From: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com (utah-firearms-digest) To: utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: utah-firearms-digest V2 #165 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 Saturday, November 6 1999 Volume 02 : Number 165 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 29 Oct 99 22:24:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Metaska: Election loser: more gun control Election loser: more gun control by Tanya Metaska On Saturday, Oct. 24, Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster, a strong supporter of right to carry firearms legislation, was reelected with 60% of the vote, even though media pundits tried to make him look vulnerable. And in less than a week, voters in the states of Virginia, Kentucky, New Jersey, as well as countless towns and cities will go to the polls to elect state legislators, mayors, school board members, and other local officials. But you would hardly know it by reading the major newspapers or watching the evening news. The nation's press is already singularly focused on Election Day 2000. The politics of next year's presidential election assaults us by way of the evening news on television and the hourly news on the radio. It can also be found almost daily on the front pages of every major newspaper. The announced candidates, the would-be candidates, and the fallen candidates are scrutinized, dissected, and demonized hourly. They are hounded with the same line of questioning over and over again. That kind of relentless questioning backfired on NBC sports announcer Jim Gray. In a Sunday evening interview with Pete Rose -- the aggressive Cincinnati Reds player/coach who has been banned from baseball for gambling on the sport -- Jim Gray repeatedly asked Rose in a very aggressive manner about his gambling. The NBC switchboard, their website, and even MasterCard, the sponsor of the event, was overwhelmed by negative reactions to Gray's interview. At first Gray was quoted as saying, "I'm not sorry for it, and I don't apologize for it." As a result the entire Yankee team even went so far as to boycott any interviews with Gray. Tuesday night's homerun hero, Chad Curtis, refused to talk to Gray after he won the ball game. Bowing to tremendous pressure from fans all over America, Gray was forced to apologize on air. It seems NBC sports has discovered that American baseball fans do not like "in your face" nasty interviews. The same relentless bashing seems to be backfiring on the issue of gun control as well. The major media keeps using every conceivable angle to push for more and more gun control. A cursory examination of newspapers across America shows that in the month of October the Editorial commentary is slanted by a ratio of 9-1 in favor of expanding gun laws. Yet, the Oct. 24 Greensboro News and Record published an article by H. Sterling Burnett entitled, "Will gun control be a vital issue in next year's presidential elections? Issue won't be a priority." Mr. Burnett's premise is that gun control may be an issue in congressional contests, but will not really affect the presidential race. He states that over the decade of the '90s those Americans favoring more gun control have dropped from 78% to 62%. He goes on to state, "Polls also show that gun control is not among the top five issues for probable voters in the presidential elections and that only 15% of Americans vote for candidates primarily based on their views on guns. Indeed, after the tragic school shootings in Colorado and Georgia, the number of people who said they would not consider gun control a major issue when voting actually increased from 19% to 21%!" Burnett gives further credibility to the argument that the gun control issue favors those candidates that oppose further restrictions on the individual right to own firearms, by citing the primary race in the Democratic Party for the 42nd California congressional district. In this race Marta Brown, the widow of the longest-serving member in Congress, was defeated by California State Senator Joe Baca. Marta Brown's defeat broke the string of 35 consecutive congressional elections where widows succeeded their husbands. Although she had more money, the backing of the White House, and the support of the California Democratic party, Joe Baca won as a result of the strong support of gun owners and NRA members in his district. Mrs. Brown's tactic of sending out mailers and press releases attacking Baca as the "radical gun lobby's favorite candidate" obviously backfired. In the days before the primary the national media referred to this race as a referendum on gun control -- a tactic similar to their characterization of the 1997 gun prohibition referendum in Washington State. In both cases the gun prohibitionists lost and the national media's silence was deafening. As Mr. Burnett so aptly puts it, "If, as the national press claimed, Brown's race was a referendum on gun control, then gun control lost." The same can also be said for the September election in Australia, a country in which almost all private ownership of firearms has been banned. In the first election since the Australian gun ban, the Liberal National Coalition, who strongly supported and promoted the "gun grab," lost its 20-seat majority in the state of Victoria. They primarily lost support in rural and semi-rural areas where the majority of gun owners reside. Yet