Printed in the USA.
The Gottlieb-Tartaro Report
Issue 069
September, 2000
GUN POLITICS HEATS UP
Political pundits call the run-up to each Presidential election the "silly season," but this year it’s a lot more serious than silly.
An anonymous donation of $1 million to the Million Mom March’s non-profit organization will be targeted against pro-gun rights candidates for U.S. House seats across the country.
Though the non-profit organization cannot campaign directly for a candidate because of its tax status, it will mount an issue-oriented "educational" campaign in 10 congressional districts in various states.
Anonymous donations of that size are highly unusual, and many wonder where the money actually came from.
Gun rights advocates are worried about the election results the Million Mom March might sway, and candidates can’t discount the power of a million anonymous dollars pointed at them.
Handgun Control Inc. leader SARAH BRADY was deeply involved in the Million Mom March in Washington, D.C. last Mother’s Day, and continues her support for the new anti-gun organization.The Los Angeles Times recently ran a BRADY opinion piece on its op-ed page. BRADY concluded her diatribe against guns with this advice: "When you vote, keep in mind that to change our nation’s gun laws, we need lawmakers on our side."
The advice applies to gun owners even more.
BRADY was, of course, touting AL GORE for president. His vice-presidential running mate, Senator JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN (D-CT), has been widely praised for being a "centrist" and "moderate on the issues" and "able to work in a bi-partisan spirit."
In fact, Sen. LIEBERMAN voted 100% in support of the votes that the anti-gun Coalition to Stop Gun Violence considered the most important of 1999.
Sen. LIEBERMAN voted 100% in support of the votes that Handgun Control Inc. considered to be the most important of 1993-94.
Sen. LIEBERMAN voted 0% in support of the votes that the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms considered to be the most important of 1993-94.
That’s how moderate AL GORE’s running mate really is.
Which points up the real impact that the Million Mom March and its million-dollar anonymous contribution could have: while it will have little effect in swaying undecided voters on which congressional candidate to choose, it could increase the turnout of the loyalists who are already in the gun control camp — not necessarily where the "educational" campaign is targeted, but for the GORE / LIEBERMAN ticket.
Gun owners already know what they can expect from "Prince Albert", the title of a new tell-all exposé of "The Life and Lies of Al Gore" available at Amazon.com or your local bookstore. Gun owners are beginning to realize what they can expect from his "moderate" running-mate.
The gun issue will doubtless play a large part in determining who will occupy the White House for the next four (and possibly eight) years.
Whoever that is, he will preside over Supreme Court appointments, gun legislation proposals, and much, much more of critical importance to gun owners.
CLINTON CREW QUESTIONS FIREARMS INDUSTRY’S PATRIOTISM OVER TV AD
A one-minute TV ad run by the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation (HSSHF) during the Democrat and Republican National Conventions showed an American flag being torn apart to symbolize the use of highly questionable litigation by "greedy trial lawyers, big city mayors and the Clinton-Gore administration" to bankrupt the firearms industry.
The Clinton-Gore point man on guns, HUD Secretary ANDREW CUOMO, has called into question the firearms industry’s patriotism for "desecrating" the American flag.
The HSSHF 60-second spot shows a man plucking the stars and stripes off an American flag. It links the firearms manufacturers to patriots who fought at Gettysburg, Normandy and the Mekong Delta.
"But now we are being blamed for crime violence by this administration and big-city mayors whose greedy lawyers are using your tax dollars to sue us for criminals they won’t prosecute," the ad says.
JIM CHAMBERS, vice president of the HSSHF, said he stands by the ad and was outraged at the suggestion it was unpatriotic.The mayors, who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, have insisted that they deserve equal TV time to respond to the ad because it was a direct personal attack on them and their patriotism.
The mayors have contacted broadcasters saying they will send a formal complaint to the Federal Communications Commission if they do not get equal time on TV.
