From: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com (utah-firearms-digest) To: utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: utah-firearms-digest V2 #76 Reply-To: utah-firearms-digest Sender: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk utah-firearms-digest Tuesday, June 23 1998 Volume 02 : Number 076 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 14:32:21 -0600 From: "David Sagers" Subject: [Fwd: Drown Moses] Received: from wvc ([204.246.130.34]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Sun, 21 Jun 1998 19:27:55 -0600 Received: from fs1.mainstream.net by wvc (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id TAA26818; Sun, 21 Jun 1998 19:17:34 -0600 Received: (from smap@localhost) by fs1.mainstream.net (8.8.8/8.7.3) id VAA07642; Sun, 21 Jun 1998 21:25:52 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 21:25:52 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost(127.0.0.1) by fs1.mainstream.net via smap (V1.3) id sma007601; Sun Jun 21 21:25:27 1998 Message-Id: <358DA43B.EBB4DD75@inetnebr.com> Errors-To: listproc@mainstream.com Reply-To: lball@inetnebr.com Originator: noban@mainstream.net Sender: noban@Mainstream.net Precedence: bulk From: larry ball To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [Fwd: Drown Moses] X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Anti-Gun-Ban list Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - --------------B6E28F78E8DD42473BE2783A Content-Type: text/plain; charset=3Dus-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Forwarded to promote more discussion - --------------B6E28F78E8DD42473BE2783A Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: Received: from imo20.mx.aol.com (imo20.mx.aol.com [198.81.17.42]) by falcon.inetnebr.com (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id SAA16568 for ; Sun, 21 Jun 1998 18:24:50 -0500 (CDT) From: AVAtin@aol.com Received: from AVAtin@aol.com by imo20.mx.aol.com (IMOv14_b1.1) id UBABa04311 for ; Sun, 21 Jun 1998 19:24:29 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 19:24:29 EDT To: lball@inetnebr.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Re: Drown Moses Content-type: text/plain; charset=3DUS-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 3.0 for Mac sub 85 Larry, your publication of your friend's opposing view is noble. = Obviously, however, he has missed the point (in fact, many points) of the disagreement= with the NRA leadership that many members are expressing. As another Life Member who has not resigned his membership, and who did not vote for or against either slate, let me respond to several of his statements lest he thinks that you are a lone voice crying in the wilderness. Your friend writes: =20 <> =20 Actually, it is perfectly logical when taken in the context of the entire document of the Bill of Rights and its companion, the Constitution. Of = all the first ten amendments, the Second Amendment does not specify which = entity of government will be permitted to control firearms ownership. It simply = and elegantly says that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.= =20 The First Amendment said only that Congress shall pass no law = restricting First Amendment freedoms enumerated therein. It did not prohibit the = Courts or the Executive or the State governments from doing so, although the mechanism specifying what powers the federal establishment had were = already provided for in the Constitution, which did not say that the Executive or = the Courts could restrict those freedoms. The other amendments restrict the ability of the governments and courts to quarter troops, violate due = process, seize property, etc., and finally limit the federal governments powers to those not already reserved to the states or to the people. Since the = right of the people to keep and bear arms had already been enumerated in the Second Amendment, any action by the federal or state government to diminish or restrict that right (infringe upon it) is illegal, hence the right IS absolute.=20 <> A Washington state supreme court ruling only this month said that the = First Amendment protects the right to lie. In a false advertising case, it = ruled that the truth is out there if a person is willing to do the research. = Does lying damage others? Have not gun owners nationwide been damaged by the = media which associates law-abiding citizens with hate groups, criminals, = traitors, lunatics? Is it damaging to blur the distinction between semi-automatic weapons used by sportsmen and target shooters with full-automatic weapons = used by terrorists and the enemies of freedom? =20 <> First, freedoms were not granted in the Constitution, they were enumerated = in the Bill of Rights. Freedoms came from natural law, and the Creator. = Second, how does my right to own the firearms of my choice for which I pay my = hard- earned money and for which I use for my lawful purposes damage or infringe upon other peoples freedoms? <> =20 Logical people must assume no such thing--reference the above arguments. = If the NRA believes that we must accept certain restraints, they have not = implied that belief in their editorials or their fund-raising letters. Has the leadership lied to us?