the media ignored those facts. When those candidates who have supported the rights of law-abiding gun owners are re-elected on Nov. 3, the gun control issue will never be cited as the reason for their election. The media only mentions gun control when a candidate who supports their point of view is elected. What they fail to understand is that most Americans believe in fairness and are turned off by the establishment media who keep trying to make the dead horse of more gun control an election issue. Tanya K. Metaksa is the former executive director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action. She is the author of "Safe, Not Sorry," a self-protection manual, published in 1997. She has appeared on numerous talk and interview shows such as "Crossfire," the "Today" show, "Nightline," "This Week with David Brinkley" and the "McNeil-Lehrer Hour," among others. 1999 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc. - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 31 Oct 99 12:11:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: DN: Disarming citizens leaves them alarmingly defenseless http://www.desnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,125011859,00.html Deseret News, Sunday, October 31, 1999, 12:00 AM MDT Disarming citizens leaves them alarmingly defenseless By Terry L. Thompson Utah has seen a dramatic increase in legislation regarding the 2002 Winter Olympics. It seems that anyone with a particular interest has found some way to intertwine that interest with the pending Olympics in hopes that the Winter Games will propel his or her agenda to a desired conclusion. Certainly this has been the case with attempts to restrict Utah's law-abiding citizens from possession of adequate means of self- preservation. We have seen misguided, misled, uneducated, political and/or politically appointed pundits support restrictive gun-control legislation attacking the very citizens that they purport to protect. A prime example is the attempt to restrict lawful citizens carrying concealed weapons into churches or schools. There have been no incidents of lawful, permit-carrying citizens creating a threat to our children. However, politically motivated individuals and groups have adopted a popular lie which befits their socialist agenda. In a nutshell, disarming "common people" creates a massive dependence on a gloating government. The more dependence on government, the bigger the bureaucracy, the more powerful, the more expansive, the more corrupt, the more oppressive. The individual right to self-preservation is eloquently protected in the Second Amendment to the Constitution and is recognized as a basic God-given right. This is as basic as the need for food, water, shelter or clothing. What must be understood is that the Constitution did not give us this right, it was recognized by our Founding Fathers as an inalienable right God-given to every man. Politicians at all levels, law enforcement administrators, academia and popular groups in society have falsely claimed that their interest in gun control is for the common good. Yet their banner is stained with the blood of countless victims paying the price for their passive nonjustice of societies' real criminals. The common thread is to find blame with society, relinquishing personal responsibility for the pain and suffering caused by predatory criminals. But look out! Law-abiding citizens who wish to prepare to protect themselves or their loved ones from the criminals that liberals coddle and condone are hazardous to society. The height of arrogance is to restrict our ability to protect ourselves and those we dearly care for, knowing that our protection cannot be guaranteed. In a free society, individuals must be allowed the option of "free agency." Otherwise it is not a free society. There always has been and always will be those who choose to abuse their free agency. With that choice is an intent to cause pain, suffering and sorrow for victims of the abuser. We have reasonable laws governing this abuse, and those violating the law must be held personally accountable for their actions. This is reasonable and sensible. It's pathetic and embarrassing to realize that we fall so short of applying proper justice in our criminal nonjustice system. We fail to apply punishment to the very criminals that we create laws to effect and in turn attack law abiding citizens. Politicians have the gall to suggest that lawful citizens carrying concealed weapons are the problem. Here is a clue for evaluating your representatives. When they support legislation aimed at disarming law-abiding citizens, they have discarded prior existing values and have been seduced by corruption in the political system. Their continued time in political office will contribute to the benefit of criminals and serve to decay our precious constitutional protections. With the "politically correct" pressure on our legislators, it is time that law enforcement spoke up. We can no longer sit on the sidelines and blindly hope that our representatives do the right thing. It is time to lend our support not only as law-abiding citizens but as a group of law-enforcement professionals. The vast majority of law enforcement realizes that they cannot guarantee individual safety and therefore fully support the ownership, possession and concealed carry of firearms by law-abiding citizens. Law enforcement: Please