The FCC’s personal-attack rule requires the media to notify persons or groups being attacked and then provide them free equal time to respond.
Mayor JOSEPH GANIM of Bridgeport, CT, one of several mayors attending a news conference, said the ad amounted to a personal attack on the mayors and others involved in suing the gun industry.
FCC spokesman BOBBY BAKER said the attack must rise to the level of "moral turpitude" such as jabs at honesty, character and like personal qualities to garner free air time, but he would not comment on this case.
Insiders say the mayors got actor MARTIN SHEEN, who plays the President in NBC’s anti-gun TV show "The West Wing," to rebut the HSSHF ad. SHEEN accused the gun makers of using his younger brother JOE ESTEVEZ to perform the ad’s voice-over so viewers would believe it was him. SHEEN and ESTEVEZ have similar voices.
SHEEN released a written statement saying, "I want to set the record straight and place the gun makers’ despicable deception on notice."
CHAMBERS said the ad, and another one like it, will continue to run through the November elections and the group would "spend what it takes to get our message across to the people."
TENNESSEE USED CAR DEALER OFFERS GUN VOUCHER
Knoxville, Tennessee used car dealer GREG "LUMP" LAMBERT recently held a one-day sale under a car lot banner reading, "Buy a car, get a gun this Saturday."
LAMBERT sold three cars to customers who accepted a voucher for a free bolt action 8mm deer rifle valued at about $100. The vouchers would be voided if the holders don’t qualify to own a gun.
But the media attention was what LAMBERT really wanted. He’s a gun rights supporter and member of a local pro-gun group, the Rights Education Fund. LAMBERT signed up 19 new members during the car sale and accompanying hoopla.
Gun opponents complained that LAMBERT’s promotion was irresponsible, but no protesters showed up at the car lot.LAMBERT beamed, "Now the whole world knows where my car lot is."
CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, MUST PAY LEGAL FEES OF BANNED GUN SHOW
A federal court has ordered the city of South Bend, Indiana, to pay about $108,000 in attorney fees for the Northern Indiana Gun & Outdoor Shows Inc. that was illegally banned from Century Center, a civic venue controlled by the city.
The court fight over attorney fees came after the gun show organizers won a $300,000 lawsuit against the city in the matter, which began in 1994.
The city asked for a new trial for technical reasons, but U.S. District Court Judge ROBERT L. MILLER Jr denied the request and ordered the city to pay the attorney fees for the group.
The city said it banned the group’s gun show from the Century center for safety reasons.
JAY HIRSCHAUER, attorney for the group, argued that the guns were displayed safely. He said the ban on the gun show had more to do with the organization’s political views in opposing restrictions on owning firearms, and not with any legitimate safety concerns.
APPEALS COURT CASTS DOUBT ON BROOKLYN GUN LIABILITY CASE
As seen in the G-T Report when it happened, a federal jury in Brooklyn assessed more than $500,000 in damages against three gun makers in early 1999.
But the gun makers raised two critical state law questions in an appeal to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, throwing the case in limbo.
Now, in a 2 to 1 ruling, the federal appeals court has sent the case to the New York Court of Appeals for resolution of the two state law questions.
Writing for the 2nd Circuit majority, Judge RICHARD J. CARDAMONE concluded that New York’s highest court should be given the opportunity to first answer the question of whether the plaintiffs’ negligent marketing theory is cognizable under New York law.
CINCINNATI ANTI-GUN LAWSUIT SUFFERS MORE SETBACKS
The Court of Appeals for the First District of Ohio has unanimously upheld last year’s lower court ruling dismissing the Cincinnati suit against gun manufacturers.
Writing the majority opinion for the appeals court, Judge RALPH WINKLER stated that Cincinnati had "failed to state any claims against the defendants that would allow it to recover its municipal expenses," and that if the court had ruled in favor of the city, it would "open a Pandora’s box," possibly paving the way for Cincinnati to "sue the manufacturers of matches for arson, or automobile manufacturers for traffic accidents, or breweries for drunken driving."
