From: owner-utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com (utah-firearms-digest) To: utah-firearms-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: utah-firearms-digest V2 #188 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 Saturday, April 15 2000 Volume 02 : Number 188 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2000 12:42:34 -0600 From: Scott Bergeson Subject: LNS: YOUR KIND ASSISTANCE REQUESTED - ----- Subject: YOUR KIND ASSISTANCE REQUESTED Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2000 12:56:24 -0600 From: "L. Neil Smith" Dear Readers and Friends -- I've just thought of a couple ways you can help, if you like, to clean up the political atmosphere we're forced to breathe these days. Both concern my _Forge of the Elders_, just out from Baen Books. As you may know, _Forge of the Elders_ is about a sovietized 21st century America that finds redemption in its contact with aliens (of a sort), who are individualists and capitalists. The novel is large and offers four love stories, a spaceship battle, a double murder mystery, a detective from Atlantis and his talking dog. It seriously discusses life-and-death ethics, epistemology, metaphysics (the Aristotelian kind), physics, evolution, the authoritarian personality, and politics of unanimous consent. In many ways, it's my most ambitious literary undertaking so far. I've never had any illusions about how much one book can affect a culture. I don't believe _Uncle Tom's Cabin_ started the War between the States. I think of each of my books as a photon torpedo aimed -- it's to be hoped -- straight at the enemy fleet's flagship. Unfortunately, Amazon.com is carrying a snide, nasty Kirkus Review of _Forge of the Elders_ clearly written by someone who didn't read the book (it contains several factual errors), that will keep people from reading it who would otherwise enjoy it. Kirkus, of course, is entitled to its opinion, however ill-informed, and Amazon.com to carry the review despite the money it's probably losing them. On the other hand, Amazon.com provides opportunity for those who like _Forge of the Elders_ to talk back. That's the first thing I'd like you to do: click onto http://www.amazon.com, got to [Books], write in "forge of the elders", and read the review.* Then let them know what you think. This will help me and my family, of course, and it may even help prevent the situation the book predicted (in its original form, long before I ever heard the names of Bill and Hillary Clinton). I'd give anything to have those predictions proven wrong! What's the second thing? I plan to send e-mail to online publications asking them to review or feature _Forge of the Elders_. Some candidates are pretty obvious: WorldNetDaily, Jewish World Review, Conservative News Service, the Civil Liberties Guide at About.com. Will you please write to me at suggesting other publications I should try to get mention of _Forge of the Elders_ into? I'd appreciate it very much. N. * For those willing to copy and paste: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671578596/qid%3D954958337/103-1742961-5605415 - -- ====================================================================== PUBLIC NOTICE: henceforward, I shall be calling the cartridge formerly known as ".40 S&W" by a new name -- ".40 Liberty" -- to disassociate one of the greatest implements of self-defense ever conceived from the cowardly corporation doing its best to eradicate the very _concept_ of self-defense, and to remind everybody to boycott that corporation and interdict its sales to all government agencies. -- L. Neil Smith - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2000 16:07:28 -0600 (MDT) From: Karl Pearson Subject: Humor: Coincidence or not? On July 8, 1947, witnesses claim a spaceship with five aliens aboard crashed on a sheep-and-cattle ranch outside Roswell, NM, an incident they say was covered up by the military. On March 31, 1948, nine months after that day, Al Gore was born. This may just clear up a whole bunch of stuff. - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2000 14:45:01 -0600 From: Scott Bergeson Subject: FW: Smith & Wesson Commemorative Guns Smith & Wesson Commemorative Guns Presented by Charles Heller (Courtesy of Brian M. Wilson) I'm sure that by now Smith & Wesson has realized that it has committed a serious faux paux with the gun owners of America, and will have to rely on government contracts to avoid bankruptcy. I'm sure that the brilliant minds at Smith & Wesson are thinking of ways to increase sales to federal agencies. Perhaps they've considered the commissioning of new commemorative firearms. Some possibilities include: 1. The Lon Horiuchi Model 629 Commemorative .44 magnum. This one comes with a scope with a range-finding feature: when a woman holding a baby just fills the two horizontal stadia wires in the scope, you know your target is precisely 100 yards away. 2. The Janet Reno Model 625 Commemorative .45 ACP. This model includes a "Bill of Rights" test target. The unfluted cylinder is engraved with scenes showing the burning Branch Davidian "compound" and the siege at Ruby Ridge. 