MAY 2001
CHECK BACK BECAUSE I ADD NEWS AND INFORMATION AS IT
BECOMES AVAILABLE
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OCShooters
Web Page
News
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New record of for one month high hits for
Jan. 2001 for OCShooters Main Page.
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I want to add a new topic, "What is wrong with the NY State
handgun laws." Please e-mail me your ideas.
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SEN. JEFFORDS SWITCH TO IMPACT OUR GUN RIGHTS FIGHT
"Indeed, the party's electoral success has underscored
the dilemma that I face in the [Republican] Party. In the past, without
the presidency, the various wings of the Republican Party in Congress have
had some freedom to argue and influence and ultimately to shape the party's
agenda. The election of President Bush changed that dramatically. We don't
live in a parliamentary system, but it is only natural to expect that people
like myself who have been honored with positions of leadership will largely
support the President's agenda. And yet, more and more, I find I cannot."
ONE WONDERS IF THIS GUY VOTED FOR GORE?
The main impact is that every person in power in
the Senate will now be anti-gun. Every Chairperson on every committee
and sub-committee will be anti-2nd amendment. The committee who chooses
new Judges will try to make sure that no new Judges thinks the 2nd applies
to us. (Just to repeat my thanks to those gun owners in NY who voted
for or did not vote against Sen. H. R. C****** and Sen. UpChuck Schumer.)
SCOPE
is collecting money for a lawsuit against Pataki and the State of New
York over the new gun laws.
CLICK
HERE TO SEE THE PRESS RELEASE
In 1998 Professor Dave Kopel & Professor Ron Noble taught a class
at NYU School of Law called
Gun Control and Gun Rights
While you can not take the class you can see the Syllabus and links
to syllabus items and other research sources on the web. A great
list of "Required reading"
CLICK HERE TO LINK
TO: http://www.law.nyu.edu/nobler/guncontrol/
Hamilton
v. Beretta NY Court of Appeals decision.
The New York Court of Appeals (our state's highest court)
released its decision in the matter of Hamilton v. Beretta, better
known as the Brooklyn, or Eastern District, Firearms Litigation.
In short, the Court held that the plaintiff's theories of liability
were all without merit. Gun manufacturers will not be held
liable under New York law for criminal misuse of their products.
The decision also added, perhaps superfluously, that the market share theory
of damages used by Judge Weinstein to fund awards for crime victims when
the specific weapon used could not be identified, was inappropriate.
Complete victory and a total rejection of the logic that are some of the
main ideas of the anti-gunners. The whole decision is many pages
in length so I have made a summary of the decision. The summary is
made up almost totally of quotes taken directly from the decision.
I have not tried to reword anything but to just include the most important
points.
The decision: http://www.law.cornell.edu/ny/ctap/I01_0040.htm
In Summary: In January 1995 plaintiffs _- relatives of people killed
by handguns -_ sued 49 handgun manufacturers in Federal court alleging
negligent marketing, design defect, ultra- hazardous activity and fraud.
... Eventually, seven plaintiffs went to trial against 25 of the manufacturers.
After a four-week trial, the jury returned a special
verdict finding 15 of the 25 defendants failed to use reasonable care in
the distribution of their guns. Of those 15, nine were found to have proximately
caused the deaths of the decedents of two plaintiffs, but no damages were
awarded. The jury awarded damages against three defendants _- American
Arms, Beretta USA and Taurus International Manufacturing _- upon a finding
that they proximately caused the injuries suffered by Fox and his mother
(in the amounts of $3.95 million and $50,000, respectively). Liability
was apportioned among each of the three defendants according to their share
of the national handgun market: for American Arms, 0.23% ($9,000); for
Beretta, 6.03% ($241,000); and for Taurus, 6.80% ($272,000).
What the anti-gunners claimed: That handguns
move into the underground market in New York through several well-known
and documented means including straw purchases (a friend, relative or accomplice
acts as purchaser of the weapon for another), sales at gun shows, misuse
of Federal firearms licenses and sales by non- stocking dealers (i.e.,
those operating informal businesses without a retail storefront). Plaintiffs
further assert that gun manufacturers have over saturated markets in states
with weak gun control laws (primarily in the Southeast), knowing those
"excess guns" will make their way into the hands of criminals in states
with stricter laws such as New York, thus "profiting" from indiscriminate
sales in weak gun states. Plaintiffs contend that defendants control
their distributors' conduct with respect to pricing, advertising and display,
yet refuse to institute practices such as requiring distribution contracts
that limit sales to stocking gun dealers, training salespeople in safe
sales practices (including how to recognize straw purchasers), establishing
electronic monitoring of their products, limiting the number of distributors,
limiting multiple purchases and franchising their retail outlets.
The plaintiffs were permitted over defense objections
to proceed on a market share theory of liability against all the manufacturers,
asserting that they were severally liable for failing to implement safe
marketing and distribution procedures, and that this failure sent a high
volume of guns into the underground market.
The Court found in a 7 to 0 decision that: On appeal,
the Second Circuit certified the following questions to us: "(1) Whether
the defendants owed plaintiffs a duty to exercise reasonable care in the
marketing and distribution of the handguns they manufacture? "(2) Whether
liability in this case may be apportioned on a market share basis, and
if so, how?"
1. "A defendant generally has no duty
to control the conduct of third persons so as to prevent them from harming
others, even where as a practical matter defendant can exercise such control"
...
