From: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com (utah-firearms-digest) To: utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: utah-firearms-digest V2 #168 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, November 30 1999 Volume 02 : Number 168 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 19 Nov 99 14:50:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: Mandatory Gun Law A Proven Success Please do not construe my forwarding of this as condoning brandishing. Scott - ----- To: lputah@qsicorp.com Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 09:52:05 -0600 Subject: LPU: FW: Mandatory Gun Law A Proven Success From: "Jim Dexter" Mandatory Gun Law A Proven Success Why Doesn't The Media Visit Kennesaw? By Chuck Baldwin 11-6-99 The New American magazine reminds us that March 25th marked the 16th anniversary of Kennesaw, Georgia's ordinance requiring heads of households (with certain exceptions) to keep at least one firearm in their homes. The city's population grew from around 5,000 in 1980 to 13,000 by 1996 (latest available estimate). Yet there have been only three murders: two with knives (1984 and 1987) and one with a firearm (1997). "After the law went into effect in 1982, crime against persons plummeted 74 percent compared to 1981, and fell another 45 percent in 1983 compared to 1982. And it has stayed impressively low. In addition to nearly non-existent homicide (murders have averaged a mere 0.19 per year), the annual number of armed robberies, residential burglaries, commercial burglaries, and rapes have averaged, respectively, 1.69, 31.63, 19.75, and 2.00 through 1998." With all the attention that has been heaped upon the lawful possession of firearms lately, you would think that a city that requires gun ownership would be the center of a media feeding frenzy. It isn't. The fact is I can't remember a major media outlet even mentioning Kennesaw. Can you? The reason is obvious. Kennesaw proves that the presence of firearms actually improves safety and security. This is not the message that the media want us to hear. They want us to believe that guns are evil and are the cause of violence. The facts tell a different story. What is even more interesting about Kennesaw is that the city's crime rate decreased with the simple knowledge that the entire community was armed. The bad guys didn't force the residents to prove it. Just knowing that residents were armed prompted them to move on to easier targets. Most criminals don't have a death wish. There have been two occasions in my own family when the presence of a handgun averted potential disaster. In both instances the gun was never aimed at a person and no shot was fired. Yet, in both cases the thugs bent on criminal mischief decided to take their ambitions elsewhere and my family remained safe. Only God knows what would have happened if a firearm had not been handy. Yes, there are times when gun accidents occur. There are many more accidents involving automobiles, airplanes, bathroom shower stalls and backyard swimming pools, however. And let's not forget that freedom is risky business. Freedom allows people to make mistakes recognizing that the alternative is worse. A local newspaper columnist recently said that other nations are free without possessing firearms. He fails to see the obvious fact that people who are not free to own firearms are not free. Many people live their entire lives and never know a day of real freedom. And, while I'm sure that there are those who would choose to live without freedom, there are some of us who would rather die free than live enslaved. - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Nov 99 14:50:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: Gun Injury Researcher at CDC Fired - ----- To: lputah@qsicorp.com Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 15:57:08 -0600 Subject: LPU: FW: Gun Injury Researcher at CDC Fired From: "Jim Dexter" I'm not sure of the source, but this is good news, if true. - ---------- Gun Injury Researcher at CDC Fired 11/16/99 The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quietly fired Mark L. Rosenberg, its top gun violence researcher, on Sept. 1, the Probe newsletter reported Nov. 1. Rosenberg, who was fired by CDC Director Jeffrey P. Koplan, M.D., initiated CDC's research into gun violence in the early 1980s, looking particularly at the causes and prevention of gun violence. "Mark has been a giant on the world scene in saying that the peril of gun injury is a public health issue that can be approached like any other such issue, by doing research, designing interventions, and then modifying them if necessary," said Rebecca Peters of Australia, an attorney and a gun control advocate who is a visiting fellow in justice studies at the Soros Foundation in New York. She added, "There is a widespread perception among the public health community that the reason Rosenberg was so unceremoniously dumped is because he's been identified by the gun lobby as their enemy. I don't think this ouster is a coincidence, given the upcoming presidential election." The CDC's gun violence work has been strongly opposed by Republicans in the U.S. Senate. In 1995, the U.S. Congress cut the CDC's