3. The Bill Clinton Model 617 Commemorative .22 LR. This one fits a 6 year old child's hand especially well for upcoming anti-self-defense media deployment strategies. 4. The Al Gore Commemorative Sigma .40 S&W. This gun is actually made of wood and includes a special "sash" holster for carrying into Buddhist temples. 5. The Hillary Clinton Commemorative Model 3906 in 9mm. This model has a dime inlaid in each of the grips, which pop out in case the user feels a need to tip any single-mom waitresses. 6. The Vince Foster Model 36 Commemorative .38 "Chief's" Special with the "make it look like suicide barrel" that, when used to shoot someone in neck, makes it look like they placed the barrel in their mouth. This "suicide special" was especially made by S&W using 100% recycled parts salvaged from Spanish S&W knockoffs originally manufactured between 1900 and 1920. Thus it is also "Earth friendly" and comes with an official US Department of Energy green "Energy Star" sticker. - -- ====================================================================== PUBLIC NOTICE: henceforward, I shall be calling the cartridge formerly known as ".40 S&W" by a new name -- ".40 Liberty" -- to disassociate one of the greatest implements of self-defense ever conceived from the cowardly corporation doing its best to eradicate the very _concept_ of self-defense, and to remind everybody to boycott that corporation and interdict its sales to all government agencies. -- L. Neil Smith - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2000 16:53:16 -0700 From: Joe Waldron Subject: O.T.: [Fwd: (ai) Justice Ignored Findings Of Probe In Tripp File Case] My apologies to those on off-topic overload. > Washington Times > April 7, 2000 > > Justice Ignored Findings Of Probe In Tripp File Case > > By Jerry Seper, The Washington Times > > The Justice Department held up action for 20 months on a Defense Department investigation of the release of Pentagon employee Linda R. > Tripp's personnel file before deciding not to seek an indictment, despite concerns that the law had been broken. > > Acting Inspector General Donald Mancuso told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday he turned over his report in July 1998 after an extensive investigation, and was advised last week by the Justice Department there was "no direct evidence upon which to pursue any violation of the Privacy Act." > > Mr. Mancuso, under questioning by Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, acknowledged that the probe had concluded that Defense Department spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon ordered release of documents from Mrs. Tripp's file that were covered under the federal Privacy Act. > > Asked by Mr. Inhofe if the release of the records was illegal, Mr. Mancuso said: "I think the facts show that information was released by Mr. Bacon and it related to Linda Tripp and those were the basic conclusions of our report." > > "Someone needs to be held accountable in this matter. The law has been broken and there is clearly an ongoing cover-up," Mr. Inhofe said. "In Watergate, people went to jail for these kinds of violations of the law. Somebody should probably go to jail here." > > At the Pentagon, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley confirmed that the inspector general's report had been submitted to the Justice Department, and that the department had decided against prosecution in the case. > > Adm. Quigley told reporters during the Pentagon's afternoon briefing that the report has since been returned to the Defense Department, whence it was sent to Mr. Bacon and Pentagon employee Clifford Bernath for comment. > > "The tentative findings of the DOD inspector general have now been provided to both parties in the investigation. They've been offered an > opportunity to provide further comment," he said. "When those comments are back in the IG's hands, if they choose to do so, they would then consider