New Nose =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D For current legislative information, call the Firearms Coalition=20 Legislative Hotline =20 =20 1-900-225-3006 $0.89 per minute =20 =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D A Note from Chris This is a long one, so I'll just point to a few links. =20 The Philadelphia Convention was a brutal affair. I vented into a=20 diary of the thing and put it at http://www.nealknox.com/fc/nra98/convention_diary.html * * * * * I've looked for some time for an electronic copy of Fitzgerald v.=20 NRA. It is now available at=20 http://www.nealknox.com/fc/nra98/Fitzgerald_v_NRA.html I had just started tinkering with a text only version when Chris=20 BeHanna told me that he had html-ified a copy. From that case comes=20 the admonition, "officers and directors cannot utilize corporate=20 instrumentalities such as The American Rifleman to perpetuate=20 themselves in office." Well, they can if nobody sues them. * * * * * Finally, I have put up a page covering Bob Barr's H.R. 3949 at=20 http://www.nealknox.com/fc/1998/barr.html. The initial item on this=20 page, which will grow as the bill moves through the process, is an=20 answer to a query by one of our readers to the effect of "where was=20 Neal during the hearings on the Barr bill." =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D I wrote and am solely responsible for everything above this line. Chris Knox =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Hard Corps Report June 12, 1998 Dear Friend and Supporter, The FBI plans to keep Brady Act "Instant Check" firearms purchase records for 18 months -- despite the law's clear prohibitions against keeping records on law-abiding citizens. Last week the FBI published its proposed regulations implementing the "National Instant Criminal Background Check System" (NICS), which goes into effect Nov. 30. Yesterday the House Judiciary Crime Subcommittee held a hearing on those regulations and Rep. Bob Barr's bill (H.R. 3949) which says FBI can't keep NICS records for more than 24 hours -- subject to 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine -- and forbids FBI from charging a fee. By allowing FBI to retain anything but a transfer number, which is all the law provides, the courts could rule that H.R. 3949 supersedes the various prohibitions against Federal agencies keeping any record or portion of record of a firearms purchase. =20 But NRA's lawyers, and Rep. Barr's, contend existing law wouldn't be affected, and that the 24-hour prohibition provision will prohibit "rolling" computer backups that would keep the records in perpetuity. I hope they're right. Despite the whopping potential punishment for violating gun owners' privacy, I can't believe an Attorney General Reno would prosecute her own bureaucrats -- considering her refusal to prosecute many flagrant violations by the Clinton Administration. I would feel better if H.R. 3949 specifically provided for individual gunowners to be able to bring lawsuits against those who wrongfully keep or misuse the records. The bill's drafters say they will consider that as an amendment. Although I asked to testify in yesterday's hearings, I wasn't invited. However, I plan to submit written testimony to be sure these points are covered. "Instant Check" was created a decade ago as a tactic to head off the Brady waiting period in Congress, but it developed a life of its own. The cure is proving worse than the illness. =20 NRA used an "Instant Check" bill to head off a Virginia waiting period in 1991, but "Instant Check" caused the computer system which made Virginia's one-gun-per-month law possible two years later. Now FBI is trying to use "Instant Check" to build=20 a national gun registration system.=20 In 1992, Wayne LaPierre told our minority caucus of NRA Directors that if we tried to prohibit NRA-ILA from supporting the "Instant Check" he would resign. We should have stood fast.=20 In the 1998 election battle over what philosophies will determine NRA policies, Charlton Heston's "Mainstreamers" stomped the group I endorsed with an expensive negative ad campaign. I don't know who paid for it; their candidates say they didn't. As you may have seen on C-Span, in last Saturday's Members' Meeting in Philadelphia I was personally attacked by EVP Wayne LaPierre and VP Kayne Robinson, and accused of being a "disgruntled former employee" who was "trying to destroy NRA." =20 I got almost no rebuttal time, and even then my microphone kept getting turned off when I mentioned touchy subjects like Heston's support of the 1968 Gun Control Act. The meeting set a record for how few ordinary members were allowed to speak. Only one or two were recognized, and the officers took no questions. =20 All eight corporate charter amendments were buried in one motion by former President Joe Foss and new Director Lt. Col. Oliver North, including the "radical" proposal to allow NRA members to obtain NRA's IRS returns and other public records. Heston was elected NRA President -- not unanimously -- in Monday's Board meeting without explaining his support for GCA '68 or last year's comments that "AK-47's are inappropriate for private possession." However, his recent statements have solidly supported the Second Amendment, and I pray they don't change. Frankly, it wasn't a pleasant week. We should have been spending our energies fighting real enemies like Chuck Schumer and Sarah Brady; it isn't fun being attacked by old friends. But it's critical to watchdog NRA because NRA determines what happens to our gun rights, and we've got to do everything we can to prevent future mistakes like "Instant Check." With your help, I've been able to stay in this fight.