This judicial resistance to the expansion of duty grows out of practical
concerns both about potentially limitless liability and about the unfairness
of imposing liability for the acts of another. ... a duty and the
corresponding liability it imposes do not rise from mere foresee
ability of the harm .... Moreover, none of plaintiffs' proof demonstrated
that a change in marketing techniques would likely have prevented their
injuries. Indeed, plaintiffs did not present any evidence tending to show
to what degree their risk of injury was enhanced by the presence of negligently
marketed and distributed guns, as opposed to the risk presented by all
guns in society. ... Here, defendants' products are concededly not
defective _- if anything, the problem is that they work too well.
Plaintiffs also assert that a general duty of care
arises out of the gun manufacturers' ability to reduce the risk of illegal
gun trafficking through control of the marketing and distribution of their
products. The District Court accepted this proposition and posited a series
of structural changes in defendants' marketing and distribution regimes
that might "reduce the risk of criminal misuse by insuring that the first
sale was by a responsible merchant to a responsible buyer". Those changes,
and others proposed ... would have the unavoidable effect
of eliminating a significant number of lawful sales to "responsible" buyers
by "responsible" Federal firearms licensees (FFLs) who would be cut out
of the distribution chain under the suggested "reforms." Plaintiffs, however,
presented no evidence, ..., showing any statistically significant
relationship between particular classes of dealers and crime guns.
To impose a general duty of care upon the makers of firearms ...
would conflict with the principle that any judicial recognition of a duty
of care must be based upon an assessment of its efficacy in promoting a
social benefit as against its costs and burdens. Here, imposing such a
general duty of care would create not only an indeterminate class of plaintiffs
but also an indeterminate class of defendants whose liability might
have little relationship to the benefits of controlling illegal guns
In essence, plaintiffs argue that defendants had
an affirmative duty to investigate and identify corrupt dealers. This is
neither feasible nor appropriate for the manufacturers.
...
Indeed,
plaintiffs' law enforcement experts agreed that manufacturers should not
make any attempt to investigate illegal gun trafficking on their own since
such attempts could disrupt pending criminal investigations and endanger
the lives of undercover officers. ... Federal law already
has implemented a statutory and regulatory scheme to ensure seller "responsibility"
through licensing requirements and buyer "responsibility" through background
checks.
2. Having concluded that these defendant-manufacturers did not
owe the claimed duty to these plaintiffs, we arguably need not reach the
market share issue. However, ... , it seems prudent to answer
the second question.
... guns are not identical, fungible products.
...
Each
manufacturer engaged in different marketing activities that allegedly contributed
to the illegal handgun market in different ways and to different extents.
Plaintiffs made no attempt to establish the relative fault of each manufacturer,
but instead sought to hold them all liable based simply on market share.
...
Notably,
courts ... have refused to extend the market share theory
where products were not fungible and differing degrees of risk were created.
...
Although
plaintiffs have presented us with a novel theory -- negligent marketing
of a potentially lethal yet legal product, based upon the acts not of one
manufacturer, but of an industry - - we are unconvinced that, on the record
before us, the duty plaintiffs wish to impose is either reasonable or circumscribed.
Nor does the market share theory of liability accurately measure defendants'
conduct. Whether, in a different case, a duty may arise remains a question
for the future.
Click
here to link to: Gun Makers Not Liable for Injuries
By
John Caher, New York Law Journal, April 27, 2001
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEOS
These are the best online videos that I have ever seen.
(Download URL addresses were corrected, 5/25/01)
Legacy
of Gun Control, 911 HELL
& WHAT IF?
ORANGE COUNTY
NEW YORK STATE
NATIONAL
LINK ONLY
Gun
in waistband has painful outcome. (OUCH!!!)
CLICK HERE FOR
NRL-ILA HOME PAGE
NRA ALERTS &
NEWS ARTICLES
The Firearms Coalition
Alerts Log, (http://www.nealknox.com/alerts/ )
WALL, AM stops morning
talk show.
Those of you who tuned into 1340 AM or 1390 AM the week
of 5/28/01 could only find sports talk. The Larry Hughes show is
no more. I did not see anything in the newspaper and no one answers
the phone. So ends WALL's move from Middletown to Poughkeepsie with
promises to keep contact with Middletown and to provide Orange County listeners
with local information and talk. I was a frequent caller and was
able to ask questions to local leaders and provide general information
to correct the normal press misinformation especially from the local Times
Herald-Record. The only call in talk show left in Orange County
now is WTBQ, AM 1110, 11:00 AM TO 12:00 NOON. 651-1110
Chris,
CLICK HERE FOR WTBQ Web Site.
It is a small station and does not reach all of Orange County but you can
listen to it on the net. Chris does a good job and has frequent guest
and is a supporter of the 2nd. I have been a guest on his show several
times and I do call in when I can.
WALL follows WGNY in dropping every talk format
shows in their daily schedule. Please e-mail me if you know of any
more call in programs. It is a real set back for our 1st Amendment
rights that are now turned over only to those who work for the newspapers
and other news outlets. Who can say that RNN's French or T H-R's
Levine fairly represent any of their ideas?
Patrick
Murray, 16 year old, wins Golds at NY Junior Olympics
Junior gunman a straight shooter By David Dirks, May 20, 01, Times
Herald-Record
Patrick Murray has accomplished quite a
bit for a 16-year-old. Earlier this year, Carmine Montalbano wrote to me
about Patrick. Carmine supervises the Middletown Pistol & Rifle
Junior team. Haven't heard of this rifle team? Or any local rifle team?