those as part of the final report, and then send that on to the secretary." > > Adm. Quigley said he expected the process to be completed by the end of the month. The inspector general's office had been asked by Defense Secretary William S. Cohen to investigate the leak. > > Justice Department spokesman John Russell said the inspector general's case was reviewed by lawyers in the department's criminal division, who made a determination that they would not prosecute the matter. He said this finding was sent to the Defense Department, but he declined further comment. > > In 1992, presidential candidate Bill Clinton accused Bush administration officials of rifling through his State Department passport file and > promised at the time that if anyone did something similar in his administration, he would "fire them the next day." > > Mr. Bacon was traveling Thursday in the Middle East with Mr. Cohen and was unavailable for comment. Mr. Bernath was out of town Thursday and also unavailable for comment. > > Mrs. Tripp is the Pentagon official who first blew the whistle on Mr. Clinton's affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Mrs. Tripp has since filed a lawsuit accusing the White House and the Defense Department of using confidential Pentagon records to smear her reputation. > > The inspector general's investigation focused on accusations that the Defense Department released information to the news media from confidential and required forms Mrs. Tripp filed with the Pentagon. In those forms, she said she had never been arrested when in fact she had - in what later was described as a teen-age prank that had taken place 30 years ago. > > The Pentagon leak was orchestrated by Mr. Bacon, a Clinton appointee who later said he was sorry he did not consult the Privacy Act before authorizing the disclosure. > > The information was passed to Jane Mayer, a reporter for the New Yorker magazine who once worked with Mr. Bacon at the Wall Street Journal, and was used for a damaging story on Mrs. Tripp's background at a time Miss Lewinsky's relationship with Mr. Clinton had become a major public issue. > > Mrs. Tripp had spurred the sex-and-lies investigation of Mr. Clinton by turning over to independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr tapes she had secretly recorded of conversations with Miss Lewinsky, who had been transferred from the White House to the Pentagon. > > Both Miss Lewinsky and Mr. Clinton acknowledged having a sexual relationship, which led to the president's impeachment by the House on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Mr. Clinton was acquitted by the Senate. > > The actual leak of Mrs. Tripp's security clearance form to the New Yorker came from Mr. Bernath on March 13, 1998. At the time, Mr. Cohen called the leak "certainly inappropriate, if not illegal" because Mrs. Tripp's file "was supposed to be protected by the privacy rules." > > Mr. Inhofe said that since the Justice Department had declined to prosecute in the case, "the ball is now squarely in Secretary Cohen's > corner." > > "It is his job to ensure some semblance of justice in this case," he said. "Like in so many other cases, the American people simply can no longer trust the decisions of the Clinton administration's sad excuse for a Department of Justice." > > Before the Lewinsky scandal broke Jan. 21, 1998, Mrs. Tripp headed the Defense Department's Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC), which teaches influential Americans about the military. > > After the uproar created by the Lewinsky scandal, Mrs. Tripp worked out an arrangement with the Pentagon that allowed her to work at home. > > Mrs. Tripp, in her lawsuit, said the disclosures were designed to spread "embarrassing or damaging information . . . for partisan political > purposes." > > She named 11 current or former administration figures - first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and White House officials Bruce Lindsey, Cheryl Mills, Lanny Davis, Rahm Emanuel, Paul Begala, Ann Lewis, Lanny Breuer, Sidney Blumenthal, Harold Ickes and Mickey Kantor -as having "engaged in communications . . . about Linda Tripp," although it does not describe them as defendants or claim they made unlawful disclosures. - - ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2000 19:55:37 -0600 From: charles hardy Subject: Latest Poll of Republican Delegates--"Decima Research" FYI, I just recieved, in fairly short succession, two calls from "Decima Research" in Orem asking questions of Republican Delegates within