take it upon yourself to personally let your representatives know that as a law-enforcement professional, you oppose gun-control laws in all of their sheep wool and clever disguises. Criminal control should be a priority, and we support legislation holding criminals personally responsible for their actions. Law enforcement: It is time to take a public stance against pending legislation. This is increasingly critical, as other organizations are pressuring Utah legislators to enact meaningless restrictions that only affect you. Don't forget, you are a law-abiding citizen first and a law-enforcement professional second. Our state representatives need to know that law enforcement is supporting them. Thus far, the majority of our legislators have shown incredible courage in the fight against socialism. Let's help them as they prepare to do the right thing for the political battles of the future. Terry L. Thompson, a sergeant in the Weber County Sheriff's Office, has worked in law enforcement for 12 years. He serves on the board of directors of the Utah Peace Officers Association http://www.upoa.org. Thompson's opinion is his own and does not necessarily reflect the position of the Weber County Sheriff's Office. Copyright 1999, Deseret News Publishing Corp. - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Nov 99 04:27:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: Exciting National Radio Interview about Dial 911 and Die - ----- To: lputah@qsicorp.com Date: Mon, 01 Nov 1999 03:54:39 -0700 From: Ron Amos Subject: Exciting National Radio Interview about Dial 911 and Die] A two hour interview, when enough people realize that govenment is under no positive obligation to protect anyone, I suspect there will soon be less government. ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP America's Aggressive Civil Rights Organization October 31, 1999 Exciting National Radio Interview about Dial 911 and Die National radio talk host Jeff Rense will interview JPFO's Richard Stevens about Dial 911 and Die Friday, November 5, 1999 7 P.M. Pacific (8 P.M. Mountain) (9 P.M. Central) (10 P.M. Eastern) You can also hear the program on the internet using RealAudio. Click on the website http://www.sightings.com/ and follow instructions. The interview might be archived on that website also, so you might be able to hear it at a later date. If we can get a list of local radio stations, then we will send that to you in a future alert. (To sign up for JPFO alerts, click on http://www.jpfo.org/ and follow the instructions. Mr. Rense has indicated he will devote two hours to the interview. Please pass this news on to all other web sites and forums where people are interested in legal issues, personal and family protection, firearms laws and individual rights. Dial 911 and Die collects the law from all 50 states and tells the stories that show how the government generally owes no duty to protect individual citizens from crime or criminal attack. Every legal principle and story comes from published legal authorities and case decisions (all footnoted and referenced). The book also contains 45 stories of successful personal self-defense against aggressors, taken from news reports. The book is only $11.95 postage paid. The Liberty Crew at JPFO. - ---------------------------------------------------------------- Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership PO Box 270143 Hartford, Wisconsin 53027 Phone: 262-673-9745 Fax: 262-673-9746 http://www.jpfo.org/ - ---------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to JPFO Alerts: send a blank e-mail to: jpfo_alerts-subscribe@topica.com and respond to the confirmation message you will get back. - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 02 Nov 99 04:27:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: African-Americans for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership - ----- Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1999 00:31:37 -0600 From: "A.K. Pritchard" Subject: African-Americans for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership FWD via: Bill Utterback butterb@connecti.com For further information, please contact: Leonard Whitley, 95 B Stoney Hill Rd. Eatontown, NJ 07724 Tel. 732-544-1483 email: aapfo@emailchoice.com INTRODUCTION: Speaking as an African-American, I depend upon our representatives in government and the African-American leaders in our communities to keep you and me informed of racism in all its forms. Because we live in Orwellian times, racism is more subtle today and is often disguised. Needless to say I was shocked when a co-worker (who is white by the way) handed me an essay titled "The Racist Roots of Gun Control" by Clayton E. Cramer. This essay covers the long history of gun control in America, and how it was originally used to keep African-Americans "in their place." Originally, gun control laws were never intended for whites. My question is: Why am I only learning of this now? How is it I never learned this in school? Where is Al Sharpton? Jesse Jackson? NAACP? Shouldn't they have brought this issue to light? When I first started making copies of this essay and passing them out I thought I would receive resistance from the Klan, Skin Heads, members of the Aryan Nation, etc. But I never heard from them. However, I have been contacted by representatives of the NAACP from several states telling me to "back off" in my