=20 <> I don't believe that the proposal was to attack Midway. My understanding = was that the proposal was to convince Midway to assist our cause by temporarily= suspending their program. If I can help convince them to aid our cause to = get the NRA leadership back on the right track, I shall. Finally, like many others, I'm not at odds with the NRA leadership. I was supportive of Mr Heston's position that the Second Amendment is the cornerstone of all the other freedoms we enjoy. But I think that enough questions have been raised for which we haven't received satisfactory = answers or explanations that a moratorium on blind automatic support for every NRA position can no longer be expected from the membership. Am I an extremist?= I don't think so. But I think that the new FBI regulations are a direct extension of the NRA's compromise on insta-check, and I think that the = ONLY reason that any government agency wants to keep records of gun purchases = or transfers or transactions is to facilitate the ultimate goal of disarming = the law-abiding public, which in turn will lead to the loss of the rest of the freedoms that we haven't lost already. Thanks for letting me add my two cents - --------------B6E28F78E8DD42473BE2783A-- - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 17:25:05 -0600 From: "David Sagers" Subject: Fwd: Re: Clinton Supports Brady Received: from wvc ([204.246.130.34]) by icarus.ci.west-valley.ut.us; Mon, 22 Jun 1998 16:57:58 -0600 Received: from fs1.mainstream.net by wvc (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id QAA27635; Mon, 22 Jun 1998 16:47:40 -0600 Received: (from smap@localhost) by fs1.mainstream.net (8.8.8/8.7.3) id SAA03800; Mon, 22 Jun 1998 18:56:12 -0400 (EDT) Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 18:56:12 -0400 (EDT) Received: from localhost(127.0.0.1) by fs1.mainstream.net via smap (V1.3) id sma003599; Mon Jun 22 18:52:38 1998 Message-Id: <358ED81B.B7973006@inetnebr.com> Errors-To: listproc@mainstream.com Reply-To: lball@inetnebr.com Originator: noban@mainstream.net Sender: noban@Mainstream.net Precedence: bulk From: larry ball To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Re: Clinton Supports Brady X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Anti-Gun-Ban list Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline Even though I knew this was coming to pass, just to read of it sickens me. = Really it does. This was brought about by our own beloved NRA. And just think, = there are those in the gun rights fraternity that will do nothing to bring them to heel. = "They are the only thing between us and total deprivation," is their refrain. Oh really? REALLY! The only thing! Well folkses, I am 61 years old = just this month. It is too young of an age. I will bet my bottom dollar that I = will live to see not only continued rape of the 2nd Amendment, but the final mutulation = killing of it. Wanna bet our politcal champion is right in there all they way = championing the cause of "reasonable" regulation of our rights? Larry Ball lball@inetnebr.com brian.beck@usa.net wrote: > Our dictator has again joined in the fight for gun prohibition...not to > mention centralized registration via State and FBI collusion. Plus more > fees, restrictions and classes of prohibited categories to infringe upon > the RKBA. > > Criminals, by definition (and by Supreme Court decree) do not have > to comply. > > Anyone out there ever involved in a fist fight at some point of their > youth? Will, soon today's kids will forever become a felon WRT to > firearms ownership for that reason. Why not add running a stop sign > to the list! (they will). > > I once heard that over half of the "blocked" sales were due to > administrative errors on the governments part. Gee did not see that > statistic anywhere. > > And with ten million "block" would we expect to see at a least 5 million > convictions for committing a felony? What's that you say, the real > number is less than a dozen? Let me see, the conviction rate fo > speeding tickets is several thousand times greater. > > Its obvious, the existing laws don't work; therefore, we must need more! > > HOPEFULLY, some of you on this list will start investigating Reno's > "statistics" department, to find out what type of bald-faced lies they > are conjuring up. Try certified mail and cite the Freedom of Information= > Act. Same for the FBI's NICS. > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D > > http://www.abcnews.com/sections/us/DailyNews/bradylaw980622.html > > Clinton Calls for Expansion of Federal Gun Law > > "By keeping guns out of the hands of criminals...we have helped cut the > crime rate to its lowest point in a generation." > > -- President Clinton > > June 22 -The Brady law blocked some 69,000 handgun purchases in > 1997--more than half of the them because the would-be gun owner was = either a > convicted or indicted felon. > > These rejections account for only 2.7 percent of the 2,574,000 applicatio= ns > nationwide for handgun sales during the year, the Justice Department's = Bureau > of Justice Statistics reported