It's no surprise that in this day and age of "shock" sports, that the very
traditional sport of competitive shooting rates no coverage.
In an era when some people no longer value
the lives of others and use guns to settle matters, it is encouraging some
sanity and common sense can shine through. Murray is an example of
sanity and common sense. He is a Life Scout with Troop 52 and very close
to becoming an Eagle Scout. He's also a member of the NROTC
at Middletown High School. Oh, and did I mention he's an expert marksman?
Earlier this year, Murray attended several matches,
capturing gold medals in the rifle and air rifle competitions during the
New York Junior Olympics. That earned him the opportunity to travel to
Colorado Springs and try out for the U.S. Olympic team.
"This is a great honor for a youngster to receive,"
said Montalbano. Congratulations to Murray for a job well done and
for demonstrating once again that safe gun handling practices and good
marksmanship make for a great life experience.
For more information on the Middletown Pistol &
Rifle Junior team, contact Carmine Montalbano at (845) 355-2102.
Middletown has a very active Junior team as do
several other clubs in Orange County. Shooting and ammo is free and
they provide the guns. They have a very good training program so
even if your son or daughter, (and they have has some very good Jr. Women
shooters,) has never even held a rifle, they can have them competing for
the Olympics in no time. Please call Carmine if you have any questions.
UPDATE: Patrick Murray did very well at the national
try out for the U. S. Olympic team in Colorado Spring. He placed
34 out of 76. Really quite good for a 16 year old. He has 4
more years to practice so we hope that he does better next time.
He is a fine example of how well junior shooting programs can teach and
support out youth.
Rockland's
Wal-Mart considers gun sale restrictions
- NY Sportsmen Alert -Wed, 30 May 2001
SUFFERN, N.Y. (AP) - Wal-Mart officials have tentatively
agreed to require 18- and 19-year-olds to attend a police-sponsored gun
safety workshop before they can buy guns at a store in Rockland.
The agreement results from a May 22nd meeting with
students, Wal-Mart representatives and town and school officials, The Journal
News reported Wednesday.
Although it is legal to buy a rifle at 18, some
students and administrators said that in an age of rising school violence,
rifle sales to 18-year-olds make them apprehensive.
At the meeting, students and officials asked that
teen-agers who buy guns be subject to character-education programs to reduce
bullying, and hunter safety and responsible gun ownership seminars.
They also asked Wal-Mart to consider moving its
firearms counter away from the toy section, to carefully train and monitor
the salespeople's work at the gun counter, and to require 18- and 19-year-olds
to attend police gun safety workshops before they buy firearms.
Wal-Mart Representative Keith Morris said those
are points the company can agree to in broad principle, but the details
must still be filled in.
John
L. Cushman is seeking to be re-elected to the NRA Board of Directors.
CLICK HERE TO CONTACT HIM TO HELP
S3353/A6777
to further reduce where you can have a legal gun.
Introduced by normally pro-gun Republican Sen. SALAND,
this bill would turn legal gun owners into criminals if you went to the
baseball field to pick up your child after a visit to the range or if you
were an off duty police officer watching your child play and had your backup
gun with you. Some how the local NRA paid lobbyist OKed the bill
but I have called him to try to change his mind. The NYSRPA and Scope
will not support the bill. The bill does not include criminal intent
so a legal gun owner picking up their child in a parking lot with a rifle
in the trunk of their car would be treated the same as a crack dealer with
an illegal handgun. How many legal gun owners would even ever know
about the law? Please e-mail Sen. Saland and tell him that we do
not support his bill.
Stephen M. Saland, 41st District, Columbia, part of Dutchess
946 Legislative Office Building, Albany, New York 12247, 518-455-2411
3 Neptune Road Suite A19B, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601,
845-463-0840 Email: SALAND@senate.state.ny.us
The bill is sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblywoman
Ann Margaret Carrozza, 26th Assembly District, Queens
7
...
in or upon a school bus,
8 or in or upon a building or grounds purchased,
used or owned by a muni-
9 cipality for the establishment
and/or maintenance of a playground or
10 neighborhood recreation center pursuant
to article thirteen of the
11 general municipal law, or by the city of
New York for similar purposes,
12 without the written authorization of such
educational institution or
13 municipality; or
CLICK
HERE TO LOOK UP THE NEW LAW
I had sent an e-mail to Chris McGrath in Albany about
the support of this bill. He is the NRA paid lobbyist in Albany.
This was his reply.
We have once again examined this bill and
have considered some of the valid objections to the items which do not
relate to unauthorized entry upon school buses. Those issues do give
us concern and we do not support any concept which infringes upon the full
extent of the carry license (Sec. 400) of the Penal Law. As I explained
to you this bill is not going anywhere and has not even been put on a committee
agenda.
George, rather than continue to beat a dead horse,
where we really need your help is on issues like Sen. Maziarz's Eddie Eagle
Bill (S. 2119), which we are trying to pass in the Senate and need to generate
grass roots support NOW; support of the constitutional amendment to keep
and bear arms sponsored by Assemblyman Joe Robach; OPPOSE the following:
A. 1534 Matusow
Banning .50 caliber weapons
A. 2663 Englebright
Restricting sales of rifles/shotguns outside NYC to possible residents
in NYC
A. 2666 Englebright
Sale of alleged "child operated firearms"
A. 2776 Englebright
Labeling of shipments of firearms (what we call "Steal Me First")
A. 5667 Pretlow
Statewide firearms licenses with training component.