attempts to make these facts known. Each call boils down to "...now is not the appropriate time..." Why not? At the present time, the NAACP has a lawsuit against a number of firearms manufacturers, claiming that they've flooded black communities with firearms. (Fact of the matter is the manufacturers have no control over where the firearms go -- that's determined by the dealers who order the firearms.) Revealing the historical facts concerning how gun control laws were racist in their beginnings would be counterproductive at this time, I'm told. If the NAACP goes through with their lawsuit at this time they can never, I repeat, never, bring up the issue of how Blacks have been discriminated against via racist gun laws in the future. How can the NAACP complain that Blacks in America have been historically denied the protection of the Second Amendment and at the same time sue firearms manufacturers for selling guns to Blacks? They can't have it both ways. Besides, if the NAACP does win the lawsuit, won't that make the cost of guns we need for self-defense unaffordable for some poor people who might need them the most? To add insult to injury, it's almost as though the NAACP is saying that none of us African-Americans can be trusted with firearms because the criminal element misuses them. Are we really so irresponsible that we let guns "flood" our neighborhoods, and then somehow let those guns jump up and cause crime? Rather than make that argument, why doesn't the NAACP go after the perpetrators of crime instead of gun manufacturers whose product is absolutely necessary for defense against racists and criminals? The purpose of this newsletter is to inform as many African-Americans as possible about the true motives behind gun control. "The Racist Roots of Gun Control" essay alerted me to the true nature of gun control in America. Read it for yourself and decide if our leaders and teachers have been keeping the truth from us. --Leonard Whitley The essay: "The Racist Roots of Gun Control" may be found at: http://gundebate.org/roots.htm "All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness." - --Article 1, Section 1, New Jersey State Constitution ******************************************************************* A couple of times a week, on average, I forward messages that I consider to be worthwhile. Occasionally I may be inspired to write a brief editorial. If you would like to begin receiving these messages, send me a message with SUBSCRIBE in the subject field. for Liberty (for all), Bill Utterback butterb@connecti.com - ----- "We have the greatest opportunity the world has ever seen, as long as we remain honest -- which will be as long as we can keep the attention of our people alive. If they once become inattentive to public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and governors would all become wolves." Thomas Jefferson "It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." Samuel Adams "It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error." U.S. Supreme Court in American Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382,442 - ----- World's Smallest Political Quiz http://www.self-gov.org/quiz.html Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/ Fully Informed Jury Association http://www.fija.org/ Gun Owners of America http://www.gunowners.org/ Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership http://www.JPFO.org/ [Forwarded For Information Purposes Only - Not Necessarily Endorsed By The Sender - A.K. Pritchard] - ------------------------------ A.K. Pritchard http://www.ideasign.com/chiliast/ To subscribe to "The Republican" email list - just ask! chiliast@ideasign.com "The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism, but under the name of Liberalism, they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program until one day America will be a Socialist nation without knowing how it happened" -- Norman Thomas - Socialist Party Presidential candidate Civil Liberties Union," Houghton Mifflin, 1976. - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 03 Nov 99 06:51:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: He said it straight - ----- To: lputah@qsicorp.com Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 09:47:22 -0600 Subject: FW: He said it straight From: "Jim Dexter" A Speech by Lt. Harry Thomas, Cincinnati Police Division FountainSquare, Cincinnati, Ohio February 27, 1994 "Welcome to the People's Republic of Cincinnati! As usual, since I am speaking publicly, I must make the following disclaimer: I am not speaking to you as an official spokesman or representative of the Cincinnati Police Division. If I don't say that, I'm liable to have visitors waiting for me when I get back to work. For the past 21 years, I have been a member of the Cincinnati Police Division. On three occasions, I have sworn a solemn oath; once when I was promoted from cadet to patrolman, once when I was promoted from patrolman to sergeant, and yet again when I was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant. That oath was to support the Constitution of the United States of America. I have buried almost a dozen of my fellow police officers who died defending that oath. The last one died right before my eyes in the major trauma room of University Hospital. I signed the receipt for his body so that he could be transported to the morgue. I think about those men often, and