budget by $2.6 million, the exact amount the center requested for research on gun-related injuries. Among the senators who attacked the gun study program were Bob Dole (R-Kan.), Trent Lott (R-Miss.), Christopher Bond (R-Mo.), Ted Stevens (R-Ala.), and Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C). The program also was opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA). According to Peters and other experts, the firing of Rosenberg means the NRA/GOP agenda to stop or curtail research on gun-related injuries has been achieved. According to CDC spokeswoman Mary Ann Fenley, the remaining budget for limited research and analysis into gun violence provided by the U.S. Congress is $1 million annually. The cuts come at a time when gun violence at schools, in the workplace and in communities has increased. [Dexter note: This is not true. Violence in schools, especially deaths, is actually decreasing, but the exceptions are headline-grabbers.] Rosenberg is now working in a non-federal job at a collaborative center for childhood well-being that is run by Emory University and the Carter Center near Atlanta, Ga. He also retains his U.S. Public Health Service title of assistant surgeon general. Fenley said the center's new chief and acting director is family practitioner Stephen B. Thacker, M.D. It appears Thacker has little experience in gun violence studies. - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Nov 99 14:50:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: No Rise in Workplace Violence - ----- To: lputah@qsicorp.com Date: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 09:55:47 -0600 Subject: LPU: FW: No Rise in Workplace Violence From: "Jim Dexter" Subject: excerpt from the "Daily Labor Report" An excerpt from the "Daily Labor Report" on workplace violence (quoting the Washington Post). William Weber, quoted below, is one of the senior executives at BLS. The data presented is from my department. "It's more the high-visibility and shocking nature of the incidents," Weber says, "rather than the numbers, that are driving all the concern." I beg to differ. If I were quoted in the Post (and this is why I'm not!), the quote would read something more like this: "It's more the Unconstitutional gun-grabbing, media-sensationalizing nature of the incidents, rather than the reality of the situation, that are driving all the concern." I've done the math on "going postal": You're twice as likely to be struck by lightning than you are killed by a coworker. (It's a misleading statistic, and it's comparing apples and oranges, but that hasn't stopped anyone else!) Workplace homicides were 1,044 in 1992; peaked at 1,080 in 1994; have declined ever since to 709 in 1998. Not all were gun related, and the majority were robberies, not coworker tirades. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Going Postal" hits the private sector, and tensions are rising across a spectrum of workplaces, says an article by Rene Sanchez in the Washington Post (Nov. 7, page A3). ... Yet for all the growing alarm over bloody sprees in the workplace, they remain rare. In fact, there is evidence that they are not soaring in number every year, contrary to perceptions. Homicide is the second-leading cause of workplace death in the nation, but it's at its lowest point in seven years, according to BLS. In 1998, 709 people were slain on the job, down from 860 the previous year. Most of the killings occurred during store robberies. A closer look at the government statistics shows that the number of deadly assaults in the workplace by enraged co-workers, customers, or clients is a much lower and fairly stable figure. Last year, BLS recorded 98 such killings nationwide, 17 more than the previous year, yet almost on par with the annual average from the past six years of 105 victims. ... "These types of incidents still account for only about 10 percent of workplace homicides," said William Weber, the BLS assistant commissioner of safety, health and working conditions. "It's more the high-visibility and shocking nature of the incidents, rather than the numbers, that are driving all the concern." But homicide totals do not tell the full story of how tense workplaces across the country seem to be getting. There were also hundreds of nonfatal shootings and stabbings of workers on the job last year and more than 8,000 serious assaults, according to labor statistics. ... - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Nov 99 14:50:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: Utah Shooting Sports Council E-mail Action Alert - ---------- Utah Shooting Sports Council E-mail Action Alert The Utah Shooting Sports Council is looking for volunteers to help distribute literature at the November 20th and 21st Crossroads of the West gun show being held at the Salt Palace. In exchange for helping you will receive free admission to the show. You do not need to be a USSC member to volunteer. The upcoming Utah legislative session is going to be a difficult one. In addition to fighting the usual assaults on law abiding gun owners, we are going to be promoting a number of pro gun bills. Even though the Utah legislature has been very supportive of gun owners in the past we cannot