From: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com (utah-firearms-digest) To: utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: utah-firearms-digest V2 #63 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 Thursday, May 28 1998 Volume 02 : Number 063 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 20:27:11 -0600 From: "S. Thompson" Subject: Re: Get an early start on summer vacation! -Forwarded At 04:49 PM 5/27/98 -0600, Charles Hardy wrote: > >On Wed, 27 May 1998, "S. Thompson" posted: > >> Yes, school faculty members should be allowed to, or even encouraged to, >>carry concealed. But _required_? >>That's absolute idiocy, not to mention a violation of civil liberties. > >Not at all. There are any number of requirements imposed with >teaching in a government run school--or any other job. We require >(supposedly) teachers to be proficent in any number of things not >directly part of their job. EG, math and science teachers must be >proficient in written and spoken english. Before you say that is >obvious and clearly necessary to their job, go take a math or science >course at a major university which does not impose this requirement. >You can learn math or science from someone who is far from proficient >in english. It's tough, but it can be done. The schools have failed utterly in providing teachers who are even proficient in English at a low high school level, much less any "esoteric" knowledge, such as math, science, history, or arts. That needs to be the first goal. If public school teachers were as proficient with firearms as they are at writing sentences in English, I'd be terrified to live near a school, much less send my child to one! While it may be theoretically possible to train teachers to use firearms, I seriously doubt that it's actually possible, at least in our current society. Secondly, requiring proficiency in teaching skills and knowledge is a reasonable requirement that violates no one's civil liberties. However, I can find no definition of teacher that includes the duties of armed guard. It is, of course, possible to change the definition and requirements for teachers, but such a change can't be done abruptly. Also, as self-defense advocates we must be careful to be consistent. Many people here have raised the issue of bans on knives being an infringement of the religious rights of Sikhs, who are required to carry a specific type of knife. If we are going to insist that the rights of Sikhs be respected, should we not be equally vigilant to defend the rights of Quakers and Buddhists whose religious beliefs generally preclude carrying firearms? If someone is a good teacher, I can see no reason to prevent him from teaching whether he's a Sikh who wishes to carry a knife to school or a Quaker who refuses to carry a firearm. And what do we do about teachers who have physical handicaps that prevent them from handling a firearm safely? Should a teacher who has an episode of serious depression that requires involuntary hospitalization lose her job forever, even if she's successfully treated? I don't like _ex post facto_ laws applied to gun owners and they're not any better when applied to teachers. >More closely related to requiring CCW are requirements that teachers >be trained in first aid including CPR. Teachers, especially grade >school teachers, are more than just instructors. They are given, and >accept, a high degree of responsibility for their students safety >during the day. Requiring a knowledge of first aid is only prudent. A >similar argument may be made for carrying guns. I don't know of any rational reason for refusing to learn CPR for kids, although I suspect that some teachers are probably exempt from this requirement also, due to physical problems that prevent their performing CPR. (I know some health care professionals get such exemptions.) But many, if not most, teachers sincerely believe that possession of a firearm is morally unacceptable. And for some teachers, particularly those who work with emotionally disturbed, or "at-risk" youth, carrying a firearm and having all the students _know_ you carry it, could present a very real danger of students ganging up on a teacher to get the gun. Those people who chose a career in teaching in good faith, should not suddenly be told they must carry a firearm at all times or lose their jobs. If they'd wanted to carry a gun at work all day every day, they'd probably have chosen a career in law enforcement. Again, we must be consistent. If we object to military and law enforcement officers losing their jobs because of _ex post facto_ laws, we shouldn't be rushing to inflict such laws on teachers. >> Besides, how would you enforce it? > >Just as any other requirement is enforced. Testing and certification. And "showing metal" at the door every day before you're allowed in to teach? >>What standards of proficiency would >>you require? > >Somewhere between a current CCW and POST certification I should think. I think it should be more stringent than POST. Most law enforcement personnel shoot at adults who are at least presumed to be criminals. A teacher defending a class would most likely have to shoot _at a student_ in a school full of kids. Even if the student is a criminal, I think higher standards should be used when