I think about what they died for. And that is why I become furiously angry when I see our Constitution, the most remarkable document ever written in the course of human existence, being used as toilet paper at every level of government. The Brady Bill is now a reality. For the first time in the history of our country, American citizens must request the government's permission to exercise a constitutional right. And if the government sees its way clear to grant permission, we must wait 5 days to exercise that right. But even this is not enough to please our keepers in Sodom-by-the-Potomac. Gun laws are not being passed quickly enough to suit our federal law enforcement agencies, so they have formulated their own plan to discourage gun ownership. In Ruby Ridge, Idaho, Sammy Weaver, age 14, the son of Randy Weaver, a man who had taken his family to the mountains to escape the tyranny of a government run amok, was hunting in the forest near the Weaver cabin with his dog. He wasn't the only person hunting in the forest that day. Sammy Weaver was ambushed and fatally shot in the back by two United States Marshals. And lest anyone accuse the U.S. Marshals of not being thorough in the performance of their assigned tasks, I would point out that they also shot the dog, also in the back. Later, Vicki Weaver, Randy's wife and the mother of the Weaver children, opened the door of the Weaver cabin to admit her husband, who had been in a nearby shed to visit the body of his son. Vicki Weaver was holding her 10 month old infant daughter in her arms. That proved to be only a slight inconvenience to FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi, as he shot Vicki Weaver through the head. She fell dead to the floor, her skull exploded, still clutching her daughter in her lifeless arms. It would appear that it is now a capital offense to be the son, wife, or dog of a gun owner. Waco. "Waco" is a word which, among American patriots, engenders the same anguished feelings of outrage as the word "Alamo." Last year at the NRA Convention in Nashville, my wife and I returned to our hotel room and flipped on CNN to see the latest developments in Waco. The Branch Davidian compound was burning. My wife cried. She knew that there were many children in that compound. She asked me why. Why are they burning the compound? I told her the simple truth: They have to burn it. Has anyone here seen and read the Waco search warrant affidavit? It's crap. It didn't establish enough probable cause to even knock on the Branch Davidian's door. When the FBI took over from the BATF (which some people say actually stands for Burn All Toddlers First), they knew that they would find no illegal weapons in the Branch Davidian compound. They were between a rock and a hard place. 4 ATF men dead, an unknown number of Branch Davidians dead, the FBI had only one choice: destroy the compound so that no one could ever prove whether illegal weapons were present or not. For hours, the FBI pumped supposedly non-lethal CS gas into the compound. Those of us in law enforcement and the military know differently. CS gas, in high concentrations in an enclosed area is lethal. The first ones to be affected by vomiting, convulsions unconsciousness and death, would be the children. The same children that local Texas authorities found to be happy and healthy under the care of the Branch Davidians. The FBI did not pump CS gas into the Branch Davidian compound to force its occupants to come out. They pumped gas in to make sure the occupants couldn't come out. Dead gun owners, and dead gun owner's children, tell no tales. The time has come for us to openly discuss something that up to this time we have mainly whispered about. The purpose of the 2nd Amendment is to threaten the government. The framers of our Constitution knew that government is a necessary evil, which, as in the case of the British government, could easily become more evil than necessary. The Founding Fathers wanted to ensure that should that situation again come to pass, the American people would have the capability to reclaim their country by force of arms. I believe that we are dangerously close to that day when we will have to use the 2nd Amendment in exactly the manner that our forefathers anticipated. When I was a boy, my father could buy firearms through the mail. It was rightly believed at the time that such a transaction was the business of the buyer, the gun dealer and no one else. I lost that right with the passage of the GCA in 1968. In my lifetime, I have been able to walk into a gun store, select a handgun, and walk out of that store with that gun in my hand. My children lost that right with the passage of the Brady Bill. I'm not giving up any more rights. I sincerely hope that a political solution to this problem is still possible, and I will continue to work on the NRA Board of Directors to try to find that solution. But if that solution cannot be found, I say this to the megalomaniacs in Washington: Pass your gun laws. I will not beg the government for a license to continue to be a handgun owner. I will not submit to being fingerprinted or photographed or interrogated like a criminal for claiming my birthright as a free American. I will not register a single gun that I own. I will not surrender a single gun that I own. I will not apply for an "arsenal" license because I own more than 20 guns or more than a thousand rounds