This is what I got from John L. Cushman, NRA board of
Directors from Long Island:
Here is what I sent out regarding the Saland bill.
"I spoke to the NRA State and Local Affairs Director, Randy Kozuch.
The NRA is NOT supporting this bill."
PLEASE NOTE THAT SEN. SALAND HAS SPONSORED BILLS
THAT THE NRA, SCOPE AND NYSRPA DO SUPPORT
Bills such as:
S-2920/A-1596. This bill: "Provides a means for
providing safety and marksmanship training to an applicant for a pistol
license by allowing such applicant to receive temporary, supervised instruction
in the safe and responsible use of firearms before such license is issued
and permitting the unlicensed possession of a firearm by such applicants
for this specific purpose." This bill would allow anyone who has
applied for a pistol license to VOLUNTARILY take a handgun safety class
that includes shooting a handgun and "shall exempt a person providing
a firearm used for training and instruction under this paragraph from criminal
liability resulting from his or her disposal of a firearm to such unlicensed
individual."
S-2302/A-6366 This bill: "Establishes presumption
that an applicant for a handgun license has proper cause for issuance thereof."
This bill would turn NY into a real "shall issue" state and stop some of
the unfair practices of some issuing authorities.
So do not get the wrong idea about Sen. Saland
Some of Assemblywoman Ann Margaret Carrozza's Co-Sponsored Legislation:
A. 2663 Restricting sales of rifles/shotguns outside
NYC to possible residents in NYC (Note: listed above in McGraths e-mail)
A. 2776 Labeling of shipments of firearms (listed as
multisponsor,) (what we call "Steal Me First") (Note: listed above
in McGraths e-mail)
A-1202/S-4291 Directs the superintendent of state police to study "junk"
guns.
A-1337A Requires persons engaged in the business of selling firearms
to sell them with a locking device; authorizes the award of compensation
to individuals injured by any person using a firearm if the person who
sold or transferred such weapon to another person did so without providing
at the time of sale or delivery a gun locking device.
A-2076 Bans affordable and easily concealable firearms. (Who would
want to do that?)
Assembly
Speaker Sheldon Silver leads Assembly attack on your gun rights.
In a repeat of last year, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
has announced a renewed attack on your gun rights.
By Matt Smith, Ottaway News Service
5/16/01 Albany – Assembly Democrats are taking aim at New
York's gun laws, targeting owners who carelessly store their weapons, and
calling for a ban on certain rifles and pistols.
"We have to continue to push for sensible
gun legislation and do everything in our power to prevent the senseless
taking of lives," Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said yesterday
in a speech to gun control activists. "We had a good start last year, but
it was only a good start."
The Democratic-run Assembly's gun control proposal
includes:
- Slapping gun owners with a felony if their weapons lead to a death
or injury after winding up in the hands of a child as a result of careless
storage.
- Eliminating cheaply made small-caliber pistols known as Saturday
night specials, and banning the sale of .50-caliber rifles known as elephant
guns.
- And mandating that all guns sold in the state be designed so that
children are unable to fire them.
The package of bills – which moved through the Assembly
Codes Committee yesterday and may be voted on next week – was quickly blasted
by the National Rifle Association, sportsmen, and Assembly Republicans.
All of the bills have good sounding
names but if you take the time to read them you will find out that they
do a lot more than they claim. The bill to ban "Saturday night special"
would also ban many other guns including Glocks that no one would ever
think would fall into the "CHEEP" category.
WORKING--- I will try to have the bill numbers soon
Report
on SAS Mother's Day Albany March
CLICK ON THE PICTURE
TO SEE MORE PICTURES
5/16/01 by Second Amendment Sisters NYS Coordinator, Geneice
Hovak
The Second Amendment
Sisters were pleased with the turnout (approx 150) in Albany along
with our allies from SCOPE and NY
Tyranny Response Team. All those in attendance left with a sense of
pride knowing that they actively participated in the preservation of our
second amendment rights.
George Pataki and crew (Schumer, Clinton, and Spitzer)
drew less than 500 in the Liberal bastion of Westchester. Most importantly,
Mr. Pataki was aware
of what we were doing in Albany as indicated by his "pickets" remark.
It's obvious that Gov. Pataki has no respect for the gun owners in this
state. It was evident in his remarks expressing his pride in last years
legislation. Pataki is not willing to address our concerns regarding
the trampling of our second amendment rights, but is more than willing
to take our tax dollars as his salary and squander the rest on idiocy such
as ballistic fingerprinting.
I'm attaching a program. All speakers were excellent!
They all took time out of busy lives to share the day with us, traveling
from the farthest parts of the state. If I had to select highlights...
-
Reenactor color guard.
-
Amy Heath singing the National Anthem a cappella. Very moving.
-
Fife and drum echoing in my ears, keeping time for us on our "Patriot's
Walk" all the way to the Governor's Mansion.
-
The town crier reading our demands and hanging them on the Governor's gate.
It is our greatest hope that Governor George Pataki will be haunted by
his actions come election day. That he and others like him will come to
know the power of the gun owner vote! Our second amendment rights are NOT
negotiable!
Second Amendment Sisters would like to thank all who participated in
the Mothers' Day Rally. The rally was successful and we couldn't have done
it
without you!