Sunday. > > Since the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act became law in February > 1994, through Dec. 1997, the bureau estimates some 242,000 handgun > purchases out of 10,356,000 applications have been blocked. > > The law was named after former White House Press Secretary James Brady, > who was wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald > Reagan. > > President Clinton hailed the success of the law in keeping guns out of = the > wrong hands, but called for an expansion of the law to bar violent = juveniles > from owning guns for life. > > "By keeping guns out of the hands of criminals-and putting more police > in our communities-we have helped cut the crime rate to its lowest = point in > a generation," Clinton said. > > Denying Criminals Firearms Felony convictions or indictments topped the = list > of reasons for rejections, and accounted for 61.7 percent of last year's = handgun > permit denials. The second most frequent reason for denial was a record = of > domestic violence, which was responsible for 11.2 percent, including 9.1 > percent who had misdemeanor domestic violence convictions and 2.1 = percent > who were under court orders restraining them from harming or stalking an > intimate partner or child. > > Another 5.9 percent of the denials were for buyers who turned out to be = fugitives > from justice. > > State law prohibitions accounted for 6.1 percent of the rejections, drug = addiction > for 1.6 percent, mental illness for 0.9 percent and local law prohibition= s for 0.9 > percent. > > The remaining 11.7 percent of the denials came from all others barred = from > handgun purchases under the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968, including = illegal > aliens, juveniles, dishonorably discharged servicemen and people who = have > renounced U.S. citizenship. > > The estimates were based on a sampling of the chief law enforcement = officers > whose agencies conduct the background checks. > > New Guidelines for Gun Dealers Beginning this November, pre-purchase > checks will be required for all firearms-not just handguns-bought from = federally > licensed dealers. The dealers must checks through an automated system > Justice Department officials promise will be operable by then. > > Unless a state has set up an approved permit system, the dealers will = use > computers or the telephone to contact the FBI's national criminal = background > check system directly or go through a state agency serving as an FBI = contact > point. > > Last week, Attorney General Janet Reno urged states to do their own = criminal > background checks, rather than leave them to the FBI. "No one knows more > about state records than the states themselves," she said. > > About half the states have so far agreed to do their own checks. > > Gun dealers will likely pass on the cost of the check to customers. The > Justice Department wants states to perform the background checks to > save money at the FBI and to prevent confusion over different state = laws. > > The FBI plans to charge $13 to $16 per background check to states that = will > not do their own. > > The Associated Press contributed to this report. > > ____________________________________________________________________ > Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N= =3D1 - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Jun 98 22:06:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Major Anti-gun Hysteria on ABC - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 00:20:59 -0700 From: Ed Wolfe To: pdml@mars.galstar.com http://www.abcnews.com/sections/us/guns/guns_intro.html ABC News.com: Armed in America June 22, 1998 - -- For noncommercial educational use only. - -- The gun won. He remains in critical condition. On Thursday night, two men shot an 18-year-old youth to death on a street corner in Las Vegas. On Wednesday, 18-year-old Damon Damar Ingram was shot and killed as he walked his dog on a street in the nation's capitol. His 17-year-old assailant pumped 10 bullets into Ingram's body. Ingram's parents buried their son in his cap and gown. On Tuesday night in Idaho, a State Police officer was shot in the head and killed. That same night in Baltimore, police found a 52-year-old man dead in a vacant lot from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. Last Sunday, officers arrested 49-year-old Frances Boice in rural South Dakota. Police say she shot and killed her 51-year-old husband in upstate New York before fleeing to the heartland. Welcome to a week in the United States, one of the world's most free and violent countries. Where people carry guns to protect themselves from the other people who own somewhere between 200 million and 250 million guns. A recent study found that Americans murder each other with guns at a rate 19 times higher than any of the 25 richest nations surveyed. There are plenty of theories why, but few real explanations. After a particularly shocking killing, several countries have chosen to ban handguns outright. But that hasn't happened in the United States, which has a Constitutional protection for gun owners, and a lot of scared people who want protection