shooting a 15 year old than when shooting at an adult. In fact, I suspect that most of the gunowners I know would have great difficulty shooting a teenager, even with good cause. I know I would. >>Who would pay for the firearms, ammo and training? > >The cost of all are insignificant compared to the cost of the college >education already required to teach. The cost of that education (and >much of the continuing education required) is born by teachers >already, although schools could help cover those costs if they chose. That makes sense if you're looking at requiring firearms proficiency as a requirement for a teaching degree. But it doesn't work as well if you're going to impose it as a new requirement. And do you let teachers carry any firearm they choose, or do you standardize it like the police do? If you model it on the police, then I think the taxpayers pay for guns and ammo, which for each teacher is a considerable expense, especially when you consider Utah's already abysmally low funding of schools. >>Who would >>bear the liability should a teacher, acting in good faith during a crisis, >>shoot a student or other faculty member? > >The same entity that bears the liability if a teacher, acting in good >faith during a crisis, should inflict injury administering first aid. To the best of my knowledge, the schools and their employees are exempt from all liability related to job duties. It appears that law enforcement now has a license to kill. Do we really want to give teachers that same license to kill? Especially considering how frustrating and thankless their jobs already are? Do we want teachers shooting kids because they see a glint of metal from car keys, or even from a "Three Musketeers" bar - knowing they're exempt from all liability? >>My kids already miss far too many >>days of school because their teachers are attending seminars, having >>"career enhancement days", "preparation days", "morale-building" days, and >>any other excuse they can come up with to not teach. I don't want the kids >>to lose another day a week so the teachers can go practice at the range. > >Even cops are not required to practice shooting on a weekly basis. If >you can pass the annual competancy tests in shooting without practice, >so be it. If you have to practice every night, that is your problem. And we both know how poorly police perform "in the field" compared with "civilian" gun owners. I don't think that level of competence is acceptable in a school setting. And if the UEA thinks that their teachers are far too overworked to "allow" someone else to teach an Eddie Eagle class, imagine the fuss if we actually required firearms proficiency! >> And teachers are not perfect. Some of them probably would not even meet >>the requirements for CCW. > >There are doubtless people who would like to teach who do not meet the >requirments for English, history, etc. There are people who would >love to be doctors but can't pass required exams to get into or >graduate medical school or maybe even pass the boards once they >graduate. If you don't meet the requirements for a given profession, >trade, or occupation you better find a different one. Personally, I think anyone who wants to "practice medicine" should be free to do so, and licensing requirements should be abolished as the restraint of trade that they are. If I need a board-certified surgeon, I'll find one, without the help of the state. If I'd rather be treated by a practitioner of "Therapeutic Touch", I have that right. If I choose to have a chicken waved over my head, that's also my right. But that's slightly off topic. The teachers currently teaching _do_ meet the requirements for teaching, or at least we're told they do. What you're suggesting is roughly equivalent to declaring that all doctors who don't get a certificate in computer systems administration will lose their licenses. After all, all medical records and insurance claims are now computerized, and protecting medical records is important, so doctors "need" to have these skills. But I know quite a few excellent docs who are minimally proficient with computers. As a society, we simply can't afford to lose large numbers of skilled teachers, doctors, law enforcement officers, etc. simply because we decide to change the rules in midstream. >IF we decide that government school teachers must be proficient in >basic self defense using a gun in order to be entrusted with our >children for 8 hours a day, then it is their responsibility to do so. What if they all just say "no"? Tyranny is tyranny. I would refuse to work or even volunteer at a school because they require background checks and fingerprinting. I consider requiring a CCW (with the requisite background checks and fingerprinting) just as tyrannical. The same goes for drug screening, or any other invasion of privacy. Advocating tyranny "for the children" is just candy-coating the tyranny, and it doesn't change anything. Advocates of freedom and Constitutional rights should not be advocating infringing the rights of others. As much as I dislike Lily Eskelson, I'm obligated to defend _her_ Constitutional rights as ardently as I defend my own. >I personnaly wouldn't require it just because there are so many >teachers who are good teachers who would likely have