Judge WINKLER wrote, "Guns are dangerous. The risks of guns are open and obvious."
The unanimous decision by the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals means city officials now must appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court if they want to keep their lawsuit alive.
WASHINGTON HIGH COURT LIMITS GUN POSSESSION LAW
The Washington State Supreme Court overturned rulings by two lower courts in the case of a man who was stopped by Seattle police for a traffic violation and was found to have a stolen gun in the car, which he claimed to be unaware of.
Defendant THADDEUS ANDERSON had a prior felony conviction, which resulted in him being charged with second-degree possession of a stolen gun. The penalty is five years in prison.
ANDERSON was convicted and appealed his case. He lost again in the appeals court and went to the state Supreme Court, where his conviction was overturned by a narrow vote of 5 to 4.
Justice GERRY ALEXANDER, writing for the majority, said lower courts interpreted the gun possession law so broadly that "entirely innocent conduct" could be swept up by the statute.
Justice ALEXANDER said the court fails to see how a felon’s unwitting possession of a firearm poses a danger to society.
GUNMEN STORM BRITISH COURTROOM
In a nation where private guns are effectively banned, a pair of masked gunmen burst into a courtroom in Slough, England, west of London, and escaped with two defendants being held without bail.
The assailants fired several shots in the magistrates court, but no one was hit. One policeman was injured when an assailant hit him over the head with a gun butt.
The two escaped defendants had been charged with conspiracy to rob. A third man appearing in court with them did not flee with the gunmen.
That’s how gun control works in Great Britain. Guns are outlawed and only outlaws have guns.
JAPAN SHOOTINGS INCREASE
Japan’s law bans virtually all gun ownership, yet criminal gangs are getting large numbers of guns and using them.
Ten armed gang members recently attacked the offices of an organization in Tokyo, killing two people and wounding five others.
The Tokyo attack is the latest in a pattern of increasing criminal violence with illegal guns. One gang feud erupted into 16 violent gun fight episodes in Tokyo.
Police confiscations of firearms are declining while the number of guns used by gangs is increasing.
The increase in gang guns may be the result of Japan’s recent Anti-gang Law that hampers gangs from money-making activities. Gangs are using guns against organizations in hopes of taking over money-making businesses.
CANADA’S PLAN TO BOLSTER HUNTING HIT WITH GUN CONTROL PROTESTS
The Canadian federal government is introducing regulations to encourage youngsters from 12 years and older to hunt ducks and geese because it is concerned that not enough young people are hunting.
Officials want to create "Waterfowler Heritage Day," during which youngsters who have completed a training course and are accompanied by an adult mentor can hunt some birds without a permit.
The number of Canadian hunters has fallen from 500,000 in 1989 to 197,000 today, mainly because of increased restrictions and fees, according to the government.
Gun control advocates are outraged at the proposal and are gearing up to fight it.
The Coalition for Gun Control’s president, WENDY CUKIER, said, "It’s completely inappropriate. We think it’s going to put children at risk."
STEVE TIMMERMAN of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters said he welcomed the program because it will promote hunting safety among young people.
BARAK EMBARGOES DEFENSIVE ARMS TO SETTLEMENT JEWS
Israeli Prime/Defense Minister EHUD BARAK has ordered an arms embargo against the 200,000 settlers in the areas known as YESHA. Jewish pioneers living in YESHA are literally begging the Israeli military for sufficient equipment to defend themselves against a promised Arab attack in the territories of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.
BARAK’s administration has adopted a policy of non-recognition of the YESHA settlements in an effort to reach an accord with Arab Palestinian advocates. The timing of BARAK’s arms embargo may be related to YASSER ARAFAT’s likely declaration of a new state of Palestine.
A critique of this situation by Middle East analyst and commentator EMANUEL A. WINSTON included a plea to American Jews to once more fund arms for Israeli Jews as they did in previous crises — only this time the arms embargo comes from their own government, not from foreign nations.