in a society that's starting to mirror its movies. The death toll mounts. Copyright (c)1998 ABCNEWS and "http://www.starwave.com" Starwave Corporation. - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Jun 98 22:06:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: When the Law Breaks In - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 17:45:48 -0400 From: "Mark A. Smith" To: SNET , L & J , David Rydel Subject: When the Law Breaks In http://nebonet.com/headhome/dadmisc/lawbreak.htm WHEN THE LAW BREAKS IN Added June 17th, 1998 INTRODUCTION Here are several examples of the jackbooted, gestapo tactics of the police state in which we now live, as documented in 1995 by the Washington Times. Read this and mourn for the loss of your freedoms. - -------------------------------------------------------------------- From the Washington Times Phone 1-800-636-3699 National Weekly Edition April 3-9, 1995 "WHEN THE LAW BREAKS IN..." by Samuel Francis (nationally-syndicated columnist) Most Americans who keep up with the news today know about the atrocities inflicted by the federal leviathan at Waco and on the family of Randy Weaver in Idaho. In both cases, federal police deliberately provoked innocent people in ways that led to the violent deaths of the innocent. What few Americans know is that such horrors are far from rare. In January 1994, several defenders of gun rights and civil liberties wrote to President Clinton detailing some of these horror stories. Whether he's bothered to reply I don't know, but what he has to say about the matter is unimportant. What's important is that Americans understand what is happening -- to them and their country. On August 25, 1992, the California home of a law-abiding citizen named Donald Carlson was invaded by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration shortly after midnight on the claim that they were looking for illegal drugs. Mr. Carlson, asleep at the time, thought robbers had broken in; he dialed 911 and reached for his hand gun. DEA agents riddled him with bullets; After seven weeks in intensive care, he survived -- sort of. No drugs were found. In October the same year, the DEA paid a similar visit to Donald Scott, also in California, this time bringing along the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department for extra protection against the dangerous Mr. Scott, also a law-abiding citizen. Busting into the house while he was asleep, a deputy sheriff shot Mr. Scott and killed him. Again, no illegal drugs were found. A year earlier, in September, 1991, a small federal army composed of some 60 agents from the DEA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) the National Guard and the U.S. Forest Service (where, you have to wonder, were the Boy Scouts and the Little League) arrived in the living rooms of Mrs. Sina Brush and two neighbors in New Mexico just after dawn. Mrs. Brush and her daughter were handcuffed in their underwear and forced to kneel while the American gestapo searched the house for drugs. No drugs were found. These aren't the only instances of armed invasions and violent attacks by federal police. There are other recent cases not mentioned in the letter to Mr. Clinton. Last summer, the ATF paid a visit to Harry and Theresa Lumplugh in Pennsylvania. The ATF needed only 15 to 20 men, armed and masked, to handle the couple, whom they forced to open safes and hand over private papers while held at the point of a machine gun. One of America's finest kicked the Lumplughs' pet cat to death. No charges were brought against the Lumplughs. Last year, four ATF agents raided the bedroom of Monique Montgomery at four in the morning. She reached for a gun and was shot four times and killed. Nothing illegal was found. In Ohio, the ATF raided the house of businessman and part-time police officer Louie Katona III, pushing his pregnant wife against a wall and causing her to miscarry. Nothing illegal was found. In almost all of these cases, the feds showed up in the middle of the night, garbed like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his latest thriller and proceeded to bully, beat, humiliate, intrude and sometimes wound or kill the victims they'd selected. In none did any of the victims violate any law; in several, the police had relied on intelligence known to be unreliable. In the Scott case, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office found that the raid was in part motivated by the desire of the Sheriff's Office to seize Mr. Scott's ranch under federal asset-forfeiture laws. Last year, on a TV talk show discussing Waco, I listened to caller after caller phone in to report mini-Wacos in their own areas that no one else had ever heard of. Maybe some of them were cranks and made it up. But the horrors I've just described have to make you wonder if we really live in the United States anymore. In none of the cases I know about have any of the federal agents been charged; few have been disciplined; almost none made the national news. What can be done about it? I guess "Write your congressman" doesn't quite cut it, does it? What should be done about it is that the Congress should forget