trouble with it. >But I would allow and even encourage via financial incentive, teachers >to become proficient and CCW. I agree. We'd lose too many good teachers by requiring it. But I have no problem with encouraging teachers to carry, and/or rewarding those who do. (I suspect we're in far more agreement on this issue than it might appear...) I think ultimately we need to change society so that carrying a firearm, openly or concealed, is a normal, everyday, and unremarkable activity, and almost all citizens know how to handle and use a firearm safely, just as most people today know how to drive (and even small children know either to stay out of the street or how to cross streets safely). In a society where most adults were proficient with firearms, it would be much easier to get a "critical mass" of teachers who carried - although I'd still oppose any absolute requirement. But we don't have that society today, and we're not going to create it overnight. It's a worthy goal for people in all walks of life. I just don't see any reason to single out teachers for such a requirement. Why not bus drivers, doctors, bank tellers, or even postal workers? And while I'm not accusing you of pettiness, I think some people in the "gun rights community" who suggest such things may be being petty. Teachers and their unions/organizations have long been among our most potent and vocal opponents and in some of the suggestions I've seen to "force" teachers to carry guns I've detected a vengefulness that I find inappropriate, unbecoming, and potentially counterproductive. I know that you reject force as a tool for social change and I suspect you'd agree that educating people regarding the benefits of firearms ownership is far preferable to passing unenforceable, _ex post facto_ laws and regulations. >> The only light I can see coming out of this whole mess is that parents may >>finally wake up and figure out that the NEA/UEA are creating schools that >>are so dangerous to everyone, and so ineffective at teaching, that they >>ought to be just abolished. > >Amen. Which of course leaves us with the task of designing schools and producing teachers who can educate and protect our children and help them to grow into responsible citizens. Our kids, and unfortunately too many of our teachers, lack a solid foundation in academics. Teachers with guns and Eddie Eagle are only a tiny part of the solution. Sarah Sarah Thompson, M.D. http://www.therighter.com GO JAZZ!!!! - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 98 18:55:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: PROVEN SOLUTIONS TO ENDING SCHOOL SHOOTINGS 1/2 - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 23:31:05 -0700 To: mrbill888@mcn.net From: DOV ****JPFO e-mail Alert!**** Jews For The Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Inc. Aaron Zelman - Executive Director 2874 So. Wentworth Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207 Ph. (414) 769-0760 Fax (414) 483-8435 http://www.JPFO.org Against-Genocide@JPFO.org 05/21/98 - -------- ****URGENT!! CROSS POST FAR AND WIDE!!!**** We apologize for the length of this e-mail. However, due to the extreme severity of the problem we are now facing of more "gun control", we feel strongly compelled to send this. Consider this an emergency alert. Stand by for a media-driven panic. The recent murders committed by a teenage boy at school in Oregon will stimulate more anti-firearms rhetoric. There will be calls for more "gun control" and even outright prohibition of all firearms. Defenders of liberty and the Bill of Rights must be prepared to change the terms of the debate. JPFO members and other rights defenders should take the ideas from this alert and send brief letters to their local newspapers and legislators and governors. We need to beat the "gun prohibitionists" to the punch ... if we don't, we can be sure their lobbyists will be running unobstructed at full power. Understand.....we are moments away from seeing British & Canadian style "gun control" shoved down our throats. It always starts with a crisis. Well, the gun prohibitionists crisis IS here. This is now the 6th school shooting THIS YEAR ALONE. We either decide to become involved NOW, or prepare to see draconian firearms laws, as we have never seen before in this land, this year. PROVEN SOLUTIONS TO ENDING SCHOOL SHOOTINGS copyright, Jews For The Preservation of Firearms Ownership EDITOR'S NOTE: This exclusive interview, copyright by JPFO, puts to rest the ongoing debate of how to deal with the ever increasing violence and bloodshed in America's schools, by showing proven solutions (not just theories) to the problem. Rest assured the answer is not in more "gun control", as the gun prohibitionists would want to brainwash America into believing. In fact, the problem IS gun control. JPFO: Tell us about your background, and your involvement with firearms, and the right to keep and bear arms. SCHILLER: The name is Dr. David Th. Schiller, currently residing in the little town of Nassau, 70 km northwest of Frankfurt. I work as editor-in-chief of VISIER, a 168 page strong general interest gun magazine which I started eleven years ago in Stuttgart and which has now grown to be the most influential and best selling gun magazine in all of Europe. Of