NATIONAL HANDGUN REGISTRATION PROPOSED IN SENATE
Sen. JACK REED (D-RI) has introduced the Handgun Safety and Registration Act, S. 2099, saying "the police should not be limited in their ability to track down criminals."
If the bill passes, all handgun owners in the United States would be required to obtain a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms registration form and FBI fingerprint form FD-258, fill them out and take them to a federal law enforcement officer who completes the "Law Enforcement Certification" portion of the form.
S. 2099 also imposes a $50 tax on the manufacture of each new handgun.
The bill would also create an online database of all registered gun owners.
JOHN VELLECO, a spokesman for Gun Owners of America, said it is a scary notion to think the government would have online information for all registered gun owners nationwide, because it is those who register their weapons who are the upstanding citizens. VELLECO believes Sen. REED’s bill won’t pass.
Critics have pointed out that REED’s purpose to help police track down criminals won’t be helped much by any such database because criminals, unlike law-abiding gun owners, won’t register their guns.
SARAH BRADY, chair of Handgun Control Inc., said, "For far too long in America, too many gun crimes have gone unsolved, and murderers are getting away with murder because law enforcement doesn’t have a clear paper trail to follow. Requiring handguns to be registered, like we register cars, would help law enforcement officer do their jobs, solving crimes."
Gun control advocates frequently try to make a parallel between gun registration and car registration, but it does not stand up to scrutiny. Gun registration is a crime control device to regulate large populations while car registration is a revenue source for road maintenance.
If guns were like cars, anyone would be able to buy a gun. Car owners need to license and register their vehicles only if they drive on a public road or highway.
The actual parallel would be this: If you carry a gun in public, you license and register it. If you keep it only at home you neither license nor register it.
Gun control advocates don’t like that logic.
"REPEAL THE SECOND AMENDMENT" CRY NOW A "DOT-ORG" CAMPAIGN
Los Angeles political activist RUSTY AUSTIN has founded a new anti-gun group called www.Repealthe2nd.org.
It is so far primarily a website of the same name, but, like many previous anti-gun campaigns, it has the potential for erupting into a devastating assault on our gun rights.
The website’s central message is this:
"It is time for those of us in the majority to make the hard choice to repeal the Second Amendment, and pave the way to make all private ownership of firearms illegal. There is no other course of action, if we are to take back our streets, our schools, our workplaces, and our public lands and institutions from the scourge of hundreds of millions of guns.
"Repealthe2nd.org has been formed to accomplish this task. For starters, we need a Congressperson and a Senator willing to introduce, and fight for, the repeal of the Second Amendment. Once the repeal has been introduced, we need to have a national organization in place to immediately and loudly demand for passage. Then, the repeal goes to the States, where 75% of the state legislatures have to approve it. It won’t be easy. But now is the time to stand up for what is right!"
The likelihood that such a constitutional amendment would pass is small, but the probability that a repeal campaign would ignite a ferocious and divisive national debate is higher.
While it might be for the best to have such a repeal proposal actually go through Congress to show once again that the American people indeed do revere their Second Amendment rights as individual rights, it would be a huge setback if enough forces gathered to win in Congress even if they then lost in the states.
ANTI-GUN MEDICAL JOURNAL SAYS BRADY LAW DOESN’T WORK
A gun study conducted by Duke University crime researcher PHILIP J. COOK and Georgetown University public policy specialist JENS LUDWIG was published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
It created an instant clamor because it reported — in a loudly anti-gun publication — that the 1994 Brady law restricting handgun purchases has had no effect on firearm homicide and suicide rates in states that previously had fewer controls.
"The study," said the Washington Post, "casts doubt on one of the pillars of the gun control movement, and provides a volatile new addition to the politically charged debate over how and why the rate of gun crime has declined steadily since its peak in 1993."