its "Hundred Days," its "Contract with America," its constitutional amendments and its happy talk about the "Third Wave." It should find out who authorized these and similar raids and who committed these atrocities against law- abiding citizens. It should abolish the agencies responsible, and it should make certain that the tyrants and murderers in federal uniform who planned, authorized or committed these crimes are brought to justice. "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" WEB SITE - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Jun 98 22:06:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Gun Critics Gain in Court http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/gunsb.htm Gun critics make some headway in court By TED GEST For gunshot victims and family members trying to recoup their losses, the $20-billion-plus-a-year American firearms industry long has seemed a promising target. But over the years, manufacturers have fended off the assault by arguing that they can't be held liable under legal doctrines that normally are invoked against defective products. "When guns fire and kill someone, they are working perfectly," says law Prof. Andrew McClurg of the University of Arkansas, who tracks firearms-liability cases. Now, gun critics are retooling their theories and scoring a few victories. Most prominent is a federal lawsuit in Brooklyn, N.Y., against the entire firearms industry and its trade associations. In May, a judge refused to toss out the case, in which 20 victims or heirs charge that manufacturers are legally negligent by selling products that they know will make their way into criminals' hands. Those leading the case are Katina Johnstone, whose husband was killed in San Francisco by a robber using a stolen Smith & Wesson revolver, and Freddie Hamilton, whose son was murdered in New York City with a never-recovered handgun. "It is possible," declared Judge Jack Weinstein, "that plaintiffs will be able to show that a substantial cause for the killings that are at the heart of this suit is the operation of a large-scale underground market." Just as whistleblowers have emerged to provide inside information against tobacco manufacturers, an affidavit has emerged in the Johnstone-Hamilton case from a former Smith & Wesson executive who charges that the Massachusetts-based firm made marketing decisions with the knowledge that some of its products would be used in crime. The other recent breakthrough occurred in a San Francisco case filed by relatives of four persons killed in a 1993 office-building massacre. A Nevada pawnshop that sold the gunman an assault pistol used in the shooting agreed in April to a $150,000 settlement to family members. The Washington-based Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, calling the payment the first of its kind, now is pursuing a claim against the gun's manufacturer, a firm called Intratec. "This is just the first hole in the dike of the gun industry's invincibility," says the center's Dennis Henigan. The group is testing a legal theory akin to the Brooklyn case: that manufacturers are negligent by producing guns that are attractive mainly to criminals. Other victims are succeeding with traditional product-liability arguments. The Georgia-based manufacturer of Glock pistols has settled several lawsuits alleging that the guns discharged unintentionally; critics, including police officers, maintain that models requiring only five pounds of pressure on the trigger go off far too easily. The handgun-violence center makes similar charges in a suit pending in California against the Beretta firearms firm. The group wants Beretta to provide safety devices with pistols sold for self-defense. For its part, the firearms industry is treating the lawsuit barrage as more of an annoyance than a serious threat. "Manufacturers lose control when their products reach distributors, let alone retailers and consumers," says Richard Feldman of the American Shooting Sports Council, an Atlanta-based industry organization that was sued in the Brooklyn case. Minimizing the ex-Smith & Wesson official's appearance, Feldman says that "it isn't exactly a startling revelation" that criminals use guns that initially may have changed hands legally. He notes that judges routinely reject lawsuits involving guns, on the ground that "any tool can be very dangerous when it is misused." That kind of thinking doesn't faze gun-control advocates. They believe that arms makers' immunity from liability is likely to erode, even if it happens at the same, slow pace that has marked litigation against tobacco manufactuers. "No other product manufacturers get the luxury of complete immunity from legal responsibility," says Arkansas Prof. McClurg, who believes that "negligent marketing" claims have a clear shot at passing muster in court. - ------------------------------------------------------------- Send comments to webmaster@usnews.com Copyright U.S. News & World Report, Inc. All rights reserved. - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Jun 98 22:06:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: Mayors seek solution for gun control - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 12:14:00 -0400 From: "Mark A. Smith" To: SNET , PRJ , L & J , David Rydel Cc: Ray Southwell , Norm Olson Maybe the knife industry will be next, then scissors. BTW, it is illegal in Britain for anyone under 21 to buy scissors. Are we far behind? http://www.freep.com/news/nw/qguns22.htm Mayors seek solution for gun control City leaders won't sue if industry will help June 22, 1998 BY MELANIE EVERSLEY Free Press Washington Staff RENO, Nev. -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors said Sunday it would not sue gun makers, as earlier hinted, opting instead to try working with the firearms industry to pass tougher gun laws and end pro-gun advertising. But Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer warned the gun industry that lawsuits weren't out of the question. "I can assure you," Archer told gun industry representatives at the U.S. Conference of Mayors' annual meeting in Reno, Nev., "if there is no relief, that you will hear from mayors." Archer did not specifically say Detroit may file a lawsuit against gun makers, but he hinted it might not be out of the question. "I do think it's foreseeable to see individual cities filing lawsuits because I'm not as optimistic as others might be that the dialogue that may take place is going to bear any kind of realistic fruit," Archer said after the meeting. Archer spoke after Mayor Edward Rendell of Philadelphia said the mayors "agreed to hold in abeyance any thought of a lawsuit." Rendell has taken the lead on the issue within the conference, a powerful Washington-based lobby of 300 mayors. "If there is going to be a lawsuit, it makes sense for hundreds of cities to join in that lawsuit, but then again, let's see where we're going." The gun issue has escalated nationally in recent weeks with word that Philadelphia and Chicago, both frustrated in their efforts to stop gun violence, particularly by and against children, were considering filing lawsuits against the gun industry. A lawsuit would mirror the aggressive stand many states have taken against the tobacco industry to seek reimbursement for tobacco-related health care costs. Philadelphia's legal action would have sought financial repayment of police overtime, health care and other costs associated with firearm violence. Chicago's suit would have blocked the industry from advertising that appeals to criminals, such as ads that praise a weapon's ability to ward off fingerprints. But instead of suing, the mayors' group will assemble a task force to work with the gun industry. The task force would operate for three years and would include mayors, gun makers, and members of the American Shooting Sports Council, the National League of Cities, and the National Association of Counties, Rendell said. The mayors want the industry to: * End advertising that convinces people they need guns for safety in the home. * Support local legislation already passed in Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina that prevents anyone from making mass purchases of guns. Such guns are generally sold to young people. The legislation limits gun purchases to one per month, blocking people from making mass gun purchases and then selling those guns to minors. * Help develop ways to make more affordable technology that prevents anyone but the person fitted with a gun from using it. The gun task force will issue its first report in January, Rendell said. Richard Feldman, executive director of the sports council, who attended the meeting, said while his group does not completely agree with the mayors on various ways to curb the use of guns, there is common ground. "Lawsuits cost million of dollars -- they cost millions of dollars for the cities, if you decide to go that route, they cost millions of dollars for our industry," he said. "That's millions of dollars that won't be spent on child safety locks, that won't be spent on new technology." Melanie Eversley can be reached at 1-202-383-6036. All content copyright 1998 Detroit Free Press and may not be republished without permission. - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Jun 98 22:06:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: USNews: Sunset or new dawn: Taking gun makers to court 1/2 Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 13:29:19 -0400 From: "Mark A. Smith" To: SNET , PRJ , L & J , David Rydel Cc: Ray Southwell , Norm Olson http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/980622/22guns.htm U.S. News 6/22/98 Childproofing guns A novel legal strategy focusing on safety poses a threat to manufacturers BY GORDON WITKIN Before he died, Kenzo Dix wrote an essay for his ninth-grade English class that said, "When I pass away, I want to leave something that people will remember me by. A gift to the National Rifle future from me." Kenzo's mother, Lynn Association: Its gun Dix, hopes that gift will be a safer safety rules include gun "so there are no more victims." advice on locking up That's part of the reason she sued guns. Other Beretta U.S.A. Corp., the maker of childproofing the semiautomatic pistol that a precautions are in schoolmate, apparently unaware