the 2nd CD. When I asked who was paying for the poll, the caller said she "didn't know so [she] couldn't bias the results." The first time they called they started by asking a question about which issue I felt was most important in Washington with a list of possible answers ranging from "providing strong leadership," to "strengthen military," to "strengthen education." The second question was, "If the election were held today would you voter for Cook, Wright, or Smith." When I said I was undecided and wouldn't provide that info anyway, she was out of questions. Thirty minutes later they called again. They confirmed I was a delegate in 2nd CD. Then asked my first impression of "some politically active people"--there were three, Smith, Cook, Wright. I gave very vague answers on all. She then asked me to rank the importance of several issues in deciding how I will vote. These were basically the same questions as before. Of course, I ranked everything clearly outside the bounds of Congress as zero and things in the bounds of Congress higher. Next was the "if the election were held today." This time I just said undecided. This brought a "What hesitation do you have for voting for Cook?" to which I responded, "He's been weak on 2nd amd rights." They then asked some "demographic" questions including age, religion, activity level in that religion, and whether I considered myself politically conservative, moderate, or liberal. I answered that one with, "moderate." Which of course I am. :) Anyone more conservative than me is a fanatic and anyone less conservative than me is obviously a pinko-commie liberal. :) :) So that makes me a moderate. Besides, I figure whoever is paying for this thing ought to get the impression that even "moderates" want 2nd amd rights protected. :) - ---------------- Charles Hardy ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 08 Apr 2000 17:47:55 -0600 From: Scott Bergeson Subject: FW: Interrogatory - ----- Subject: FW: Interrogatory Date: Sat, 08 Apr 2000 16:22:16 -0600 From: "Jim Dexter" John Lott reveals the moral bankruptcy of the latest gun control efforts: http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/interrogatory040300b.html - - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 08 Apr 2000 18:14:01 -0600 From: Scott Bergeson Subject: FW: 4/22 PRO-GUN RALLY Mark your calendar for April 22nd and be at the state capitol at 10:30 AM - ---------- RALLY TO BE HELD AT STATE CAPITOL A pro-gun rally being organized by Women Against Gun Control is being sponsored or endorsed by a coalition of gun rights groups, including the Utah Shooting Sports Council and the Libertarian Party of Utah. The rally will be held at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on Saturday, April 22, 2000 between 10:30 am and 11:30 am. The rally is being held on the south steps of the Capitol building. This rally is being held as a counter to the anti-gun Million Mom March scheduled for Mother's Day. All are welcome at this rally, men, women, kids, families, and singles. We are, however, encouraging a large turnout of families. The Handgun Control, Inc. sponsored Million Mom March, scheduled for Mother’s Day in Washington, D.C., seeks to influence local and federal lawmakers to impose broad- based gun control schemes including licensing all gun owners, registering all guns, and limiting gun sales to one a month per person. Pro-gun families in Utah must rally to make it clear that we do not support such government infringements on our rights. A standard tactic that the anti-self defense lobby will be using in Washington is to place rows of shoes to symbolize the victims of gun violence. WAGC will be placing hats on the Capitol steps to symbolize the lives saved by guns. Please bring as many hats as possible to place on the capitol steps. Anti-gun media routinely makes statements that average Utahns want more gun control. This is your chance to show them that they are wrong. It is imperative that you and your family attend this rally. We expect a lot of media coverage and if only a handful of gun owners show up they will claim that Utahns really do want more gun control. The rally only lasts one hour. Please mark your calendar now and plan on attending. We ask that everyone dress appropriately. No fatigues or T-shirts with in-your-face slogans. Remember that this is a media event designed to show that gun owners aren’t just a bunch of testosterone-fueled Rambos but are instead just your average family next door. Please bring ABSOLUTELY NO VISIBLE WEAPONS OR