course with a gun magazine published in Germany, politics are at the forefront of our editorial work, and we have an eye toward the past. NRA's Steve Halbrook has just been over here and I was glad to help him with his research on Jewish resistance during WWII. I was born in (West) Berlin in '52 in Germany, moved to Israel in '72 and served in the Israel Defense Force's Airborne, which means I am now a veteran of the '73 war, the Lebanese war, and a number of border raids and actions in the occupied territories. Wounded in 1973 on Suez canal, I later studied political science at West Berlin's Free University and mastered with a thesis on the origins of the Civil War in Lebanon and a Ph.D. in '82 with a work on the Palestinians' "love affair" with terrorism and paramilitary activity. When I returned to Germany in '74-'75 for studies I was called upon by the Berlin Police department to consult and teach their SWAT team, which just came into being after the Munich massacre during the Munich Olympics. Over the years this extended into a whole series of work obligations with various police departments in Germany and other places in the world. Due to my work in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) as a drill instructor and weapons specialist and through my academic interest, I had something to teach to these people. I also worked some years for the terrorism research department of Santa Monica's RAND Corporation, and have continued my academic pursuits. Over the years I published a number of books on shooting, police, terrorism, military history etc., most of these under the pseudonym of "Jan Boger". You probably might find a photographic journal of mine in English on the IDF, called "To Live in the Fire...", published in 1977 by the John Olson Publishing Co. in New Jersey. As you can see, I experienced violence and gun control from both ends of the barrel, one might say. And of course, I grew up to be a strong believer in the personal right to self defense, especially as I spent my childhood in the Berlin equivalent of the Bronx. JPFO: What kind of advice could you give the USA to combat the recent school massacres that seemingly have become quite common upon our soil? SCHILLER: Now for Jonesboro and the US gun control laws in regard to schools: Way back in 1973 - '74 I lived in a Kibbutz in Northern Israel, called Ramat Yochanan. During Passover week in '74 we in Galilee experienced the first of a number of PLO attacks specifically targeting schools and children's houses, kindergartens, school buses and the like. It started with an infiltration in Quiriat Schmoneh on the Passover weekend, where the perpetrators found the school empty and locked (of course during the holidays!) and took over a nearby residential building, shooting people and in the end blowing themselves up. A few weeks later the worst of this series of incidents took place in Maalot on May 15th: Three PLO gunmen, after making their way through the border fence, first shot up a van load full of workers returning from a tobacco factory (incidentally these people happened to be Galileean Arabs, not Jews), then they entered the school compound of Maalot. First they murdered the housekeeper, his wife and one of their kids, then they took a whole group of nearly 100 kids and their teachers hostage. These were staying overnight at the school, as they were on a hiking trip. In the end, the deadline ran out, and the army's special unit assaulted the building. During the rescue attempt, the gunmen blew their explosive charges and sprayed the kids with machine-gun fire. 25 people died, 66 wounded. After this a controversial debate erupted in Israel in regards to guns, self defense etc. We heard of course the same dumb arguments by some good people, you always hear on these occasions like "We do not live in the Wild West here!" Or: "Guns don't solve problems!" or similar silly things. - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 98 18:55:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: PROVEN SOLUTIONS TO ENDING SCHOOL SHOOTINGS 2/2 JPFO: Were there any gun laws in Israel in those days? SCHILLER: Now, one has to remember, that Israel still had and has most of the old and very strict gun laws dating back to the days of the British Mandatory (1918-1948) on the books, and we in the promised land have meanwhile grown our share of idiotic bureaucrats and dumb politicians, too. But with the help of some smart people, not the least the then Commander-in-Chief, Northern Command Paratroop General Raful Eytan, all the reservists on the settlements were issued their personal weapons, and whoever had a clean track record could get a concealed weapons permit. I for instance had and still have one. JPFO: What happened then? SCHILLER: Teachers and kindergarten nurses now started to carry guns, schools were protected by parents (and often grandpas) guarding them in voluntary shifts. No school group went on a hike or trip without armed guards. The Police involved the citizens in a voluntary civil guard project "Mishmar Esrachi", which even had its own sniper teams. The Army's Youth Group program, "Gadna", trained 15 - 16 year old kids in gun safety and guard procedures and the older high school boys got involved with the Mishmar Esrachi. During one