a the Youth Hunter single bullet remained in the Safety Quiz. chamber, used to accidentally kill Kenzo. Handgun Control Inc. and the Center to It has been four years since Kenzo Prevent Handgun was killed in Berkeley, Calif., and Violence: Safety Lynn Dix is hoping that this week a rules include judge might finally clear the way for instructions on Beretta to stand trial in an Oakland taking apart a courtroom, perhaps as early as July. handgun to prevent a If that happens, the case will be child from using it. closely watched by all sides: It's Information is also rare that suits against gun companies available on Child ever get to trial, and Dix's lawyers Access Prevention intend to pursue an important new laws and legal legal theory--that the gun's design action against the is defective because it fails to gun industry. incorporate available safety features that would prevent kids from firing National Institute it. of Justice: This branch of the U.S. There has been gun news recently that Department of seems, on the surface, more Justice studies law important. Show business icon enforcement and Charlton Heston took over the public safety. For presidency of the National Rifle more on the need for Association last week, pledging new gun safety moderation but telling President features, read Clinton, "America doesn't trust you "Firearms and with our 21-year-old daughters, and Violence" or we sure, Lord, don't trust you with "Illegal Firearms: our guns!" And Luke Woodham went on Access and Use By trial for killing two students last Arrestees." fall at a high school in Pearl, Miss. But the Dix case--if allowed to go Beretta U.S.A. forward--could ultimately be more Corp.: The venerable consequential. For years the gun gun manufacturer debate has been about restrictions on (founded in 1526) is sales of firearms. In recent months, being sued in an though, the issue of gun design has Oakland, Calif., moved to the forefront, confounding court over the past political alliances and changing accidental death of the tenor and substance of the gun Kenzo Dix, shot by a debate. friend playing with a Beretta For gun control groups, the new semiautomatic argument--which they hope to showcase pistol. in the Dix case--is that gun companies carry the same burden of Colt Manufacturing responsibility as car manufacturers, Co.: As reported in which have incorporated seat belts, U.S. News this week, air bags, locks, and keys in an Colt is working with effort to make their products safer, the National to prevent unauthorized use, and, not Institute of Justice coincidentally, to ward off lawsuits. to create a "smart" But instead, charges Dennis Henigan gun that can only be of the Center to Prevent Handgun used by the owner. Violence, most gun firms have Colt's firearms exhibited a "callous disregard for safety guidelines safety, and watched kids die year compare unsecured after year and done nothing about guns to other it," even though "some safety household hazards improvements would involve simple such as bleach and mechanical devices." charcoal lighter fluid. The technology is available; a few gun companies have added some of Related U.S. News those devices, like key-operated Articles: internal locks or "loaded-chamber indicators," which show whether a gun Again: In is loaded through a color-coded Springfield, Ore., a display or a pop-up pin. Such familiar school features might have prevented 31 scene-bloody kids, percent of the 1,501 accidental grieving parents, a shooting deaths in an earlier year, teen accused of according to a 1991 General murder. (6/1/98) Accounting Office report. Gun safety advocates further argue that firearms The children of should be "personalized" so only Jonesboro: Horrific authorized users can operate them, scenes of urban through use of technology that crime are often permits the gun to fire solely when attributed to ghetto held by someone wearing a special culture. Now, in the transponder, or identifier. aftermath of the ambush at Westside Beretta's defense. Gun companies Middle School in counter that holding a manufacturer Arkansas, a responsible for misuse of a product different question that works exactly as intended would is being asked: Is stand the civil liability system on there also a its head. Beretta argues that virulent culture of responsibility in the Dix case belongs with the father who left a violence in the loaded gun in a camera bag and the rural South? young shooter who ignored basic rules (4/6/98) of gun safety. The personalized gun Prayer circle technology wasn't available when the murders: In Paducah, Dix gun was produced in 1992, says Ky., heroism, Beretta, and the weapon in question forgiveness, and the actually had a loaded-chamber search for a motive. indicator. (12/15/97) [ Continued In Next Message... ] - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Jun 98 22:06:00 -0700 From: scott.bergeson@ucs.org (SCOTT BERGESON) Subject: USNews: Sunset or new dawn: Taking gun makers to court 2/2 So far gun makers have won most of the lawsuits alleging widespread Handgun stealing liability for injuries caused by made real easy: their products, and they still cling Thousands