=20 Thanks for your confidence and support. Yours for the Second Amendment, Neal Knox =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D FBI Plans To Keep 'Instant Check' Records Hearings were held Thursday in the House Crime Subcommittee on Rep. Bob Barr's (R-Ga.) H.R. 3949, which would block the FBI from keeping records of firearms purchasers more than one day when they implement the "National Instant Criminal Background Check System" (NICS) this fall. The FBI intends to maintain records of conducting the check for 18 months on some 11.4 million purchases by law-abiding citizens each year despite prohibitions against keeping such records in the "Instant Check" section of Brady and the 1986 McClure-Volkmer amendments. =20 The Barr bill, called the "No Gun Tax Act of 1998" would also prohibit FBI from collecting a planned $16 fee for conducting the check. =20 NRA-ILA Executive Director Tanya Metaksa said the FBI has no authority to impose such a "user fee," noting that such fees were discussed and rejected while the bill was being debated. In Thursday's hearing, FBI Spokesman James Kessler Jr. repeated the proposed regulations' justification for keeping the records for 18 months: that it would allow audits to assure there were no unauthorized use of the NICS system. (Keeping the records is itself an unauthorized privacy violation!) Kessler said that gunsmiths and pawnbrokers will be required to conduct a $16 "Instant Check" before returning a gun left for repair or modification, or redeeming a firearm securing a loan.=20 According to Kessler's testimony, that will total about 2.5 million pawn shop redemptions and four million gunsmith repairs each year. James J. Baker, testifying for the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute, likened the charges on gunsmithing to requiring people to get a driver's license every time they had their car's oil changed. Chairman Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) extensively queried Kessler as to why they intended to charge for checks conducted directly for gun dealers, but not charge for the same checks if done for a state. Kessler said that if they didn't charge for the background checks in states that don't "cooperate," more states would opt out of the system, perhaps doubling the manpower FBI now needs to keep the system running 17 hours per day, 364 days per year. "Without user fees, none of the states will participate," he said. Critics are convinced that the reason for doing the checks "free" for states which establish their own "Instant Check" system is to "encourage" the states, and their gun owners, to adopt state laws. Unlike the Federal government, states may use an "Instant Check" system to create a registration system, as Pennsylvania's NRA-backed Act 17 did on long guns. Federal agencies would then able to access the state gun registration data. Rep. Barr said that despite much-hyped claims of success, "background checks are a poor way of preventing criminals from obtaining guns," noting that at best they merely delayed an acquisition. He said the purpose of the firearms purchase tax was to "discourage firearms ownership" and was scathing in attacking FBI's unauthorized plan to keep records on purchases by law- abiding citizens. "There is no legitimate reason to require citizens' guns to be registered," he said, adding: "The Federal government cannot be trusted with this information." His bill provides a criminal penalty of up to $250,000 and 10 years imprisonment for keeping or misusing "Instant Check" records, though he has privately acknowledged that it would be difficult to get the Justice Department to prosecute itself. Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, testified that because there is no authority to charge a "user fee" for purchasing a firearm, there is no cap on the amount that could be charged. He said a user fee can be justified when the payer obtains a benefit, such as a background check for licensing or employment, but firearms purchasers are supposedly being checked for the benefit of the public, so the public should pay the cost. Baker and other industry spokesmen have said that the volume of checks to be conducted is too low, and that FBI will need to directly respond to far more direct dealer inquiries than the 4.9 million that they anticipate, particularly since most states do not presently conduct checks on long guns and their estimates do not include the 6.5 million redemptions and gunsmithing returns. The resultant understaffing would mean additional delays, particularly during times of heavy purchases such as before hunting seasons and Christmas. The law allows up to three days before a dealer could transfer a gun without approval. Spokesmen for both the Virginia and Maryland state police opposed the Barr bill, contending it would result in less local screening in other states. Those states' background checks each resulted in about 10 percent unjustified delays, and only about 1 percent disqualified from purchase -- many of them for offenses that are not disqualifying under Federal law. Chairman McCollum indicated that he favored expanding the "Instant Check" to include fingerprinting of firearms purchasers when the Justice Department's digitized fingerprint checking system becomes operational next year. Although both BATF and Handgun Control Inc. were invited to testify, neither did. HCI submitted written testimony calling for addition of a 72-hour waiting period and continued reporting of purchases to local police. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee was the only Democrat to attend, and only long enough to make a statement condemning H.R. 3949 as "a contradiction of the ideals of the Brady Act." She blamed the bill on the "intrusion and oppression of NRA."=20 After the hearings the police groups told Neal Knox that they did not have data on how many illegal attempted purchases were prosecuted or resulted in convictions. Most of the attempted purchases by felons were very old or white-collar felonies, they said. The FBI's proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register June 4 (and are available on the Internet at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html). Comments may be made until Sept. 2 to Mr. Emmet A. Rathbun, NICS Project Manager, Federal Bureau of Investigation, CJIS Division, Module C-3, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Clarksburg, West Virginia 26306-0147. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Clarification And Correction In my column in the May 20, 1998 Shotgun News and the May 15 Firearms Coalition "Online Bulletin," I stated that "The 1985 (NRA) meeting in Seattle was stacked with paid staffers who attended at NRA expense, and California Rifle & Pistol Association members, many traveling at CRPA expense (for which CRPA was reportedly fined $70,000 by the IRS for commingling political and association money)." CRPA's attorneys have challenged the part of the statement in parentheses, stating that "CRPA never was penalized by the IRS for any commingling of funds, nor ... any activities related to payments for travel or similar activities. Furthermore, the CRPA did not pay for travel for anyone to attend the 1985 NRA meeting in Seattle." According to the CRPA attorney's letter the rumored fines "reportedly" levied by IRS were actually "extraordinary payments made by CRPA to the IRS ... to comply with technical provisions of IRS regulations for the years 1975-1980 in which payments were made for taxes on income unrelated to CRPA's tax exempt purposes." I made efforts several years ago to determine whether the rumors of CRPA funding of travel of large numbers of its members to the 1985 Seattle meeting (and the 1983 Phoenix NRA meeting) were true, and whether the rumors of an IRS fine were indeed related, but could get no hard verification. In those days, CRPA did not provide sensitive financial information even to Directors who were members of its executive committee, or so I was told by more than one CRPA director. When a then-paid official of CRPA was specifically asked about the rumored IRS fine for getting members to the NRA meetings he snapped something to the effect: "You don't need to know anything about that," which was erroneously taken as confirmation. I'm happy to set the record straight. -- Neal Knox =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Heston Elected At Philly Meeting The election of Charlton Heston as NRA President, and the clean sweep of the Director candidates he endorsed, was the main news out of the Philadelphia NRA meetings, the first in the northeast in 16 years and the largest in history. Heston pledged to steer the organization back to the=20 political mainstream from what he called "the fringe of American=20 life."=20 Much of the 41,000 turnout and the doubling of the votes in the director election (194,378 ballots cast in 1998 compared to 92,590 last year) were due to Heston's starring role in unprecedented advertising campaigns. A petitioned mail bylaw amendment requiring reporting of relationships between Directors, paid staff and NRA contractors was defeated five to one. Eight somewhat contradictory amendments to the corporate charter requiring increased disclosure by directors and officers, requiring NRA to make public documents available to members and directors, and reducing the size of the board from 76 to 24 were effectively killed by referral as a block to the Board of Directors at the members' meeting. Kayne Robinson of Des Moines was elected First Vice President and Sandra Froman was elected Second Vice President. After the election Heston read a statement that he was leaving to do a series of press interviews, and that he would only attend future meetings "from time to time." The Board's final action was unanimous adoption of an NRA financial policy almost word-for-word as recommended in February 1997 by former Director and Finance Committee Chairman Rick Carone as part of his management audit (which was much-praised by former vice presidents Neal Knox and Albert Ross, and reviled by Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and outgoing President Marion Hammer). Most Directors, and even most members of the Finance Committee, were oblivious to the irony. They were unaware that the much-needed financial policy, and its requirements for tighter fiscal management in NRA, was the primary cause of last year's internal uproar that unseated Knox, Ross and over a dozen directors in the last two elections. The Board meeting concluded at the end of one day, for the first time in memory. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Planned FBI Fee Speeds State System The Pennsylvania House unanimously passed a bill Tuesday to move up the deadline for instant checks on long guns by one year, so Pennsylvania gunowners will not be subject to the proposed more expensive FBI background checks that will be required by Nov. 30 in states that don't have a screening system. States which check only handgun purchasers would charge for that fee, but if the buyer also simultaneously purchased a long gun he would have to pay a second fee to FBI. An NRA-backed amendment to tighten the state's prohibition on gun ownership for a person "involuntarily committed" for observation of a possible mental condition would be of little help, according to local activists. =20 Russell Laing, the best-known victim of that provision, lost his gun ownership rights despite an unnecessary and unjustified committment by a police officer. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Police Stung For Stealing Guns Four veteran Newark police supervisors and an officer are accused of stealing two guns turned in under a handgun "buy-back"=20 (sic) program this spring. High-quality guns, including a valuable Luger, turned in under the "no questions asked" program allegedly were taken by the officers, who substituted cheap guns. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Illinois Pols Run From Guns Gubernatorial candidate Glenn Poshard, a Democrat, and Republican George Ryan, are trying to distance themselves from gun positions taken when they weren't running statewide but from pro-gunrights districts. Ryan stiffarmed gunowners at a 1982 rally at the Springfield capital by ruling, as Speaker of the House, that a preemption bill designed to overturn the Morton Grove handgun ban required a super majority. Gunowners had only a simple majority, made slightly greater by Ryan's cynical vote for preemption after torpedoing the bill. Poshard has a longer gun voting record, including Congressional votes against the Brady Bill and repeal of the federal "assault-weapons" ban. He now supports the semi-auto ban. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D School Shootings Trigger Gun Bills Using the school shootings as a springboard, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) is introducing a bill "to limit children's access to handguns." It would hold parents criminally liable if their gun falls into a child's hands and would also would require manufacturers to include trigger locks and new "safety features." A technological grant program is being pushed by the Justice Department and in Congress to develop "smart guns" that could only be fired by the lawful user.=20 H.R. 3895 by Reps. Barbara Kenelly, Charles Schumer and others would authorize $20 million to the National Institute of Justice for studies of "smart gun" technologies. "Personalization methods" now under study include radio-frequency transmitters, remote controls, magnets, combination locks and even biometric technology, such as fingerprint or voice recognition. A New Jersey bill, similar to one endorsed by Sarah Brady last year, would prohibit sale of any handgun without such "smart gun" features after three year, although Colt, which seems to be closest to development of a system, says its five years away. =20 Law enforcement is the greatest market for "smart guns" because 16 percent of fatally shot police officers are killed with their own guns. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Chicago's Daley Ponders Gun Suit Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said this week he is considering filing a lawsuit against firearms makers, marketers and sellers as "a way to stop the flow of illegal guns into the city." The suit would use a different basis than the approach pushed by Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell but both would break new legal ground. Mayor Daley's father caused passage of the Illinois Firearms Owner Licensing Card as an alternative to his statewide registration proposal, then enacted a Chicago registration ordinance which specifically exempted criminals and mental incompetents. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Medical Journal Hits "Private Arsenals" The New England Journal of Medicine, long a purveyor of pseudoscientific studies into the assumed benefits of gun control, has published an editorial calling for ending school shooting by eliminating "private arsenals" like the ones stolen by the boys who committed the Jonesboro school killing. Three of the school murders were stopped by gunowners like Jake Ryker, the Springfield, Ore. boy, who tackled the killer after being shot in the lung. The Pearl, Mississippi school killer, Luke Woodham, who is on trial this week, was stopped by assistant principal Joel Myrick with a .45 pistol recovered from his car. In Edenborough, Pa., a private citizen went into a field with a shotgun and captured that school killer. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Gun Gatherings Under Assault =20 The anti-gunrights crowd's hatred of firearms groups shines through in H.R. 3833, "A bill to better regulate the transfer of firearms at gun shows," by Rep. Ron Blagojevich (D-Ill.) and a string of anti-gunners, including Reps. Carolyn McCarthy and John Conyers. Intentionally or otherwise, a "gun show" is defined to include any event -- even the Grand American trap tournament, the Camp Perry Matches, or a local sighting-in day -- where 50 or more guns are present.