of ammunition. I will not attend mandatory safety training, nor will I submit to a test to prove that I'm fit to be a gun owner. And Miss Reno, I have this to say to you: If you send your jack-booted, baby-burning bushwhackers to confiscate my guns, pack them a lunch; it will be a damned long day. The Branch Davidians were amateurs; I'm a professional. - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 04 Nov 1999 09:09:39 -0700 From: "David Sagers" Subject: Fwd: Dr. Laura on Concealed Carry Received: from slkcpop1.slkc.uswest.net ([206.81.128.1]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Wed, 03 Nov 1999 20:54:33 -0700 Received: (qmail 27492 invoked by alias); 4 Nov 1999 03:49:27 -0000 Delivered-To: fixup-dsagers@ci.west-valley.ut.us@fixme Received: (qmail 26658 invoked by uid 0); 4 Nov 1999 03:48:46 -0000 Received: from qdialup83.slkc.uswest.net (HELO uswest.net) (207.224.209.83) by slkcpop1.slkc.uswest.net with SMTP; 4 Nov 1999 03:48:46 -0000 Message-ID: <38210FF7.7B8DA6E2@uswest.net> Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 20:47:51 -0800 From: Neil Sagers X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.51 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en To: David Sagers , Neil Sagers Subject: Dr. Laura on Concealed Carry Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline (Printed in Deseret News, Sunday October 10, 1999) Responsible gun ownership might help reduce violence Recent shooting sprees prompt an attitude change By Dr. Laura Schlessinger I'm right in the middle of a big change of attitude about a very important subject. And I know a lot of my readers and listeners to my radio program may be shocked. But people who have known me over time know that I'm someone who evolves in public. That is, when I start changing my mind about something or discover new information or some truth about my own life or life in general, I'm usually pretty straightforward about the process with my colleagues and my fans. The first event that caused me to rethink my position on this topic was the shootings in Atlanta, where a man went into two office buildings and gunned down total strangers, then killed himself in his car later that day. I thought about the difference it might have made * lives saved instead of lost * if someone in one of those offices had been armed. The murderer might well have been foiled in his reign of terror before so many innocent people died. That thought caused me to remember a time several years ago when I felt completely safe in my hometown of Los Angeles. It was after the major earthquake in 1994, and the National Guard was everywhere. There they were, it seemed, on every corner * uniformed, armed, ammunition slung across their chests, ready. As I recall, there was absolutely no crime in Los Angeles at that time * no break-ins, no holdups, no car-jackings. Nada. The bad guys obviously didn't want to risk getting shot. I went on the air then and said, "Gee, why can't these guys just stay here?" and everyone freaked out. Now, I knew then and know now that that's not what the National Guard is for, but it was nice to feel so secure for those few weeks. In thinking about the difference an armed civilian or security guard might have made in Atlanta, I thought back to my trip to Israel this summer and how many people walking around, especially on the West Bank, were armed out of a genuine and persistent need to protect themselves. No one was shooting. There was no display of firepower or anything like that. It was just taken for granted. I know that's a unique situation, because from its inception Israel has been under constant attack by neighboring countries, as well as terrorists. So they have a demonstrable need for self-defense. We, on the other hand, are self-destructing. We don't need an external force. We are breeding our own evil here. Child killers, killer children, private militias, home-grown and imported terrorists, to say nothing of old-fashioned, garden variety psychopaths and criminals * all armed and dangerous and now encouraged, educated in evil and joined in unholy conspiracy on the World Wide Web. There are obviously lots and lots of reasons why our society * once so revered and respected around the world * is unraveling and degenerating. But one of them is the unbridled license of communication on the Internet. I hear from so many people about the shock and despair the Internet has brought into their homes. The Internet is the most recent and most powerful tool to be commandeered by the sick evildoers in our midst. It spreads the virus of hate and germs of pathology like wildfire around the world, infecting more and more people, especially our neglected and vulnerable youths. Many of the most recent horrendous crimes have been committed by jerks, scum, low-lifes and dim bulbs who hang around the Internet because they have no life, fantasize about becoming heroes through hate and are emboldened to act out by others in cyberspace who support them. Even before the horror of the most recent attack on children in a Los Angeles Jewish center near my home, I was in the process of making up my mind to find a nice police officer or sheriff to teach me how to responsibly fire a gun. I can hardly believe I'm saying this, because I have been opposed to the idea that everyone should be free to bear arms. But the unpredictability of where danger strikes next, coupled