NY_coord@2asisters.org
or P.O. Box 13986 Albany, NY 12212-0986
Million Mom March
News
Several MMM events were held around the state with the
Second Amendment Sisters holding a few. If you were at any of the
events please e-mail me and let me know what happened. The Albany
event by the MMM was called off because of a nut who called from
NJ. (CLICK
HERE TO LINK TO: Death threat cancels Albany anti-gun rally.)
The SAS did have a march but only 75 people showed up.
The big news was that our wonderful Gov. Mario Pataki
showed up at the MMM in White Planes, from the MMM web page: Speakers include
Gov. George Pataki, Ossie Davis (emcee), NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
and Westchester Co. DA Jeanine Pirro, County Executive Andy Spano ... The
event also included: musicians, singers, youth performances and a toy gun
swap with area police dept. - children's anti-violence art exhibit will
be sent to Congress and President
- NY Sportsmen Alert, Mon, 14 May 2001 07:33:01 EDT- Pataki
takes shot at 2nd Amendment Sisters. Quotes from Republican Gov. George
Pataki at a Million Mom March event held Sunday at the Westchester County
Center.
-
"I'm very, very proud that last year New York passed the toughest and most
comprehensive anti-gun violence law in the nation"
-
"there are pickets in front of the governor's mansion in Albany' protesting
the anti-gun laws"
NY Sportsmen Alert Comment: Those "pickets in front of the governor's
mansion" were the Second Amendment Sisters who were rallying in support
of the right to bear arms.
As recommended in the past, do not donate moneys to the New York Republican
Party or to the Governor. Make donations to individual politicians
who support the Second Amendment and "instant background checks".
As we have guessed, Gov. Mario Pataki expects to get
elected next year without the sportsperson's vote. His re-election
motto is going to be: Gunowners votes? We don't need no stinking gun owners
votes to win no election!
- NY Sportsmen Alert -Sun, 13 May 2001
Pataki joined by Democrats Clinton, Schumer, Spitzer at Million
Mom March
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- Putting aside party
differences, New York's top Democrats -- including Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton -- planned to join the state's Republican Gov. George Pataki at
a Million Mom March event Sunday supporting strong gun control measures.
The event in White Plains was one
of 10 around the state and four dozen around the country, all held on Mother's
Day. The first Million Mom March was held on Mother's Day last year, when
tens of thousands of women and their families marched on Washington, D.C.
to demand stricter gun control laws. This year's emphasis was on grass-roots
events rather than a national rally.
In addition to Pataki and Clinton,
the White Plains event was to include actor Ossie Davis and Democrats Sen.
Charles Schumer and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Schumer is credited with getting the
House of Representatives to pass the Brady bill, with its waiting period
for handgun purchases, over opposition from the National Rifle Association.
Pataki has pushed for some of the toughest
gun-control laws in the country, including mandatory trigger locks, ballistic
"fingerprinting" to better track weapons, raising the legal age for purchasing
handguns from 18 to
21, and requiring background checks on gun buyers at gun shows
in the state.
Spitzer filed a lawsuit last year
that made New York the first state to sue the gun industry on the grounds
it violated a state law that classifies illegal guns as a public nuisance.
Other New York events were held Albany,
Binghamton, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Long Island, Ithaca, Manhattan, Queens and
Staten Island.
Around the country, Million Mom March
chapters had supporters sign pink postcards urging Speaker of the House
Dennis Hastert to support federal legislation to make background checks
mandatory for firearms purchased at gun shows.
The organizers also set up a Web site
for a "Million Mom Cybermarch" so supporters could sign on to a gun control
message that was to be sent to first lady Laura Bush.
CLICK HERE TO
E-MAIL GOV. MARIO PATAKI
CLICK
HERE TO READ GOV. MARIO PATAKI'S PRESS RELEASE:
GOVERNOR
RENEWS CALL FOR TOUGH ILLEGAL GUN TRAFFICKING LAWS
Washington
Times Editorial, May 15, 2001, What if they had a rally . . .?
Weapon-scanner
raises constitutional concern
I thought that they already had this but we have another
story of a machine that can tell if you are carrying a concealed firearm.
(If my math is correct 3mm is about 0.11811 inches.) I hope it can
also detect undercover police, licensed owners, off duty FBI/police agents,
and in NYC all of those unlicensed, unregistered firearms owned and carried
by all those UN diplomats. We will have to see if the courts decide
that the use of this device will violate our 4th amendment right of "unreasonable
search and seizures,".
BOULDER, Colo., May 30 (UPI) -- A federal
agency is developing a radar-like device that uses electromagnetic waves
to peer through clothing and detect concealed weapons from up to 15 meters
(50 feet) away.
The technology is based upon a radar-like apparatus
that illuminates groups of people with low-level electromagnetic waves
that penetrate clothing but reflect off objects concealed beneath them.
The reflected energy is collected, focused onto a detector array and ultimately
transformed into an image that is displayed on a policeman's laptop, said
sources at NIST.
"What we are doing is more along the lines of radar,"
said Erich Grossman, a NIST researcher on the project. "We illuminate an
area with high frequency radiation or three-millimeter-wavelength millimeter
waves. That allows us to see details but anything finer than three millimeters
we won't see."
Government sources said they hope to have a working
prototype of the device by year's end.
Officials at the National Institute of Justice and
the Federal Aviation Administration said they could not provide comment
by press time.
The agencies have funded the project to the tune
of $200,000 a year for about three years, said Grossman.