=20 The "operator" or persons in charge of "an organization or association that sponsors functions devoted to the collection, competitive use, or other sporting use of firearms in the community," statewide or nationally, could be prosecuted for committing a Federal felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment if even one of those guns is sold or traded. The bill requires all "gun show operators" -- as defined -- to be licensed, including fingerprinting. =20 Once licensed, the 50-gun event where trading might occur can be conducted only after notification of BATF, at least 30 days in advance of the event. Anyone who transfers a firearm at such a "gun show" -- not just table holders -- must provide the "gun show operator" with the name, age and address of the "prospective transferee," and the make, model and serial number of the gun. Failure to do so is punishable by fine or up to one year in prison. The "show operator" is to follow the requirements of a Federal dealer, then turn over all records to BATF within 30 days of the show, shoot or match. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Shotgun News Columns 'Instant Check' Headache By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 1) -- "Instant Check," the Brady Act's computer-driven criminal background check which goes into effect on all firearms purchases Nov. 30, 1998, is showing signs of being exactly what skeptics feared: an expensive and intrusive national gun registration system. The FBI, which has been holding briefings for FFL's on their implementation plan, the "National Instant Criminal Background Check System" (NICS), intends to charge a $13-16 fee and keep the record of the check -- including information on the gun buyer and type of gun -- for as much as two years, despite the law's prohibition against keeping such records. Newly elected NRA Director Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.), with NRA encouragement, last week filed H.R. 3949, which would prohibit FBI from charging any fee and prohibit them from keeping a record of the background check for more than two hours. I had urged Rep. Barr to file a bill to completely eliminate the background check on long guns (which could get through Congress, though repealing the entire "instant check" could not).=20 That would take advantage of the growing opposition to the check, particularly as shotgunners and riflemen learn about it.=20 As a practical matter, neither bill could get past President Bill Clinton's certain veto, but it would increase the vote against Congressional anti-gunners this fall. FBI has not yet published its proposed regulations, but the plan they describe in their briefing materials conflicts on several key points with the proposed BATF regulations published in the Federal Register Feb. 19. One major difference is whether the buyer would have to submit paperwork (and pay the requisite fees) to both the Justice Department and to his state if the state has its own "instant check" law (as BATF says), or if the FBI would do the check "free" for a state, so the gun buyer would pay only the state's fee (as FBI says). (The reason for Justice Department's "generosity" is that the law specifically prohibits any Federal agency from using the system to create a registration system or "requiring" a state to do it, but there is nothing in the law to prohibit a state from using the data to create its own system, which would then be accessible to Federal agencies.) Under both the Treasury and Justice proposals, someone who simultaneously purchased a handgun and a shotgun in a state with a handgun instant check but no long gun check would have to pay "$13-$16" for the Federal check as a long gun buyer plus the state's fee for the handgun check. =20 That could run the buyer's cost to over $30. Far more important from a Second Amendment/civil liberties standpoint, is the Clinton Justice Department's plan to keep the record of purchase up to two years -- which really means forever, since computer backup copies will always exist in some form. The "Instant Check" plan was created by NRA as an alternative to the Brady Bill's seven-day waiting period on handgun purchases. About 1990 NRA convinced Rep. Harley Staggers (D-W.Va.) to introduce it, and got a lot of other gun rights advocates to support it. Instead of avoiding the waiting period, or preventing enactment of any law, it was folded into the Brady Act as a replacement for the mandatory wait -- though under the final law, a dealer may not transfer a gun without waiting up to three days for the check.=20 The price paid for substituting the "instant-up-to-three- days-check" after five years was to include long gun buyers in the background check -- a deal worked out by Majority Leader Robert Dole and Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, with the blessing of NRA, shortly before the bill passed in 1993. Handgun Control Inc. has repeatedly said they will attempt to make the present five-working-day wait permanent; don't bet that they can't do it. An unintended consequence of the "instant check," which NRA- ILA introduced and pushed through the Virginia legislature after it was introduced in Congress, was the one-gun-per-month law Virginia subsequently passed -- which was made possible only because of the computer system created for "instant check." =20 "One-Gun" laws have since been enacted in Maryland and are pending in Congress and various states.