with the frequency with which it happens, has led me to think that we "good guys" need to have more of the mentality of the beleaguered Israelis. And, of course, we need to have their attitude as well. No one is gun-happy over there. They don't show off, do stupid things. I agree that everyone who carries a gun must be licensed and that the regulations should be very strict. In order to be allowed to carry a gun, I think we should have to pass a test to make sure we can take it apart, put it back together again, clean it, load it, unload it, etc. And we should have to pass a marksman's test to get the gun and periodic tests to be allowed to keep it. To be perfectly honest, I haven't thought this all the way through. It's just that I'm getting more and more concerned about the direction in which our society is moving, and it's becoming clearer and clearer that we need protection from ourselves. I know this shocks a whole lot of you. And I'm sorry. Please send correspondence to Dr. Laura in care of Universal Press Syndicate, 4520 Main St., Kansas City, Mo. 64111. Dr. Laura Schlessinger Dist. by Universal Press Syndicate - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 04 Nov 1999 16:02:24 -0700 From: "David Sagers" Subject: Fwd: Honolulu: My letter to the editor Received: from fs1.mainstream.net ([206.97.102.4]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Thu, 04 Nov 1999 12:54:31 -0700 Received: by fs1.mainstream.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id OAA26826; Thu, 4 Nov 1999 14:51:11 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199911041951.OAA26826@fs1.mainstream.net> Date: Thu, 04 Nov 1999 09:47:51 -1000 From: Brian Baron To: Multiple-Recipients-noban@mainstream.net Subject: Honolulu: My letter to the editor Precedence: bulk Reply-To: noban@mainstream.net X-Divvy-no: 1 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline The following letter to the editors of both daily papers got published in this morning's Honlulu Advertiser.=20 Brian =20 CALLING 911 DIDN'T WORK =20 It is a fact that the seven murder victims of Byran Uyesugi were caught by surprise and defenseless. It's also a fact that had one or more persons in that building on that terrible day been armed, they may have been able to stop the killing. But it's official government policy here that all citizens, no matter how upright, must remain defenseless at all times except in their homes. That's because Hawaii State law allowing a person = to carry a concealed firearm is weak. So weak in fact that it is believed = that only one civilian in Honolulu has one. =20 It's also a fact that calling 911 didn't work in this case. In fact it often doesn't work. Yet that is the advice the police give when asked what we should do if we find ourselves in danger. It's obviously time to question this policy. Since we will never eliminate violence, doesn't it make sense to prepare for it? Rigorous studies have shown that violent crime decreases where there are fewer restrictions on carrying concealed guns. That's because criminals prefer to attack the defenseless. Israel is a case in point. Since the government encouraged private citizens to carry concealed firearms, terrorism has been greatly reduced. Bottom line: shootings by deranged madmen will go down when people are permitted to protect = themselves.=20 Ironically and tragically our unrealistic 'feel good' anti-gun laws are a contributing cause of these senseless massacres. Our lawmakers should reverse this policy immediately. =20 =20 Brian Baron, Chair=20 Hawaii Citizens' Rights Political Action Committee - - To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@mainstream.net, and as the body of the message (plain text, no HTML), send the following: . unsubscribe noban email-address . where email-address is the address under which you are subscribed. Report problems to owner-noban@mainstream.net - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Nov 1999 08:28:02 -0700 From: "David Sagers" Subject: Fwd: Gun Ban Poll at www.vote.com, We're Losing! Vote Early; Vote Received: from fs1.mainstream.net ([206.97.102.4]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Fri, 05 Nov 1999 04:40:45 -0700 Received: by fs1.mainstream.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id GAA29372; Fri, 5 Nov 1999 06:37:53 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199911051137.GAA29372@fs1.mainstream.net> Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 06:36:00 EST From: ASSETNJ@AOL.COM To: Multiple-Recipients-noban@mainstream.net Subject: Fwd: Gun Ban Poll at www.vote.com, We're Losing! Vote Early; Vote Precedence: bulk Reply-To: noban@mainstream.net X-Divvy-no: 1 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="=_277E30A2.5E3F50B8" - --=_277E30A2.5E3F50B8 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline In a message dated 11/5/99 3:08:09 AM Eastern Standard Time, NJGunsRus = writes: << http://www.vote.com/vote/1180/ >> - --=_277E30A2.5E3F50B8 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Return-path: NJGunsRus@aol.com From: NJGunsRus@aol.com Full-name: NJGunsRus Message-ID: <0.27ae6363.2553ea69@aol.com> Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 03:08:09 EST Subject: Gun Ban Poll at www.vote.com, We're Losing! Vote Early; Vote Often! X-Mailer: AOL for Macintosh sub 54 To: undisclosed-recipients:; Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline http://www.vote.com/vote/1180/ - --=_277E30A2.5E3F50B8-- - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Nov 1999 09:01:54 -0800 From: Joe Waldron Subject: MOUT RESOURCE SITE--CONSPIRACY THEORY HEAVEN! Weekend coming up, rain forecast in the Northwest calls for indoor work (if we're not out hunting random shooters). People need something to read and get them spun up. A gander at the following web site should do that! Get yer colanders and aluminium foil out... The following website offers a potpourri of military information put together by Colonel Anthony A. Wood, USMC Urban Warrior Conceptual Experimental Framework MOUT: Technology - Weapons - Equipment http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6453/techa.html - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 Nov 99 16:33:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: SL Trib: Guns Deadlier Than Car Crashes http://www.sltrib.com/11051999/utah/44292.htm The Salt Lake Tribune -- Guns Deadlier Than Car Crashes Friday, November 5, 1999 BY NORMA WAGNER THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Gunshot wounds last year in Salt Lake County occurred more frequently than new cases of tuberculosis, AIDS and hepatitis A, and caused more deaths than automobile accidents. After several high-profile shootings in Utah and around the nation in the past year, the Salt Lake City-County Board of Health asked the health department's Family Health Services division to research the circumstances surrounding shootings across the valley throughout 1998, including the sex and average age of the victims, location and type of firearm used. Nothing the investigators found indicated Utah is any different from other parts of the nation, particularly in the percentage of shooting victims who died. But they plan to use the data to come up with some possible interventions -- a project to be funded through a $30,000 Harvard University grant during the study's second phase. "We wanted to know what the situation in regards to shootings was in our county because we know that legislators are going to take some position on guns. We just don't know when," said health department spokeswoman Jana Carlson-Kettering. It is the Board of Health's policy to take a position on such issues, and members said they would do so based on the information gathered in the "gunshot wound surveillance data" report. Investigators gathered information for their report from hospital records, medical examiner reports and death certificates, then looked at police reports for supplemental information. They discovered that of the 201 people shot in 1998, 88 victims died -- 44 percent. "There's very little opportunity for intervention [in reducing that death rate)," health department epidemiologist Catherine Steas told Board of Health members during their Thursday meeting. "It doesn't matter how good the emergency rooms or emergency medical technicians are." Most injuries (83 percent) occurred among males, putting them at more than four times the risk of being gunshot victims than females. And the majority of victims (78 percent) were between the ages of 15 to 39. "But if you take into account the population of the age group, the highest percent (of shooting victims) are between 15 and 19 years of age," Steas said. Children as young as six years of age were unintentionally shot, and adults as old as 90 committed suicide. More than 70 percent of the injuries were caused by a handgun, the rest by a shotgun or rifle. The majority of shootings (64 percent) occurred in a public place, including a public library, parks, restaurant parking lots, roadways and places of business. None occurred in a church or school. On average, gunshot injuries occur once every two days in the county, Steas said, and deaths from those injuries occur once every four days. Suicide attempts peak between noon and 4 p.m.; assaults peak between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. Eighty-six percent of firearm injuries were intentional, with forty-four percent gang-related. Eleven percent were unintentional, and the remaining 3 percent could not be explained. Thirty percent of the victims who were killed had detectable levels of alcohol in their blood,18 percent with drugs of abuse. And the public pays, Steas said. Three-fourths of the shooting victims lacked private insurance, and medical costs of treating all 201 victims were estimated to exceed $1.3 million. We learned a lot about what we can and cannot get from this information," Steas said. "Firearm injuries are common, lethal and costly to the public. From what I've seen of the national data, (the county) is basically similar to what we see nationwide." The researchers plan to continue collecting and expanding the data. In the study's second phase, Steas said, they will try to discern if the guns used were purchased for self protection. Board of Health member and pediatrician Lucy Osborne also asked Steas to include injuries from BB guns and pellet guns, which don't often result in death, but can lead to debilitating injuries, such as blindness. "My sense is this is a ground-breaking study, that we are again leading the way," said Board of Health Chairman Jane Connard. "This is very interesting, informative information." Copyright 1999, The Salt Lake Tribune - - ------------------------------ End of utah-firearms-digest V2 #165 ***********************************