CLICK
HERE FOR THE FULL UPI STORY
"Don't
worry about an Assault Weapons Ban?", then look at Conn.
Conn. passed an AW ban, so big deal. Now they
are back and want to add more guns to the ban including guns that are used
in target shooting. Not satisfied with just naming names like AR-15,
Bushmaster, and other popular guns, they also include a "or looks like"
clause.
From an NRA
Fax Alert 5/25/01:
CONNECTICUT: Last night, the State Senate passed SB 1402,
Senators Kevin Sullivan's (D-West Hartford) and George Jepsen's (D-Stamford)
Assault Weapons Bill. SB 1402 was stripped of its original language and
was replaced with language banning a long list of semi-automatic
rifles and shotguns with politically incorrect cosmetic features. It also
now includes a broad ban on ammunition magazines and various types
of ammunition.
From a NY Times Article: May 29, 2001, Bill
to Ban High-Powered Guns in Connecticut Raises Ire
Last Thursday, the State Senate approved
a bill that would outlaw most of the high-powered rifles — those with magazine
cartridges and pistol grips and that could be converted to fire automatically
— that are still legal in Connecticut.
Its supporters say the bill only clarifies a law
passed in 1993, which banned specific brands of semiautomatic rifles, and
to which gun manufacturers responded by selling similar guns with different
names.
...
Democratic leaders like Kevin B. Sullivan, the Senate
president pro tem, said that the new legislation makes sense, particularly
in light of horrors like schoolyard shootings, where children illegally
arm themselves with guns bought and owned legally by adults.
"What we have seen too often in the past few years
is that guns bought legitimately end up in the hands of people that don't
buy them legitimately," said Roy Occhiogrosso, a spokesman for Mr. Sullivan.
"The people that are gun control advocates respect and defend the rights
of sportsmen," he added. "There are few sportsmen that hunt deer with assault
weapons."
Of course just about any semi-automatic can in some
way be modified into a full auto and I like the part; "Its supporters say
the bill only clarifies a law passed in 1993,". Change that to 2000
and it sounds like NY. Thanks a lot Sen. Morahan and Gov. Mario Pataki.
Lets see if I understand this. I can not own
a gun because some day someone else might own it illegally own or
use it illegally. Now I understand. I am glad that this only
works for guns and not cars, knives, baseball bats, rope, tape, cameras,
(used in child porno, ...
Mr.
Ashcroft thinks that the 2nd Amendment is an individual right
The NRA sends all new Attorney Generals a letter asking
them what they think about the 2nd Amendment. This time AG Ashcroft
wrote, "[L]et me state unequivocally....the Second Amendment clearly
protect(s) the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms."
As you can guess, HCI is screaming like a stuck
pig:
"The Attorney General's statement to the NRA undercuts his
own Department's position in a pending case," asserted Mr. Henigan.
"It is astonishing that our nation's chief law enforcement officer would
have such a grossly misinformed position on a fundamental constitutional
issue. And it is disturbing that Mr. Ashcroft would take a position so
closely aligned with the extremist views of the NRA, which opposes all
reasonable gun laws. When it comes to defending our nation's gun
control laws in court, do we have a fox in the henhouse?"
CLICK
HERE TO SEE THE NRA FAX ALERT
CLICK
HERE TO SEE THE WHOLE AP ARTICLE
(Please note that the article states that the NRA spent $1 Million
to help get Pres. Bush elected. How much did the unions, HCI, NOW,
... spent to get Gore elected?)
An
Army of One, The right to bear arms belongs to you, not to the government.
by Dave Kopel
This is a great must read article that supports Ashcroft and shows
other AG that felt the same way.
Anti-gun
Violence Policy Center attacks using lead study
May 1st.WASHINGTON, DC—The Violence Policy Center (VPC) and
the Environmental Working Group (EWG) today released Poisonous
Pastime: The Health Risks of Shooting Ranges and Lead to Children, Families,
and the Environment. The 71-page study documents how shooting ranges
are poisoning children and polluting the environment with lead, yet remain
almost entirely unregulated—exempt from even the Bush Administration's
new lead pollution reporting rules.
Poisonous Pastime documents how parents
often put their own children at risk because they do not know that their
visits to the local shooting range can result in lead poisoning of their
children at home. Lead poisoning is known to cause terribly debilitating
and sometimes fatal effects on children and adults.
CLICK BELOW TO SEE THE WHOLE PRESS RELEASE
Study
Documents How Shooting Ranges Poison Children; One of the Nation's Top
Lead Polluters
No real need to read all of the 71 pages. The following
is an outline of Section Four: Recommendations
-
Local Activism
-
All children who have any direct or indirect exposure to
a shooting range or to reloading should immediately have their blood lead
levels tested.
-
No children should be allowed at shooting ranges, nor should
they participate in or be exposed to ammunition reloading, since there
is no "safe" level of lead exposure for children. Minimum age standards
of 18 should be imposed at all shooting ranges and no parent should allow
children access to ammunition reloading equipment.
-
Conduct local "audits" of shooting ranges to check lead levels
at ranges and ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations,
including zoning, noise, environmental, as well as health and safety.
-
Federal Actions:
-
Give first priority for Pittman-Robertson funds to cleaning
up and repairing lead damage to public lands—
-
Redirect a portion of Pittman-Robertson funds from the sale
of handguns and handgun ammunition to paying the cost of handgun lethality
and injury.
-
Forbid use of federal dollars for any range that permits
use of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, or machine guns.