assume that this will continue in the future. The anti-gun zealots have been very active this past year trying to scare everyone into believing that you and other gun owners are responsible for the Columbine tragedy. Our most effective means to counter the gun control fanatics is to have thousands of gun owners contacting legislators during the upcoming session. To understand the impact that phone calls have on lawmakers, consider Representative Marty Stephens comments that appeared in the July 22, 1999 Salt Lake Tribune. The article concerned the legislatures refusal to go along with Governor Mike Leavitt's call for a special legislative session to pass more gun control laws. "Despite numerous public-opinion polls showing a large majority of Utahns support gun-control measures, including barring legally concealed weapons from public schools, Republican legislators are skeptical. "That's not what the people in our districts are telling us", said Stephens. "Instead, residents oppose a special session on gun control by a 30-1 margin", he added. Our best method of mobilizing gun owners is to have as many pro Second Amendment people as possible signed up for our free e-mail action alerts. That way we can tell people what legislators to contact, when to contact them and what bills need their attention. At the upcoming gun show we will be distributing flyers that will encourage people to sign up for our e-mail action alerts and educate them on current issues. To have success during the next legislative session it is imperative that we reach as many people as possible at the upcoming gun show. The best way of reaching the several thousand people who attend this show is to have a large number of people passing out literature to people as they leave the show. If you've always wanted to do something to preserve your rights now is your chance. Please volunteer to pass out flyers for a few hours at the upcoming gun show. To help or get more information send an e-mail to Utguns@hotmail.com with your name and phone number. If you can help out for two hours you will receive free admission to the show courtesy of Crossroads of the West Gun Shows. The gun show will be held on Saturday November 20th and Sunday November 21st. If this action alert was forwarded to you from anyone other than USSC E-mail Action Alert, you are not on our action alert list. To be sure that you continue to receive the latest alerts please sign up for our free E-mail Action Alerts by sending a request to: gunlist@wojciktech.com. If you know someone who does not have e-mail capability but would still like to keep informed you can have them call our legislative hotline: 801-299-7230. For more detailed information on legislative issues visit our web sight at www.UtahShootingSports.org/USSC. Please forward this e-mail action alert to as many of your pro gun friends as possible. Our best chance for preserving our Second Amendment rights is to have as many people as possible receiving these action alerts. If you wish to be removed from the USSC E-Mail Action Alert list, or your address has changed, send an e-mail to: gunlist@wojciktech.com - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Nov 99 16:10:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: NEA gun poll and letters - ----- To: lputah@qsicorp.com Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 12:02:12 -0600 Subject: LPU: FW: NEA gun poll and letters From: "Jim Dexter" Check it out, the NEA didn't 'fudge' the poll results. You might want to view this poll from the NEA and read some of the comments before you pass any more anti 2nd Amendment gun law. The people do not seem to support more gun laws and in fact want many of them repealed. Sincerely, John L. McKenney 810 W. Huron Vassar, Michigan 48768 http://www.nea.org/neatoday/9910/debate.html#vote Letters about the gun control debate... http://www.nea.org/neatoday/9911/letters.html - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Nov 99 10:06:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: Cheap CCW training for Teachers - ----- To: lputah@qsicorp.com Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1999 19:10:59 -0600 Subject: LPU: FW: Cheap CCW training for Teachers From: "Jim Dexter" - ---------- Please distribute this far and wide to every educator you know. Also, feel free to have it put into any of your local papers. Normally CCW instructors charge a minimum of $35 to $50 per student. This will be an excellent class, requiring that participants shoot live ammo, and it will give a good dose of the laws pertaining to self defense. Let's fill this class. It's a great opportunity to win at least a few educators over to our side. Dave Press Release: November 21, 1999 Several Concealed Carry Weapon license instructors are offering CCW classes to Utah area educators for the cost of materials only. The $15 cost covers classroom rental and copying costs for the state laws and application. Participants may bring their own handgun and ammunition or can rent a handgun and ammunition from the instructor for $10 to $15, depending on the caliber. Most applicants choose to qualify for both revolver and a semi-automatic type firearms. If the student wishes to take care of the