of guns to hope the Dix case might be are stolen straight dismissed this week. But the legal from firearms ground may be shifting along with the makers, stores - political ground. Eighty-six percent even military bases. of those questioned in a 1996 poll (6/9/97) favored legislation requiring new handguns to be childproof, and recent Weapons bazaar: How schoolyard shootings have intensified surplus American interest in keeping guns from kids. arms get into the Gun control advocates believe that wrong hands. even unsuccessful lawsuits have (12/9/96) helped promote their cause, since "the industry didn't invest any money Can "smart" guns in personalizing technology until save many lives? The lawsuits began to be filed," charges newest idea for gun Henigan. The cases are now arriving control: "smart" at a faster clip. In October, a trial pistols that can be is slated to begin in federal court fired only by their in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the case of owners. (12/2/96) Hamilton v. Accu-Tek, in which nine plaintiffs allege that gun manufacturers produced too many of their wares, with the result that guns landed more easily in the hands of juvenile criminals. Last week, a spokesman for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said the city is considering an unprecedented suit against gun manufacturers, and Daley told a press conference that "the key is to get a lawsuit whereby the manufacturer is held liable, just like the smoking industry." The tobacco wars yield lessons for the gun wars. One is that the industry can win repeatedly in court but end up damaged if just one case with a compelling legal theory is successful. "And I have no doubt," says Stephen Teret of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, "that at some point one of these firearms liability suits is going to be won by the plaintiffs." The issue of gun design is arising on other fronts as well. Late last year, Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger issued rules requiring guns sold there to include trigger locks and load indicators. The rules were to go into effect in stages this year, but manufacturers sued in January, arguing that Harshbarger had exceeded his authority, and a hearing on the matter is slated for next week. And this week, Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was fatally shot on a Long Island Rail Road train in 1993, will introduce legislation mandating new handgun safety features, including safety locks and child-resistant triggers. While new NRA president Heston struck familiar don't-tread-on-us themes at last week's convention in Philadelphia, some gun makers are pushing to get on the pro-safety side of the safety debate. Manufacturers in 1989 formed the American Shooting Sports Council to create a voice separate from that of the NRA. The group opened a Washington office last year, and its executive director, Richard Feldman, orchestrated a White House event last fall in which executives from 15 gun manufacturers shared a podium with President Clinton to announce they would voluntarily ship trigger locks with their firearms. The agreement drew criticism from several sides. One gun control group, the Violence Policy Center, said the lack of federal standards for the locks made the deal virtually meaningless. Meanwhile, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre wrote to gun makers, saying, "You have helped Clinton to co-opt, to steal yet another issue. And he will use it to destroy you." Feldman says the deal made sense in part "because an accident prevented is a lawsuit avoided." Colt for cops. No one has gone further--or proved more controversial within the industry--than Colt's Manufacturing Co., whose storied history dates to the early 1800s. Working with a $500,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice, Colt is about to complete work on its second prototype of a personalized gun, which uses radio signals that allow the weapon to recognize and respond to a transponder worn by the authorized user. The weapon is designed for use by police officers; studies show that 16 percent of murdered cops are slain with service weapons wrested from them or a fellow cop. Gun control groups hope the technology will be available to police officers in two to three years and eventually to civilians. Colt President Ron Stewart has argued that gun makers must change their basic outlook in order to survive. Writing in last December's American Firearms Industry, Stewart stated that the industry's response to the anti-gun lobby was "pathetically inadequate" and said manufacturers must "take the high ground and pre-empt [the gun control advocates'] next strike," in part by creating a research and development program to improve gun safety. "If we can send a motorized computer to Mars," wrote Stewart, "then certainly we can advance our technology to be more childproof." For sharply differing reasons then, both gun control advocates and gun makers appear at least momentarily to be pointed in the same direction: toward a safer gun. - - ------------------------------ End of utah-firearms-digest V2 #76 **********************************