-
Investigate the use of federal government assets (including
military resources) to support the gun-industry range strategy.
-
Investigate the propriety and administration of Pittman-Robertson
grants for the National Shooting Range Symposiums.
-
Other Policy Ramifications
-
The serious lead hazard associated with shooting ranges calls
into question the wisdom of encouraging or requiring firearm safety training
as a mechanism to reduce firearm-related violence. Studies indicate that
firearm safety training has little or no effect in making gun owners store
their weapons in a safer manner. In fact, one of the leading studies indicates
that safety training actually encourages gun owners to store their firearms
unlocked and loaded for ready access. Taking into account the clear hazard
posed to human health by exposure to lead at shooting ranges, any possible
benefits of firearm safety training are outweighed by the risk of lead
poisoning.
-
The significant health and environmental hazards associated
with shooting ranges demonstrate the folly of supporting range development
with public funds. States and localities should consider moratoriums on
the construction of new ranges.
Annual NRA meeting
The NRA had its annual meeting the weekend of 5/21/01
and they had a lot of good speeches. Please check out the NRA LIVE
web site and listen to some of the speeches. Click on the RECENT
NEWS to see past post. If you have never visited this web page now
is a good time to do it. See the speeches and reports in streaming
video with a new report every day. The best way to see what is current.
CLICK HERE TO LINK
TO NRA LIVE
McCain,
Lieberman Push to Close Gun Show Loophole and Strengthen Law Enforcement
(Still waiting for a bill #)
5/15/01
McCain and Lieberman had a press meeting today and
guess who else was there? How about Sen. UpChuck Schumer and Rep.
McCarthy and Republican Rep. Castle from Delaware. You could not
wipe the smile off UpChuck's face with a 8" PortaCable sander. It
sounds like they really think that they have something. They really
sounded like they were afraid that they had compromised so much that they
thought that they would loose the support of the anti-gunners. FAT
CHANCE! What BS! The anti-gunners will vote for anything that
brings them closer to their goal and try to pick up more later. That
is why they are doing the "gun-show loophole" now, because they could not
go for it when they passed the Brady Bill in the first place. The
bad news is they might be able to pull it off. It does not really
matter to anyone in NY because we already have our own gun show "Instant
Check". (Thank you Gov. Mario Pataki. who had someone call me today
asking for money. Guess what I told them.)
The improvements over past bills are that:
A Common Sense Definition of a
Gun Show
·
McCain-Lieberman eliminates the confusing definition of previous bills
and defines a gun
show as
any event where at least 75 guns are available for sale.
·
The bill corrects a flaw in previous bills and excludes from background
checks the sale of
a gun
either from the seller's home or to an immediate family member.
Instant Checks at Gun Shows
·
For the first 3 years, McCain-Lieberman allows for a full 3 business days
to complete the
background
check at gun shows.
·
After 3 years, states may reduce background checks between private buyers
and sellers
at gun
shows to 24 hours, once DoJ has certified that its records are sufficiently
automated
to prevent
prohibited buyers from buying guns.
·
It also authorizes funding for states to improve their criminal history
records to make
background
checks faster and more accurate than they are now.
Strengthening Enforcement and
No Onerous Paperwork
·
McCain-Lieberman adds new penalties for those who lie or illegally evade
a background
check.
·
It adds funding for new federal law enforcement, Project Exile, and smart
gun technology.
·
It requires special licensees who conduct background checks at gun shows
to maintain
the same
records that licensed gun stores keep, but it does not require private
buyers or
sellers
to keep records.
The parts that it does not correct are
· That it does not allow an FFL to ship a gun across state
lines directly to a buyer who gets
a DELAY on an "INSTANT" background check and then gets an approval.
· It does not prevent a charge for the "INSTANT CHECK".
· It still allows 3 days for an "INSTANT CHECK".
· Provide no incentives for the states to "sufficiently automate"
the required records. NY has only 85%
automated records
· Still gives 24 hours for the "INSTANT CHECK". (What
part of INSTANT don't they understand.)
· Includes money for the "Smart Gun Technology".
· Does not stop the FBI's current practice of keeping records
of approved checks even though the law states that no records will be kept.
CLICK
HERE FOR LIEBERMAN'S PRESS RELEASE
PS: Is the "INSTANT CHECK" done by the same FBI that has screwed
up all those other times and can not even keep track to records in what
"must be counted one of the FBI's most important federal prosecutions since
World War II" and does not follow the rules covering a fair trial?
British
Owner Sells Smith & Wesson
By TRUDY TYNAN / Associated Press Writer/Published Monday,
May 14, 2001
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Smith & Wesson,
the legendary gun maker whose sales plummeted after it pledged to install
safety devices, has been sold by its British owner for just $15 million
to Saf-T-Hammer Corp., a tiny start-up in Arizona that makes trigger locks.
Saf-T-Hammer of Scottsdale, Ariz., announced the
agreement Monday with Tomkins PLC, which has owned Springfield-based Smith
& Wesson since 1987.
Under the agreement, Saf-T-Hammer assumes liability
for the numerous lawsuits filed against Smith & Wesson over gun deaths.
" That is reflected in the price, " said Michael
Blogg, an analyst at the London brokerage Charterhouse Securities. Tomkins
paid $112.5 million for privately held Smith & Wesson 14 years ago.
Mitchell Saltz, Saf-T-Hammer founder and chief executive,
said the entire $15 million purchase is being funded by a private investor
he refused to identify. The investor will be identified when the company
files paperwork with the Security and Exchange Commission in the next two
weeks.