notary, fingerprints, and photographs at the class, this service will be available at an additional cost of $20. This class will fulfill the requirements for Utah's CCW permit. The in-class instruction is on Dec. 10 (Friday) from 7:00-9:00 p.m. and the range instruction is on Dec. 11 (Saturday) from 9:00 a.m. until around 12:00 a.m. All students will be required to demonstrate handling proficiency with live ammunition on the range. Participants must provide proof of being an educator (for example, a teaching certificate) to take this class. Spouses of educators are also welcome at the same cost. There will be three instructors. Steve Beckstead is an NRA Training Counselor, Hunter Education, and CCW instructor. Michael Gourley is a retired teacher and is also an NRA training counselor and Utah CCW instructor. Terry Tate, president of the Utah Hunter Education Instructors Association (UHEIA), is certified to teach CCW and Personal Protection classes for both women and men. The class will be at the Lee Kay Hunter Education Center on 2100 S. 6000 W in Salt Lake City. To register for this class, educators should contact Terry Tate at 963-8864 or Steve Beckstead at 280-1863. - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 99 08:33:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: On-Line Petition Against More "Gun Control" - ----- To: lputah@qsicorp.com Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 10:50:50 -0600 Subject: LPU: FW: On-Line Petition Against More "Gun Control" From: "Jim Dexter" Here's another petition: - ---------------------------------- Petition Against Gun Control & Frivolous Lawsuits We the undersigned are strongly opposed to any further restrictions on our right to bear arms. We are also strongly opposed to the frivolous lawsuits being filed against gun manufacturers by various cities. We will be limiting our purchases from companies in these cities as well as avoiding these cities for business and vacation purposes. We will be keeping an eye on the politicians who vote against our wish's and will vote for or against them accordingly. http://www.e-thepeople.com/petition.cfm?PETID=270694 - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Nov 99 22:50:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: FW: Gun Control in Michigan How Gun Control Came to Michigan by Tim O'Brien, State Chair, Libertarian Party of Michigan Black history can provide timely lessons that put today's policy debates in a new light. Take, for instance, the African-American experience with the right to self-defense. The story starts in September 1925, when Dr. Ossian Sweet moved his family into a two-story home on the corner of Garland and Charlevoix on Detroit's east side. A prominent gynecologist and a graduate of Howard University medical school, Dr. Sweet had studied and worked in Europe, including a stint with Nobel Prize winner Madame Curie in Paris, before settling in Detroit. One might expect that Sweet would be out of place in the poor, working-class neighborhood. And he was. But it was not so much because of his wealth and education as the fact that he was black and the neighbors were white. After Sweet moved in, a mob of hundreds gathered across the street and grew increasingly ugly. The Waterworks Park Improvement Association, as the mob called itself, had driven another black doctor out of his Detroit home some weeks before. Anticipating trouble, a dozen police officers cordoned off the area for three blocks around and walked up and down the street between the mob and the Sweet residence. The Sweet family did their best to maintain an air of normalcy. Mrs. Sweet was in the kitchen preparing dinner, and several family and friends were helping unpack, when the crowd started howling and stones began pelting the house. Dr. Sweet grabbed a gun and dashed to an upstairs window to get a better and safer view of what was going on outside his new home. Just as he saw a car with his brother, Henry, and a family friend pull up to the curb, a rock smashed through the window and showered him in shards. The now-terrified doctor ran back downstairs to let his brother and their friend into the house as the crowd was screaming, Here's niggers! Get them! Get them! That's when the first shot rang out. In the ensuing pandemonium, no one is certain how or in what order events then unfolded. It is certain that six of the 11 people inside the house fired their weapons, as did at least one police officer outside; in fact, he emptied his revolver. Two people in the mob were struck, one fatally. The police, who until gunfire erupted had been little more than spectators, stormed the house and arrested everyone inside, charging them all with murder. The sensational case polarized the city, but it ended up assigned to a judge whose integrity and personal courage would one day make him a Michigan legend. This is the opportunity of a lifetime to demonstrate sincere liberalism, remarked the unflappable presiding Judge Frank Murphy, who immediately released Mrs. Sweet on bail. Nor were the defendants wanting for high-powered representation. Clarence Darrow came into Detroit to handle the case. This pioneer in the cause of equal protection before the law spent three