noted incident, the "Herzliyah Bus massacre" (March '78, hijacking of a bus, 37 dead, 76 wounded), these youngsters were involved in the overall security measures in which the whole area between North Tel Aviv and the resort town of Herzlyiah was blocked off, manning roadblocks with the police, guarding schools, kindergartens etc. No problems with gun safety there, as most kids in Israel grow up used to seeing guns on the street (in the hands of army personnel on leave -- every soldier takes his/her gun home when on leave!). When the message got around to the PLO groups and a couple infiltration attempts failed, the attacks against schools ceased. Too much of a risk here: Terrorists and other evildoers don't like risks. But what does all that teach us? (A) schools/kindergartens make for very attractive targets for the deranged gunman as well as for the profit-oriented hostage gangsters or terrorist group, because: (1) everybody sane will cave in to the demands of the evildoers (even somebody as hard-nosed as Golda Meir, may she rest in peace, said during the Maalot incident, that one does not make politics on the backs of one's children). Nobody wants to play the principles game when kids are involved. Kidnapping has thus often resulted in the paying of ransom demands. (2) if you crave media attention, as for instance the PLO did in the 70s, nothing will catch the headlines better than an attack on a school full of kids. (B) Now THAT is the underlying "reason" behind each and every incident that involved killing sprees in schools... from Maalot to Dunblane to Jonesboro. Only recently the French had a hostage/barricade incident in a kindergarten: the guy wanted money, and the French authorities solved that problem very neatly with a stealth-type approach by one of their special teams and a .357 bullet in the head of the perpetrator, when he refused to surrender. No follow up imitations occurred in France. JPFO: Were there any similar incidents in Germany? SCHILLER: Germany has some of the strictest gun laws this side of Britain and Japan. And needless to say, they are a continuation of the Nazi Gun Laws, even using the same wording. Still, we have a multitude of illegal guns on the streets. Currently the police estimates that there are ten million legal, licensed guns and 20 million illegal, in a total population of less than 80 million people! And we had our school massacres, too: In the early 60s one incident took place in Cologne involving a deranged man who, not having access to guns, built himself a flamethrower. In another incident a few years ago in the vicinity of Frankfurt, another crazy individual shot his way through a school with two handguns, and later committed suicide. Also, prior to the Lockerbie plane bombing (which was only one item in a whole spree of planned and coordinated terror attacks luckily foiled by the authorities), German security services detected in September '88, that a Palestinian splinter group had made plans for a raid on the Jewish kindergarten in Munich. We found the photos, ground plans etc. Apparently the planning of the attack was pretty far along. So you do not have to be a prophet to foresee, that we will see more school-shooting incidents in the U.S. or other western nations, where media attention is focused on these things and where every incident is replayed second by second umpteen times on the tube, thereby creating in the minds of certain viewers examples to follow... Now, can we stop the media from playing out these scenarios in full color and gruesome details for hours and hours, again and again? Certainly not. We in the terrorism research field have argued for decades that it was exactly the media coverage that spurred more and each time more violent and extreme terrorist incidents. Could we stop the media from advertising the terrorist message? Certainly not. That is apparently one price we have to pay living in a worldwide infotainment society. The airplane hijackings in the 70s and 80s are a case in point. The only thing we can do is protect possible victims...And laws written in some books will not achieve that. Never have, never will. ...Enough said. I rest my case. JPFO: How can our readers and members contact you? SCHILLER: Our e-mail address is: visier@paulparey.de or my mailing address: Dr. David Th. Schiller VISIER, P.O.Box 1363 D-56373, Nassau, Germany **************************************************************** Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) Chris W. Stark - Director of Electronic Communications 2874 So. Wentworth Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207 Ph. (414) 769-0760 Fax (414) 483-8435 Against-Genocide@JPFO.org Visit our Web Page at: http://www.JPFO.org STAND UP AND BE COUNTED! IF YOUR NOT A MEMBER OF JPFO, THIS IS NOW THE TIME TO BECOME A MEMBER. To become a JPFO member, go to: http://www.jpfo.org/member.htm There you will see a printable member application, along with info on membership. If you wish, you can become a member using our on-line application as well. MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN TO ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS. "America's Most Aggressive Defender of Firearms Ownership." **************************************************************** Copyright (c) 1998, JPFO Republication permitted provided this article & attribution is left intact in its original state. **************************************************************** TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR E-MAIL ALERTS, send an e-mail to: subscribe@JPFO.org in the body of the message, type the word "subscribe" - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 98 18:55:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Why Our Children Kill So Easily From the Vigo-Examiner: GUEST EDITORIAL Why Our Children Kill So Easily by CARL F. WORDEN During World War II it was discovered that only 15% of all American soldiers actually fired their small arms directly at the enemy when engaged in a firelight. The other 85% deliberately fired over the heads of the enemy or into the dirt in front of them. Only 15% actually indexed their sights on specific enemy personnel with deliberate precision and pulled the trigger. The reason? Whether trained as combat soldiers or not, humans have a strong, inborn inhibition against killing a fellow human being -- even when they know that human being is intent upon killing them. Faced with this unsettling discovery, the military began using desensitization techniques in combat training, and by the end of the Viet Nam War, 95% of American combat soldiers shot to kill the enemy. The techniques used to overcome the inhibition to kill involved mental, rather than physical conditioning. Where soldiers shot at stationary, bullseye-type targets in WWII, modern soldiers are taught to shoot at human form targets that instantly pop up and then fall down when the soldier hits the target. Other techniques used are video enactments that show human beings engaged in attacking the soldier head on. The soldier is conditioned to rapidly index and shoot the enemy before he can get a off shot at him. Over and over again, these scenarios are played out with chilling success, finally culminating in a soldier who will kill by pure conditioning, almost like a machine. These same techniques are now taught to modern police officers using "shoot -- don't shoot" scenarios using the same large screens and various videos that present situations in which the officer must make a split second decision whether to fire or not -- and at which target. The lesson to be learned from all this is that by repeated extrinsic mental conditioning, even the strongest, most innate human inhibitions can be overcome. Of course, the subconscious mind is still quite cognizant of the soldier's actions on the battlefield, and this may help to explain why so many more Viet Nam era veterans suffered such a high rate of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and suicide than WWII veterans did. In addition, this phenomenally successful conditioning to kill was not countered by resensitization training when Viet Nam veterans were returned to society, and that may explain why so many Viet Nam veterans returned to commit a number of heinously violent crimes. This desensitization to killing is no longer limited to military and police applications: It is being subliminally taught to society in general, and to our young in particular, through violent, interactive video games. It is also being reinforced through repeated viewing of violent television and movie depictions. Over and over again, society is being inundated with graphic images of bloody violence and satisfying violent revenge. Incessantly condition the impressionable adolescent to kill through grotesquely violent interactive video games, and you have a somewhat sociopathic youngster who has been conditioned to pull a trigger first and then consider the emotional consequences later -- just like our modern, well-trained combat soldiers are trained to do. The recent spate of school shootings by students are also a manifestation of this desensitization conditioning. These little murderers are often quoted as saying they didn't "realize" what they did would really hurt people. That's not as far-fetched an alibi as it appears on the surface. These kids have been deluged with movie killings where the same "bad" guys are killed over and over again. They play interactive video games where they "kill" the opponent over and over again, and with a few more coins, they get to kill him again. Remember, these are often young children, barely over 10 years old, who have seldom seen a real violent death of another human being. If it's proven that we can condition adult soldiers to completely overcome their aversion to kill another human being, how much easier must it be to condition a child to do the same? In support of this, consider that guns have been accessible to children ever since this country was founded, yet children did not begin to bring these guns to school and use them until -- and get this -- interactive video technology and superbly mastered special effects in increasingly more violent movies and other media came into play. Sure, there were isolated incidents in times past, but nothing to compare to the rash of school related murders we see happening today. We don't have more child access to firearms, but we do have children who have been systematically desensitized to taking a human life, and reversing that condition represents an