Saf-T-Hammer was founded in 1991 and has just five
employees, Saltz said, including President Robert Scott, a former vice
president for sales and business development for Smith & Wesson.
The trigger locks, cables and lock boxes that Saf-T-Hammer makes
will be incorporated into Smith & Wesson' s product line, Saltz said.
CLICK
HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE
CLICK
HERE FOR AN ADDITIONAL ARTICLE "New Smith & Wesson owner inherits marketing
dilemma "
REMARKS
BY THE PRESIDENT ON PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS
Pres. George W. Bush announced an expansion to the PROJECT
EXILE that will "is proposing to devote more than $550 million on Project
Safe Neighborhoods over the next two years."
" We need a national strategy to assure that every community is attacking
gun
violence with focus and intensity. I'm here today to announce a national
initiative
to help cities like Philadelphia fight gun violence. The program
I propose we call
Project Safe Neighborhoods will establish a network of law enforcement
and
community initiatives targeted at gun violence.
I will involve -- it will involve
an unprecedented partnership between all levels of government. It
will increase
accountability within our systems. And it will send an unmistakable
message: if
you use a gun illegally, you will do hard time.
This nation must enforce the gun laws which exist on the books. Project
Safe
Neighborhoods incorporates and builds upon the success of existing programs.
In
Richmond, Virginia, for example, during the first year of what's called
Project
Exile, homicides were reduced by 40 percent; and armed robberies were reduced
by 30 percent, in the first year alone. And thanks to Boston's Operation
Cease-fire, in almost two years, no one under the age of 17 was shot."
CLICK
HERE TO SEE PRES. BUSH'S PRESS RELEASE
U. N.
Targets American Gun Owners
by Wayne R. LaPierre at NewMax.com
A push for United Nations action on global gun bans
- expected in July - has been preceded with release of a propaganda video
that paints its message blood red, and I quote: "A gun born ... a killer
is on the loose ... small arms are not fussy about the company they keep
... and they can murder indiscriminately."
This film - "Armed to the Teeth: The Worldwide Plague
of Small Arms" -is a prelude to a U.N. conference on a global gun control
scheme that could affect Americans' future right to keep and bear arms.
"The United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade
in Small Arms and All Its Aspects" will be held in July at U.N. headquarters
in New York.
CLICK
HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE
SARAH BRADY VOWS TO
FIGHT CANCER
'IN THE SAME WAY I'VE FOUGHT FOR A SAFER AMERICA'
For Immediate Release: 4/23/2001
Washington,
D.C. - Sarah Brady, Chair of Handgun Control, issued this statement today,
following an interview Friday night on CNN's "Larry King Live," in which
she revealed she is undergoing treatment for lung cancer.
"I want
to thank all those who have wished me well. Your good wishes and prayers
mean more to me than you'll ever know. I am feeling fine and Jim's humor
is helping keep my spirits up. I've fought many tough battles before, and
I'm going to fight this one in the same way I've fought for a safer America.
"While
my recovery is certainly challenging, I am still focused on the work ahead
of us to reduce gun violence. Working with our supporters all across
this great nation, I know we can make that happen."
A 12-year-old
girl who shot and killed her mother's attacker will not be charged, police
said Tuesday.
The Associated Press, Published: May 1, 2001, CLARKSDALE, Miss. (AP)
The girl was asleep in her room when Anthony Fox chased her mother
into their apartment, forcing his way through the door, Detective Danny
Hill said.
"She heard the commotion and she knew from past experience what was
going on," Hill said.
The girl saw Fox choking her mother, grabbed her mother's pistol and
fired a single shot into his chest, Hill said.
The county coroner said Fox, 25, died of a single gunshot wound to
the chest Saturday at an area hospital.
Fox had been arrested for domestic violence against the girl's mother,
his on-and-off girlfriend, at least twice, Hill said.
A youth court judge ruled the shooting self-defense, Hill said. The
girl's name was withheld because of her age.
AP-ES-05-01-01 2320EDT
AMA's new
Pres. to push for more gun studies.
AMA Joins Gun Grabbers , NewsMax.com, Tuesday, May 1,
2001
Spurred on by their president-elect,
the American Medical Association is getting ready to take on the defenders
of the Second Amendment. Some AMA members are vowing a last-ditch
fight to stop what foes say is just thinly disguised anti-gun propaganda.
According to Chicago Business, under its president-elect,
Richard F. Corlin, the AMA is primed to call for increased funding to study
data on firearms injuries at its June 20 annual meeting – a ploy, Second
Amendment advocates warn, that puts the national medical association squarely
on the side of anti-gun radicals.
Said Dr. Michael Brown, a Vancouver, Wash., optometrist
and a member of Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws: "There is so much potential
for misusing the data for political purposes. We have very little faith
they would deal with it honestly." "The doctors that go into medical
politics like this are almost always the urban liberal-type folks."
"They are not scientists; these are social planners,"
said John A. Bennett, an AMA member and a member of Doctors for Sensible
Gun Laws, referring to the doctors who undertake research on firearms issues.
The planned call for more research funding will
not be universally welcomed at the annual meeting, however. There have
been objections, notes Chicago Business. "The dissension reportedly extends
into the AMA's boardroom, where, one source says, 'there wasn't unanimity.'"
CLICK
HERE FOR THE WHOLE ARTICLE