weeks on jury selection alone, most of it in a painstakingly detailed recounting of the history of the black man in America. Following a seven-week trial and three days of often acrimonious deliberations by the all-white jury, Judge Murphy ruled that a verdict could not be reached and declared a mistrial. Prosecutors decided to retry only Ossian's brother, Henry, who had freely admitted firing his gun. At the second trial, Darrow never denied that his sole remaining client may have fired the fatal shot, but argued that the defendant was justified and acting in self-defense. The second jury (also all-white) took barely three hours to return a not-guilty verdict. As a consequence of this incident, the Ku Klux Klan, which operated much more openly in those days, lobbied for and obtained the first round of restrictive gun legislation in Michigan. The Public Acts of 1927 included the requirement that citizens obtain government-issued purchase permits following mandatory safety inspections. Even then, the opportunity to legally carry the weapon would be granted only at the whim of unaccountable county gun boards. Following racial unrest in major American cities across the country in the early to mid-60s, culminating in the long, hot summer of 1967 the next round of restrictions came from the federal government in the form of the Gun Control Act of 1968. This legislation was modeled on the German Weapons Law of 1938 enacted by the Nazi government. A revealing feature of the contemporary gun control movement has been the persistent drive to ban inexpensive handguns, often disparagingly called Saturday Night Specials, an epithet based on an old racist line that any kind of riotous going-on was a Niggertown Saturday Night. And, indeed, it is pretty obvious that, at the least, a ban on inexpensive weapons targets poor people, if not strictly minorities. None of this has proved effective in stemming violent crime because criminals, by definition, do not respect the law. Nevertheless, those who want to fully disarm the law-abiding have discovered a new tactic. Since the courts have been unwilling and the Legislature unable to accomplish the goal of gun control advocates, several major cities have decided that perhaps civil litigation will hold gun manufacturers responsible for the misuse of their products and choke off the marketplace of firearms. People are waiting to see whether the mayor of Dr. Ossian Sweet's hometown may follow suit. Had Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer done so last week, it would have provided a tragically ironic end to Black History Month. For, as Jews have already discovered, disarming a people is only the first phase in attempting to end their history entirely. - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Nov 99 22:50:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: ADVICE ON STAYING FREE - ----- From: "Weldon Clark" Date: Fri, 26 Nov 1999 13:23:02 -0500 ADVICE ON STAYING FREE UNREGISTERING YOUR GUN: LIMIT GOVERNMENT ***************************************** What To Do If The Police Come To Confiscate Your Militia Weapons see http://www.2ndamendment.net For legislative updates contact www.nealknox.com and go to "Scripts from the Firearms Coalition Legislative Update Line" Writing your congressman can now be accomplished at the speed of light, thanks to WorldNetDaily's new Legislative Action Center. http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd/ You can call your two Senators at (202) 224-3121 and your Representative at (202) 225-3121 at the Capitol Switchboard. Here is the URL for Congressional Telephone Directory: http://clerkweb.house.gov/106/mbrcmtee/members/teledir/members/cdframe.htm Here's an e-mail link to Congress. http://in-search-of.org/ http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ http://www.gunowners.org/mailerx.html ***************************** The Life and Times of John Hawkins by Weldon Clark (Any resemblance to persons living or dead is intentional.) I will tell you, my son, that the government of the United States, your country, has evolved in some very unhealthy ways. Most of the politicians are not religious and have taken up worshiping the government. Regardless of party, power over your life is their objective. They wish to control your future and the future of your grandchildren. The image they hold of the future is one in which you and your grandchildren are dependent on the government for your personal security. They know you will begin to resent this sooner or later. Therefore they want you to have as little power to resist them as possible. This means they want you to have no firearms. The have confiscated firearms in your country in New York City, Cleveland, Connecticut and California. Under various pretexts they confiscate firearms whenever they can using every excuse. They plan to do this across the whole country. My father foresaw this. When he died he did not mention any firearms in his will. I and my brothers and sisters sat down at a table and parceled out guns and ammunition to each of us. If the government wants to know about my father's guns they can try asking him. Of course, once you are dead the government cannot get answers out of you. And you can