undertaking so radical and invasive that it may well prove impossible to reverse. http://www.Vigo-Examiner.com Enjoy a free 90 day trial subscription to The Vigo Examiner. You will receive one to three of our top stories or editorials each day. Send your subscription request, and all other communication to Editor@Vigo-Examiner.com. - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 98 18:55:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: JUST SAY "NO!" TO GUN TAX NRA-ILA FAX ALERT 11250 Waples Mill Road * Fairfax, VA 22030 Phone: 1-800-392-8683 * Fax: 703-267-3918 * GROOTS@NRA.org Vol. 5, No. 20 5/22/98 JUST SAY "NO!" TO GUN TAX For several months, rumors have been circulating as to how the National Instant Check System (NICS) will be implemented when it goes on-line this November 30. The NICS is the system that will replace the Brady Act's original five-day waiting period on the purchase of handguns from Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has recently announced that there will be a fee involved for all purchases of firearms from FFL holders, which they refer to as a "user fee." In simple terms, this would amount to a tax on your right to keep and bear arms! The original language of the Brady Act, however, does not call for a fee on this check. NRA can only assume that the proposals to charge fees -- some reports put the proposed fees as high as $30.00 -- have been encouraged by the Clinton/Gore Administration. Additionally, FBI has stated that they intend to retain firearms transfer information for 18 months. The current law requires the information be destroyed immediately once the transaction for the background check has been completed. In response to these developments, pro-Second Amendment U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) has introduced H.R. 3949, which would prohibit any fee from being charged by FBI in order to run NICS, and require that firearms transfer information be destroyed within two hours from receipt of the information. We also anticipate U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) will introduce similar legislation in the Senate very soon. Please call your federal lawmakers immediately at (202)225-3121, and urge your Representative to become a cosponsor of H.R. 3949, and your Senators to support similar efforts in the Senate. Currently Representatives Barcia (R-Mich.), Boucher (D-Va.), Graham (R-S.C.), and Strickland (D-Ohio) have signed on as cosponsors of H.R. 3949. CSG OPPOSES S. 10 Last week, during the Council of State Governments' (CSG) Spring 1998 National Committee and Task Force Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, the Corrections Policy Task Force approved a resolution in opposition to S. 10, which is Senator Orrin Hatch's Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender Act of 1997. The CSG resolution mirrors NRA's serious concerns regarding several provisions that could affect FFL holders and the general transfer of firearms. CLINTON/GORE IMPORT BAN NRA has heard rumors that BATF is asking firearms distributors who sell rifles that were affected by the recent import ban on certain semi-automatics for documentation. The word is that they are looking for documentation that any affected firearms were acquired from their suppliers prior to the ban going into effect. We are looking for more details on this rumor, so if you are a firearms dealer that has been contacted by BATF about certain imports, please call us at 1-800-392-8683. A LOOK AT THE STATES ARIZONA: Good News! Recently, Governor Hull (R) signed House Bill 2041, which establishes right to carry reciprocity with states that have similar requirements for carry permit issuance. We'll keep you posted as states are announced! FLORIDA: Governor Chiles vetoed HB 909, which was right to carry reciprocity legislation that would have allowed Florida to recognize out-of-state carry licenses and allowed Florida license holders to carry for self-protection in certain other states. Members are urged to support those candidates who support our rights at the polls this election year -- especially in the race for Governor! TENNESSEE: Gun owners and sportsmen across Tennessee will no longer be subjected to a 15-day waiting period on the purchase of handguns. This solid victory for gun owners became reality on Tuesday, May 19, when Governor Sundquist (R) signed House Bill 2410. As of November 1, 1998, gun owners will be able to walk into a gun store, fill out the usual paperwork, wait just seconds for the clerk to check your background, and then walk out with their new purchase. This will be done through an instant check system operated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Also, prior to the passage of HB 2410, the law required both dealers and individuals to get a certificate of good moral character signed by the chief of police or sheriff of their county and submit it to the Commissioner of Revenue for a permit to engage in the selling of any firearms, including the sale of personal firearms to friends and neighbors. The NRA was successful in having both of these onerous sections deleted. Additionally, House Bill 2410 eliminated the requirement of reporting secondary sales of firearms to local authorities. Thanks to the hard work of fellow gun