=20 Despite the serious problems that "Instant Check" has created, and is creating, it has been enthusiastically promoted by NRA-ILA in several states, and was signed into law in Tennessee last week. =20 "Instant Check" is proving to be worse than the waiting period it was designed to cure. Though Treasury and Justice are exceeding their authority under the Brady Act, that merely proves the axiom that if a law can be abused it will be. As my grandmother used to tell me, "When you're in a hole, quit digging."=20 It's past time to quit pushing "Gun Control Lite." =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 'Instant Check' Hearings By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 11) -- Hearings were held today in the House Crime Subcommittee on Rep. Bob Barr's (R-Ga.) H.R. 3949, which would prohibit the FBI from keeping records of firearms purchasers when they implement the "National Instant Criminal Background Check System" (NICS). The NICS stage of the Brady Act will go into effect on all firearms purchases Nov. 30, 1998, replacing the law's five working-day waiting period on handgun purchases. =20 The "Instant Check" section of Brady and the 1986 McClure- Volkmer amendments specifically prohibit Federal agencies and employees from requiring what FBI plans to do, as described in proposed regulations published in the June 4 Federal Register. The Barr bill, called the "No Gun Tax Act of 1998" would also prohibit FBI from collecting a planned $16 fee for conducting the check. NRA-ILA Executive Director Tanya Metaksa said the FBI has no authority to impose such a "user fee," noting that such fees were discussed and rejected while the bill was being debated. Beginning in about 1988 NRA had advocated an "instant check" in lieu of a Brady waiting period. In 1991 Sens. Robert Dole and Howard Metzenbaum reached an agreement (originally opposed by NRA) providing that after five years the waiting period on handguns would be replaced by an "instant check" on purchasers of all firearms. In 1993, NRA "acquiesced" to the "Dole-Metzenbaum Compromise," despite the concerns of many members. The key provision demanded by NRA was the language prohibiting retention of any record of the check. That provision says no Federal government agency or employee may "require that any record or portion thereof generated by the system established under this section be recorded at or transferred to" any state or Federal facility. =20 In today's hearing, FBI Spokesman James Kessler Jr. repeated the proposed regulations' justification for keeping the records for 18 months: that it would "assist the FBI and state and local officials in auditing and/or investigating unauthorized use of the NICS." In other words, to make sure there was no "unauthorized" violations of gun buyers' privacy the FBI plan would violate the law designed to protect their privacy! Now that's chutzpah! My concern, as I have discussed with Rep. Barr, is that the courts might rule that a new law allowing FBI to keep the records 24 hours (or even 24 minutes) supercedes the prohibitions against the Feds creating a registration system. =20 Rep. Barr's staff and the attorneys who drafted H.R. 3949 contend it wouldn't affect the existing language against registration. Rep. Barr said today he sees no reason for FBI to keep the records at all; that his bill adds to the earlier prohibitions. Today the FBI spokesman said that if they didn't charge for the background checks in states that don't "cooperate," more states would back out of the system, perhaps doubling the manpower FBI now needs to keep the system running 17 hours per day, 364 days per year. What bureaucracy opposes having more power or personnel? I think the real reason for the admitted bribe is to get more states to establish their own "Instant Check" system.=20 Virginia, for instance, charges gunowners $2 to conduct a check, which uses the NICS system at no cost to the state. Texans would pay $16 for the same NICS check. Pennsylvania's Act 17, which was passed with NRA support to implement the "Instant Check," creates the kind of gun registration system that the Feds are prohibited from creating. Another cute trick spelled out in today's FBI testimony is requiring pawnbrokers to conduct a $16 "Instant Check" before returning a firearm securing a loan. =20 FBI says the same rule applies to gunsmiths who take in a gun for repair, fitting a scope, cleaning or other work. The owner would have to pay for a $16 "Instant Check" before getting his property back! James J. Baker, testifying for the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute, likened that to requiring people to get a driver's license every time they had their car's oil changed. The Barr bill provides a whopping criminal penalty of up to $250,000 and 10 years imprisonment for keeping or misusing "Instant Check" records, but I can't imagine an Attorney General Reno prosecuting her own agency -- notice her refusal to prosecute the Clinton White House's snooping into the FBI files of 900 Republicans. =20 I've suggested a civil penalty be added to H.R. 3949, with specified money damages, that could be filed by any gun purchaser whose privacy is violated. That might keep them honest. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D NRA Board Adopts Financial Reforms=20 By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 20) -- The final action of NRA Directors at the end of last week's unprecedented one-day Board meeting in Philadelphia was unanimous adoption of an extremely sound NRA financial policy and a well-thought-out purchasing procedure that requires competitive bidding -- and notification of the Board when those policies aren't followed. If the Board watchdogs those policies, it should do much to rein in NRA's free-spending habits, and particularly the practice of agreeing to, and paying, millions of dollars for services without competitive bidding, without formal agreements, and without complying with Board requirements. Ironically, those were the very problems that led to the efforts by a minority of the Board -- led by vice presidents Albert Ross and myself, and Finance Committee Chairman Rick Carone -- to clamp down on financial practices of the staff, and particularly Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.=20 It cost Albert and me our vice presidencies, and Albert and Rick, and about a dozen other directors, their Board seats in a carefully contrived coup led by the senior staff and at least partially directed and funded by NRA contractors who benefitted from those loose policies. What's hilarious is that the financial policy adopted in Philadelphia is almost word-for-word what was recommended in February 1997 by former Finance Chair Carone at the conclusion of his and former Director Ronin Colman's management audit. Most Directors, and even most members of the Finance Committee -- almost all of whom were newly appointed by President Marion Hammer -- were oblivious to the irony. =20 I have often been asked why I didn't wait until the Philadelphia meeting (at which I was in line to have been elected President) to put NRA's financial house in order. The short answer is that Albert, Rick and I weren't sure we would still have a viable NRA. If the stock market hadn't continued its upward spiral last year, and if the members hadn't responded so well to the Bylaws- violating sale of Life and contributory Memberships at cut-rate prices, NRA might not have survived. I didn't dare say that out loud last year. If NRA's financial portfolio had dropped just 10 percent 18 months ago, we would have been in default on our loan on the HQ building. At best, it wouldn't have been pleasant. What got NRA over the hump was the soaring stock market and some $15 million in cash from the "Legion of Honor" cut-rate memberships. (Full Disclosure: My wife and I took advantage of that sale to upgrade our boys' Life Memberships to Endowment as Christmas presents; but we paid off the last $1,000 or so of Jay's Benefactor membership at the full price.) =20 On a cash basis, NRA is now far more solid; long term there may still be problems paying for 30 or 40 years of magazines and services for members whose dues were entirely spent last year. =20 But the much-reviled, much-needed Carone financial plan belatedly approved last week should help keep NRA afloat. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Clinton's New Nose By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 1 ) -- A friend gave me a computer "screen saver" that depicts Bill Clinton as Pinocchio, with a nose that grows every few seconds as he tells another lie. Pinnochio Clinton's nose should've stretched around the corner last week when his Justice Department triumphantly announced that the Brady Act had stopped 69,000 "felons, fugitives and drug addicts" from getting a gun last year, and 242,000 since the law went into effect in 1994. It was part of the buildup to extend the five working-day waiting period on handguns that is supposed to end when the so- called "Instant Check" kicks in on all firearms purchases from dealers Nov. 30. As usual, the news media swooned over the wondrous achievement that they had wrought. Every half hour CNN triumphantly insisted that "there are 69,000 fewer guns on the street thanks to the Brady Act." But hold on just a cotton-picking minute. The Justice Department numbers weren't a hard count based on actual data, only an "estimate" based on information provided by some of the law enforcement agencies which do the checks. The fact that it was an estimate was seldom mentioned; instead the public was assured that of the 2.6 million handgun=20 applications considered in 1997, precisely 2.7% were rejected -- exactly 62 percent of them because of felony convictions or indictments, 9 percent because of domestic violence misdemeanor convictions and 2 percent because of domestic violence protection orders. Those numbers are phony. Unlike "reporters" from the rest of news media, who unquestioningly accepted Pinocchio's numbers, the Indianapolis Star and News checked with Indiana State Police. They found that instead of 1,085 handgun sales in Indiana being blocked in 1997 by the Brady law, as the Clintons claimed, the actual count was only 82.