no longer be prosecuted or imprisoned. I will parcel out my guns to all of you, my children, provided you promise never to voluntary or involuntarily register them with any government local, state, or federal. I will leave you a thousand rounds of ammunition for each firearm. As each of you goes through life I would like you to keep any record of firearm ownership out of the hands of the government. Avoid registration any way you can. When you trade firearms with your friends make sure they are indeed your friends. You should know your friends very well, which means having only a few good ones. Having bad friends is the most dangerous thing you can do in life. When you trade a firearm for a similar firearm, say a .38 S&W for a .38 S&W, you have effectively changed the serial number on the .38 you own. So it is more difficult for the government to know who has what gun. When you obtain a firearm from another person do not keep any record of the transaction. Then store that firearm away from your residence for a long period of time. In case you were set up, the evidence will not be in your possession. Store your firearms securely. I have a cousin named Francis Drake who is a little bit on the wicked side. He stores his firearms protected by a 2000 volt electrical charge. Fran has done some things to politicians who are anti-gun that I of course would never do. One of his representatives kept introducing gun bills. Fran had all kinds of things delivered to his house, like gravel, sand, and lumber. He had a call girl go to the representative's house at 3 AM. Fran made sure the politician never knew who did these things and never knew why they were done. Soon the other politicians began to notice that the politician had started to behave strangely. And he was a lot less effective in doing anything, including waging his anti-gun crusade. With anonymous phone calls, Fran set up another anti-gun politician to be investigated on gun charges. When Fran's police chief called him a "Neanderthal", Fran got back at him by not saying things that would have helped the chief in his official duties with the chief's enemies. My children, in all areas of your life you must follow a strategy of resisting government power of any kind. So you must vote in every election, and you must support those politicians who will reduce the government's power over your life by helping to finance and run their campaigns for political office. If you can bear the company, become useful to the political party in your area. Get a hold of their supporters list and try to meet these people. Every once in a while you can get a politician's attention by talking to his supporters. You should serve on a jury every chance you get. In any case where the government is trying to prosecute someone for a paper crime, such as failing to fill our a firearms registration form, say nothing but vote not guilty regardless of the judge's instructions. Judging the correctness of the law as well as the actions of the accused is your moral duty, and it is an established principle in American jurisprudence. All judges say you have to do as they say, but you don't. You are the real judge in a trial, and you should never convict anyone who is simply trying to live free. You should exercise your rights every chance you get, regardless of whether you have done any thing illegal or not, and regardless of how you have to do it. One time a policeman asked me to let him search the trunk of my car. I told him the lock fell out and he would need a screwdriver. He did not search the trunk. Finally, my children, you should serve on any boards or commissions you can get appointed to. And always, always in everyday life, as a voter, or as an official of any kind speak up for, and work toward, more freedom. If you do this -- your own children--and they're children, and theirs -- will thank you and bless your memory. ********************************************* This was part 4 of a 5 parts series. ConfiscationDefense_1.doc Go On the offensive 10_CAO_2.doc 12_EffectiveLobbying_3.doc Unregistering your gun 17_AdviceonStayingFree_4.doc Running Political Campaigns 19_WinningCampaign_5.doc The 2ndAmendmentNews Team The way to protect your own rights is to protect the rights of others. Our right to own and use firearms is under attack. This list was created in a hurry due to the emergency presented by anti-gun politicians and the media dancing in the blood of those who died in the Colorado massacre. To join please send E-MAil to listserver@frostbit.com with the text SUBSCRIBE 2nd-Amendment-News If you wish to subscribe please send a reply to me at luz.clark@prodigy.net or behanna@fast.net Cordially Yours, The 2ndAmendmentNews Team 2ndAmendmentNews is published by volunteer activists who support the full original individual rights intent of the 2nd Amendment and oppose any appeasement on gun rights. The moderators include Chris Behanna, Weldon Clark (an NRA director) and Steve Cicero. If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen. -- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776. - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 10:52:39 -0800 From: Joe Waldron Subject: SAF FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST MAYORS NEWS RELEASE Second Amendment Foundation 12500 NE Tenth Place, Bellevue, WA 98005 (425) 454-7012 FAX (425) 451-3959 http://www.saf.org For Immediate Release Contact: Alan Gottlieb (425) 454-7012 MAYORS FACE LAWSUIT FILED TUESDAY BY GUN OWNER GROUP WASHINGTON, DC (Tuesday, November 30, 1999) - The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), a firearms civil rights legal defense, research and educational organization, has filed a federal lawsuit today in Washington, DC against the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and certain individual mayors for conspiracy to violate civil and constitution rights, including the First, Second and Ninth Amendments, as well as the creation of undue burden on lawful interstate commerce. "We warned both the USCM and individual mayors of our intent to defend our rights and those of millions of law-abiding Americans. We gave them every opportunity to cease and desist their warrantless attacks," stated Alan Gottlieb, SAF founder. "Now, they are being sued; while their meritless and frivolous lawsuits are being dealt serious blows in the courts." The city of Cincinnati earned the dubious distinction of being the first city to be derailed in their attack against firearm manufacturers, distributors and trade associations. The Court firmly held that the lawsuit was both vague and unsupported by legal precedent. A large portion of the Atlanta lawsuit was also dismissed with serious doubts surrounding the remaining portion of the suit. In addition, a ruling in the Bridgeport lawsuit is expected in the next few weeks. "As more and more of these city mayors' suits are dismissed, the more it looks like these suits were only intended to financially injure gun owners and the federally licensed producers and sellers of firearms," stated Gottlieb. "In addition, the USCM readily admits that they are seeking legislation in the courtrooms, which is a clear violation of the separation of powers upon which our great country was founded. This is cause to hold individual mayors and the USCM responsible for their conspiratorial and unconstitutional assaults on law-abiding people." The SAF lawsuit alleges three counts against the groups. Count 1 is for violation of lawful interstate commerce. The mayor's legal challenges have already forced several gun makers to declare bankruptcy, severely downsize their product lines, and/or raise firearm prices, thus hurting consumers - including taxpayer-funded federal, state and local law enforcement agencies - all across the country. Count 2 is for violation of First Amendment rights. The mayor's lawsuits have prevented the gun manufacturers from educating consumers about their products out of fear of seeing ads in the courtrooms, not to mention that many of the mayor's lawsuits are trying to eliminate or severely curtail the ability of running ads on firearm products in general. Count 3 is for violation of the Second and Ninth Amendment rights. The Second Amendment is an individual right to keep and bears according to the recent United States v. Emerson, 46 F.Supp.2d 598 (N.D. Tex. 1999). The mayor's attempt to abridge the right to keep and bear arms by putting gun makers out of business causes a violation of the individual's means to self-defense which is recognized in every courtroom and falls under the Ninth Amendment rights. Attorney Richard Gardiner, a well-known Washington, D.C. firearms civil rights attorney, is the lead attorney working this case against the mayors. In addition to Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Bridgeport, the cities affected by the lawsuit are Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New Orleans, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Oakland, East Palo Alto, Compton, West Hollywood, Inglewood, Camden, Wilmington, Gary, and St. Louis. "The mayors are on notice that their lawsuits will not be free," said Gottlieb. "The Second Amendment Foundation and gun owners across the country will make them accountable for attempting to steal in the judicial branch what they have failed to rob in the legislative branch." The Second Amendment Foundation is a tax-exempt education, legal defense and publishing organization founded in 1974 and has over 600,000 individual citizen supporters nationwide. It previously has funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles, New Haven, CT, and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners. -END- - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 12:00:45 -0700 From: "David Sagers" Subject: Fwd: SAF FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST MAYORS Received: from lists.xmission.com ([198.60.22.7]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Tue, 30 Nov 1999 11:53:01 -0700 Received: from domo by lists.xmission.com with local (Exim 2.12 #2) id 11ssMO-0002th-00 for utah-firearms-gooutt@lists.xmission.com; Tue, 30 Nov 1999 11:50:44 -0700 Received: from [206.63.63.62] (helo=mail4.halcyon.com) by lists.xmission.com with esmtp (Exim 2.12 #2) id 11ssMM-0002t8-00 for utah-firearms@lists.xmission.com; Tue, 30 Nov 1999 11:50:42 -0700 Received: from halcyon.com (blv-pm102-ip18.halcyon.com [206.63.32.78]) by mail4.halcyon.com (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id KAA20332; Tue, 30 Nov 1999 10:49:51 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <38441CF7.C04ED31@halcyon.com> Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 10:52:39 -0800 From: Joe Waldron X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.61 [en]C-CCK-MCD compaq (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en To: jwaldron@halcyon.com Subject: SAF FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST MAYORS Sender: owner-utah-firearms@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk Reply-To: utah-firearms@lists.xmission.