The study divided the states into two groups, 32 that adopted the Brady law’s handgun purchase controls in 1994 and 19 (18 states plus the District of Columbia) that already had Brady-style waiting periods and reporting requirements.
The results showed no difference between the two sets of states.
COOK and LUDWIG said, "Our analyses provide no evidence that implementation of the Brady Act was associated with a reduction in homicide rates. We find no differences in homicide or firearm homicide rates to adult victims in the 32 states directly subject to the Brady Act provisions compared with the remaining control states."
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1994 requires that federally licensed firearms dealers impose a waiting period on the purchase of handguns while they conduct background checks on the buyers.
JOHN SNYDER, legislative representative for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said, "It’s only common sense that a waiting period will have no effect on crime rates. We told that to Congress back when they were considering the Brady bill. This report merely confirms what everybody knows anyway."Sen. CHARLES E. SCHUMER (D-NY), who wrote the Brady bill as a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, said he was "disappointed" with the study.
DOUG WEIL, research director for the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, criticized the study, claiming the Brady law had an impact on shootings that the study did not measure.
The new study — one of the few that examines the effectiveness of the Brady law — did not examine interstate gun sales or the effects of the so-called secondary market in gun sales between individuals, in which 34 percent of gun transactions take place.
Gun control advocates say the Brady law makes interstate gun sales more difficult, although no data are available to back up that claim.
BATF EXPANDS BAN ON IMPORTABLE FIREARMS TO MORE PRODUCTS
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms recently banned a new group of previously importable firearms.
The following Century semi-automatic rifles will no longer be available once inventory is depleted: SAR-1, SAR-2, SAR-3, MISR, STG-58, Centurion 58, FAL, Cetme and G3.
In addition, Garand rifles and parts are no longer importable.
FRED WILLIAMS of Tampa, Florida-based Discount Guns, Inc., said, "This action is yet another set in ATF’s interpretation of the "Sporting Purposes" clause contained in the 1968 Gun Control act. Using this clause, and subsequent regulations implemented to enforce it, ATF has slowly ‘widened the net’ over what firearms/parts may be imported into the country and what cannot.
"Today, it is semi-auto military style rifles, but tomorrow it will be Bennelli, Beretta, and Browning shotguns. It may be Glock, SIG, HK, and Walther handguns.
"It is clear that because of five words — "particularly suitable for sporting purposes" — any imported firearm is in jeopardy of being denied permission to enter the country."
GUN NEWS TICKER: SHORT TAKES ON GUNS
• Davis County, Utah, school officials are expressing alarm that a police officer is teaching a gun safety class in Centerville Junior High School that includes handling a gun and firing blanks. The course uses a video screen showing gunplay situations involving criminals and police. Centerville police officer DWIGHT CHRISTENSEN said the course teaches what police are faced with, and that students, too, are responsible for their actions. School board and school district officers said they were not aware of the program despite parental permission slips sent home before students can participate. School officials promise to end the course.
• The Wall Street Journal commented on the Santa Fe, New Mexico artist who "revised" her 20-year-old statue of two boys in a local park’s fountain by replacing the water gun in one boy’s hand with a water hose. The tragedy at Columbine High School supposedly sparked the artistic political correctness. The Journal said it hoped the idea of remaking art for political reasons doesn’t catch on, writing, "Somehow the thought of Daniel Chester French’s Minute Man statue in Concord, Mass., with a garden hose in his hand instead of a musket strikes us as less than inspiring."
• An employee at a Massachusetts gun manufacturer has pled guilty in a U.S. District Court to firearms theft. Assembler MARK M. CRONIN pled guilty to stealing the parts of two unserialized semi-automatic pistols from Kahr Arms of Worcester, Mass., removing them from the factory and assembling them at his residence. CRONIN admitted selling a 9mm firearm to a third party for $100 in cash and a small quantity of cocaine, and a .40-caliber pistol to a different third party for $200 in cash.