=20 "The error calls into question the (Justice) department's estimate of 69,000 sales blocked nationwide," the newspaper said. Of four other states the newspaper checked, Arizona was reported by DOJ to have had 2,277 rejections. "But only 1,691 people were actually restricted from buying a gun once duplicate or incorrect applications were removed." University of Chicago law professor John Lott, who didn't even own a gun when he began researching the effect of concealed carry laws on crime (summarized in his new book, "More Guns, Less Crime,") told the Star and News: "The Brady law's proponents have continuously inflated the number of stopped sales since the law went into effect." "Prof. Lott cited an early study done by the Government Accounting Office, which estimated that 60,000 purchases had been stopped in one year. Most refusals, though, were due to human error or paperwork problems. Only 3,000 of the denials were because an applicant had a violent crime record," the newspaper reported. "'I don't believe the (DOJ) numbers,' Lott said. `They include everything -- people improperly filling out forms, human error. The vast majority re-fill out paperwork and get their gun.'" James Bovard, author of "Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty," was even less gentle in a June 25 article in the Wall Street Journal. =20 He bluntly declared: "The Clinton administration ... claims about the law's effects are bogus." Bovard pounced on a Clinton pronouncement the day of the Justice Department release which further inflated the fake "69,000" figure. The White House statement declared "law enforcement officials have stopped hundreds of thousands of =20 from buying handguns every year"=20 White House spokeswoman Nanda Chitre attributed the discrepancy between Justice Department and Clinton numbers to an "editing mistake." =20 "This is nothing new," Bovard declared. "After a Justice Department report in 1996 asserted that the Brady act had barred 60,000 people from buying guns, Mr. Clinton told supporters in Michigan: 'We did pass the Brady Bill and 100,000 felons,=20 fugitives and stalkers lost their handguns.' White House Deputy Press Secretary Mary Ellen Glynn explained at that time that the president 'misspoke' as 'he was reaching the end of a train trip.'" The train trip wasn't nearly so long as Mr. Clinton's nose. The real measure of Brady's impact is that prosecutions of felons attempting to buy a gun by lying on the Form 4473 -- an easily proved 10-year felony -- has declined from 253 in 1994 to 36!=20 So either Clinton is lying about the law's effectiveness, criminals are evading the Brady scheme, or the Clinton Administration turned 69,000 "felons, fugitives and stalkers" back on the streets last year. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Electronic newsletter subscription information This newsletter is sent free upon request. It is never sent without a=20 subscription. To subscribe, send email to=20 fco-request@lists.best.com containing the following text: SUBSCRIBE you@your.domain You will receive a confirmation note at the address you provide=20 requiring a reply to start the subscription. =20 To terminate a subscription, send a note to fco-request@lists.best.com=20 but with the word "UNSUBSCRIBE you@your.domain" in the body. You may also use this procedure to change an address. Please report any problems directly to abuse@nealknox.com and include=20 the bulletin in question *with headers intact*. The simplest way to do that is to save the newsletter to a file and attach it to your mai. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Copyright (c) 1998 by Neal Knox Associates 7771 Sudley Rd., No. 44=20 Manassas, VA 20109 Non-commercial reproduction and distribution is permitted so long as this statement is included. All other uses prohibited. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Do not put your credit card number in e-mail. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Dear Neal, Enclosed is my retainer for your services as my Capitol Hill lobbyist: $500 [ ] $250 [ ] $50 [ ] $25 [ ] Other:____ [ ] Quarterly [ ] Bill my MasterCard [ ] Visa [ ] Monthly [ ] Once [ ] Card No. _______________________________________ Expiration Date _____=20 Mr. [ ] Mrs.[ ] ______________________________________________________________ = =20 Ms. [ ] Signature ______________________________________________________________ Address_________________________________________ Phone ________________ City ____________________________________________State ____ Zip________ Email Address ______________________ Print and mail to: Firearms Coalition 7771 Sudley Rd., No. 44=20 Manassas, VA 20109 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D PGP users: remove the leading asterisks from the BEGIN and END lines=20 before using this key. =20 *-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.2 mQCNAy8Q4mIAAAEEALKdSCTF6BvTg4luk1IOYtiQyxPotnTjjijSawo9htwZeFS/ KU0WAPkeDuhgKSN3H5242irpkfUu8g84fAPBH6a6joaFN7OchRa49WXnz2dReT0V iT9xeec9rPSASH04dz+lEONeDZ17yh/JGt+tjYq0CIenFZ9JMCGz4I2lBJDFAAUR tCdDaHJpc3RvcGhlciBXYXJyZW4gS25veCA8Y2tub3hAY3JsLmNvbT6JAJUDBRAv pxqvIbPgjaUEkMUBAS8BA/9PP4teu4vja6dTXkOMhVN8xgf1fl66VCc2V4A0/lli uRdf75GS1uQd+pzPIZoIReU440uuLfNSMqAAjCLHDja9ViAUllTk7YIKJMe53+nZ UnQndT2a6ikeQgh/kFxFM1z4NHgTBZ/KMg3td45WzEA3XpjWACrXWNAtYplaQ0hg Iw=3D=3D =3DVDsh *-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D "None genuine without this signature." - -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBNar0zyGz4I2lBJDFAQFwgQP+PIa7rlGr/vip7kQFHbcLzUXs1zlOzhHH epBOGs12pIrKt13qQq9QpnJY+iQJUc6TRJBz1aVCXI+eN4DnjuL1fWAvtr9eO1cD eT09aX7vCJE11sGdfyBGvmGJiIA2xLnmgQPl9fS3aV5+GXYmR9XNkh12J6JfdQpA PdjUNqvtXUk=3D =3Dy3j0 - -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- - - ------------------------------ End of utah-firearms-digest V2 #85 **********************************