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline NEWS RELEASE Second Amendment Foundation 12500 NE Tenth Place, Bellevue, WA 98005 (425) 454-7012 FAX (425) 451-3959 http://www.saf.org For Immediate Release Contact: Alan Gottlieb = =20 (425) 454-7012 MAYORS FACE LAWSUIT FILED TUESDAY BY GUN OWNER GROUP WASHINGTON, DC (Tuesday, November 30, 1999) - The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), a firearms civil rights legal defense, research and educational organization, has filed a federal lawsuit today in Washington, DC against the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and certain individual mayors for conspiracy to violate civil and constitution rights, including the First, Second and Ninth Amendments, as well as the creation of undue burden on lawful interstate commerce. "We warned both the USCM and individual mayors of our intent to defend our rights and those of millions of law-abiding Americans. We gave them every opportunity to cease and desist their warrantless attacks," stated Alan Gottlieb, SAF founder. "Now, they are being sued; while their meritless and frivolous lawsuits are being dealt serious blows in the courts." The city of Cincinnati earned the dubious distinction of being the first city to be derailed in their attack against firearm manufacturers, distributors and trade associations. The Court firmly held that the lawsuit was both vague and unsupported by legal precedent. A large portion of the Atlanta lawsuit was also dismissed with serious doubts surrounding the remaining portion of the suit. In addition, a ruling in the Bridgeport lawsuit is expected in the next few weeks. "As more and more of these city mayors' suits are dismissed, the more it looks like these suits were only intended to financially injure gun owners and the federally licensed producers and sellers of firearms," stated Gottlieb. "In addition, the USCM readily admits that they are seeking legislation in the courtrooms, which is a clear violation of the separation of powers upon which our great country was founded. This is cause to hold individual mayors and the USCM responsible for their conspiratorial and unconstitutional assaults on law-abiding people." The SAF lawsuit alleges three counts against the groups. Count 1 is for violation of lawful interstate commerce. The mayor's legal challenges have already forced several gun makers to declare bankruptcy, severely downsize their product lines, and/or raise firearm prices, thus hurting consumers - including taxpayer-funded federal, state and local law enforcement agencies - all across the country. Count 2 is for violation of First Amendment rights. The mayor's lawsuits have prevented the gun manufacturers from educating consumers about their products out of fear of seeing ads in the courtrooms, not to mention that many of the mayor's lawsuits are trying to eliminate or severely curtail the ability of running ads on firearm products in general. Count 3 is for violation of the Second and Ninth Amendment rights. The Second Amendment is an individual right to keep and bears according to the recent United States v. Emerson, 46 F.Supp.2d 598 (N.D. Tex. 1999). The mayor's attempt to abridge the right to keep and bear arms by putting gun makers out of business causes a violation of the individual's means to self-defense which is recognized in every courtroom and falls under the Ninth Amendment rights. Attorney Richard Gardiner, a well-known Washington, D.C. firearms civil rights attorney, is the lead attorney working this case against the mayors. In addition to Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Bridgeport, the cities affected by the lawsuit are Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New Orleans, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Oakland, East Palo Alto, Compton, West Hollywood, Inglewood, Camden, Wilmington, Gary, and St. Louis. "The mayors are on notice that their lawsuits will not be free," said Gottlieb. "The Second Amendment Foundation and gun owners across the country will make them accountable for attempting to steal in the judicial branch what they have failed to rob in the legislative branch." The Second Amendment Foundation is a tax-exempt education, legal defense and publishing organization founded in 1974 and has over 600,000 individual citizen supporters nationwide. It previously has funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles, New Haven, CT, and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners. -END- - - - - ------------------------------ End of utah-firearms-digest V2 #168 ***********************************