• A Florida mother was arrested near West Palm Beach and charged for pointing a gun at her pregnant daughter’s belly and driving her 67 miles from their Fort Pierce home to the Aware Woman Medical Clinic. Daughter BRITTANY DOWIS wrote on a medical form that her mother was forcing her to end the pregnancy. GLENDA DOWIS, the mother, told a nurse in the waiting room, "If my daughter doesn’t have this abortion, I’m going to blow her brains out." Clinic workers called police, who arrested the mother and charged her with one count of false imprisonment and one count of domestic assault.
• Maryland State Police Superintendent DAVID MITCHELL has announced that beginning next month new handguns shipped into the state must include the casing from a bullet test performed by the manufacturer. Gun dealers will have to provide the casing, with the name of the person buying the gun, to state police when the firearm is sold. Police will enter the marking "fingerprint" on a state computer system. MITCHELL said the system will give police an important new tool to solve crimes in which guns are fired.
• Northbrook, Illinois, gun owners congratulated the Northbrook Village Board of Trustees for refusing to allow a gun-ban referendum on the November ballot. The measure gained the backing of the Million Mom March organization, which spurred local residents to form the Northbrook Citizens for Responsible Firearms Ownership (NBCFRFO) in July. NBCFRFO interim vice president PAUL McBRIDE said, "Everyone I had spoken with was solidly against the proposed referendum. It was especially gratifying to hear non-gun owners express such strong opposition to the very idea of a handgun ban."
• The Los Angeles City Council is voting this month on two ordinances that, if passed, will prohibit law-abiding citizens from purchasing gun ammunition in Los Angeles. Los Angeles Police Department documents, however, indicate there is no need for such a ban: a 1998 law requires ammunition buyers to register their thumbprint, fill out forms and show identification - so illegal purchasers can be prosecuted. The law has produced no felony prosecutions. CHUCK MICHEL, an attorney and spokesman for the California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA) said, "LAPD’s spot-check statistics prove that no further gun laws are needed, but the City Council doesn’t want to bother with facts. The information on the current ammo law was not easily obtained by the CRPA, but Council members could have gotten it with a phone call. This is the most irresponsible behavior I have ever witnessed from a civic body."
BECOMING A PRO-GUN CONVERT THE HARD WAY
Remember the old gag that a conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged?
Well, in Florida one new pro-gunner is an anti-gunner who’s been shot — by escaping robbers.
Her name is Susan Gonzalez. She lives with her husband Mike outside of Jacksonville in a quiet rural area.
A little while ago Susan Gonzalez was a flaming anti-gunner.
"I hated guns," she said. "All of them."
"I was that scared of them that I didn’t want them around."
She argued with husband Mike not to keep guns in their home.
Then came two robbers.
They were fleeing the scene of the robbery when they broke through the Gonzalez’s front door.
They sprayed the Gonzalez home with 42 bullets.
One of them hit Susan in the chest.
That changed her mind and her life.
She grabbed her husband’s .22-caliber pistol and shot one of the robbers to death. The other was captured and sentenced to a life prison term.
Today Mrs. Gonzalez rarely goes anywhere without her holstered Taurus .38 Special.
She has become a vocal opponent of gun control and has joined Women Against Gun Control and the Second Amendment Sisters.
Janalee Tobias, founder and president of Women Against gun Control, said, "Gonzalez’s story is naturally compelling because she was anti-gun and because she successfully defended herself against an armed intruder after being shot herself. She actually fired a gun. In most cases where potential victims protect themselves, a person is able to scare off an intruder simply by displaying a weapon."
Nancy Hwa, a spokeswoman for the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, said incidents like the Gonzalez case are very rare. "Every incident is different. In this particular case, she certainly was justified using whatever means necessary to defend herself."
Even the most virulent anti-gunners can’t deny this one.
And they’ve lost another gun control advocate.
Their loss is our gain.
Bravo, Susan Gonzalez!
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