owners, many friends in the State Legislature, and the assistance of NRA-ILA, a giant leap has been achieved in restoring the rights of law-abiding gun owners in Tennessee. House Bill 2410, was sponsored by Representatives Frank Buck (D-40), H.E. Bittle (R-14), Chris Newton (R-22), Tre' Hargett (R-97), John Tidwell (D-74), Doug Jackson (D-69) and Senator David Fowler (R-11). In addition, an NRA logo license plate has been approved for the state. There's a catch, though: 500 people must apply for a plate through the Department of Motor Vehicles prior to July 1, 1999, before the state will issue the plates. Otherwise, the state will cancel the special plates. Most importantly, the profits from these sales will be placed in a special fund of the wildlife resources agency for gun safety programs. This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA. - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 98 18:55:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Gun Confiscation Story Updated - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 11:57:31 -0700 From: Ed Wolfe To: piml@mars.galstar.com The AP will send out the same story several times as more data is gathered. The version I sent out yesterday was one of the earlier versions. This one was available from the Boston Globe website, but I had assumed they were the same story. Here's the updated version for anyone who's interested: 15-year-old charged, father's guns seized after teacher threatened Associated Press, 05/26/98 18:47 LITTLE EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - Skittish after a wave of school shootings, police arrested a 15-year-old boy and seized more than 20 of his father's guns after the boy showed a teacher a drawing of someone being shot, authorities said Tuesday. The Pinelands Regional High School freshman, whose name wasn't being released, was charged with making terroristic threats against the 35-year-old teacher Friday. Fearful that the boy had access to them, police seized the weapons and more than 100 rounds of ammunition as a precaution. Two AK-47s were among them, an unidentified police source told The Press of Atlantic City, but police Detective Robert Knapp denied that Tuesday. The father, a hunting safety instructor for the state Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife, had the appropriate ownership documents for the weapons and was not charged, police said. He cooperated with police, according to Officer Jeffrey Wilson. Mayor John Adair defended the police reaction Tuesday, saying it was pro-active instead of reactive, and appropriate in light of last week's school shootings in Springfield, Ore., and other recent school attacks. ``It perhaps could have prevented a more serious crime from occurring,'' he said. Neither the boy's name nor the teacher's name was released. The teacher told police the boy showed her ``a handwritten drawing of a person being killed at gunpoint,'' and asked her what she thought of it, according to police reports. The drawing depicted a male victim in the crosshairs of a rifle scope saying ``Help.'' Another figure in the drawing said ``You're dead.'' The boy had had behavior problems in school and ``past incidents of aggressive behavior,'' Knapp told The Press of Atlantic City. He was charged because the teacher took the drawing as a threat, Wilson said. In addition, the boy had written a fairy tale in his English class that included a graphic murder, said Tish Steward, a math teacher at the school who is president of the Pinelands Teachers' Association. Classmates described the boy as an avid hunter who sometimes wore camouflage to school and often talked about guns. ``He was always talking about them. He wants to be in the Army,'' said Erica Smith, 14, a fellow freshman. But students said they never heard him threaten anyone or talk about killing people. ``He just talked about hunting a lot,'' said Buddy Branscomb, 14, another freshman. The school is located in a rural area of southern New Jersey known as the Pine Barrens, where hunting and fishing are popular pursuits. ``Around here, everyone has a shotgun. It's scary,'' said Marko Ritter, 17, a junior at the school. After the arrest, police obtained a search warrant from Superior Court Judge Frank Buczynski Jr. for the boy's home and found the guns. They were confiscated to prevent the boy from having access to them and were still being held Tuesday, police said. ``In a case where someone has made terroristic threats,'' police may remove weapons or restrict access to them until a judge decides it is safe to return them, according to Gregory Sakowicz, executive assistant prosecutor for Ocean County. ``It happens in domestic violence cases all the time,'' Sakowicz said. ``It's an access issue.'' The boy, who was released to his parents, was arraigned Tuesday before Family Court Judge Barbara Villano in Toms River. He was not suspended from school, police said. School officials did not return telephone calls about the case Tuesday. The Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/dailynews/wirehtml/146/15_year_old_charged__father_s_guns - -- Nation In Distress http://www.involved.com/ewolfe/distress/ - - ------------------------------ End of utah-firearms-digest V2 #63 **********************************