FIREARMS. The media will be looking to portray us as a bunch of radicals bent on the violent overthrow of the government. If even one firearm is visible that will be the slant the news coverage will take. This will do incredible damage to our cause. PLEASE ATTEND THE PRO-GUN RALLY BEING HELD AT THE SOUTH STEPS OF THE UTAH STATE CAPITOL ON SATURDAY APRIL 22, 2000 BETWEEN 10:30 AM AND 11:30 AM. PLEASE BRING YOUR SP0USE AND THE ENTIRE FAMILY. BRING AS MANY PRO-GUN FRIENDS AS YOU CAN ROUND UP. - - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 09 Apr 2000 15:11:35 -0600 From: Scott Bergeson Subject: Midway USA First I'd heard of this firm. Scott - ----- Date: Sat, 08 Apr 2000 00:44:22 from www.midwayusa.com comes the following; Good Afternoon, On March 17, 2000, Smith and Wesson, a manufacturer of firearms, firearm accessories and logo apparel entered into a settlement agreement with federal, state and municipal authorities. The settlement dismisses Smith and Wesson against pending lawsuits aimed at firearm manufacturers. The specifics of the contract are listed below. It is the opinion of the management and ownership of MidwayUSA that Smith and Wesson failed to exhaust all resources in the fight to uphold the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. We believe that Smith and Wesson sold out the rights and principles of gun owners across the United States by failing to support the industry and fight the attack of the anti-gun movement. MidwayUSA has always been a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, the NRA and all organizations whose mission is to protect each of our rights to bear arms. Therefore, we cannot, with clear conscience, support the actions of Smith and Wesson. As a result, we have chosen to immediately drop Smith and Wesson products from our catalogs and from our product offering. Thank you for your support. - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 21:49:45 -0600 From: Scott Bergeson Subject: The S&W agreement Rich Kuchinsky sez: - ----- Subject: The S&W agreement Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 22:41:34 EDT From: grandtime@aol.com Here is the "lead in" page for the S&W agreement. http://www.isra.org/leadin.shtml I think reading this document just makes me more determined to fight against tyranny! Grandtime@aol.com (Rich Kuchinsky) Speaking for myself, on my own time, on my own computer, in my own home. My views do not necessarily represent the views of anyone I am associated with or for whom I work. Especially my wife! - --<>-- --<<<+>>>-- --<>-- --<>-- --<<<+>>>-- --<>-- "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." - William Penn; Thomas Jefferson's personal seal 1776 See George Seldes, The Great Thoughts, Ballantine Books, 1985, p.209 - --<>-- --<<<+>>>-- --<>-- --<>-- --<<<+>>>-- --<>-- - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 14:25:27 -0600 From: Scott Bergeson Subject: FW: UTGOA 4-11: Call your Congressman TODAY! - ----- Hostettler Update Project Exile Alert! New GOA Legislative Action Center Hostettler Update As you remember, Rep. Hostettler is working to end the Clinton administration and HUD's lawless plan to enact gun control by trial lawyer. Smith & Wesson has already caved in to the threats of lawsuits intended to bankrupt gun manufacturers. The agreement S&W signed requires the registration of all guns, government licenses for all firearms purchasers, background checks as long as the FBI chooses to make them, firearms rationing, mandatory trigger locks, and more. It also mandates a government "Oversight" Commission (all but one of whose members will be anti-gun government officials and bureaucrats) to enforce the terms of the agreement. This is where Rep. Hostettler comes in. He is circulating letters to Reps. Kolbe and Walsh (appropriations subcommittee chairs for HUD and Treasury-BATF) to obtain support for budget amendments defunding the Oversight Commission. Without funds, the commission won't be able to do very much enforcement. So far, Rep. Merrill Cook and Rep. Jim Hansen have signed the Hostettler letters. Thanks to Rep. Cook and Hansen - and to all of you who took the time to contact them! Your hard work is paying off! But Rep. Chris Cannon is mysteriously missing in action. UTGOA called his office to find out what's going on - but no one has responded. This is inexcusable. Rep. Cannon claims to be a conservative, pro-gun Republican. Yet he's apparently not interested in defending the rights of Utah gun owners or Utah firearms manufacturers. This is particularly shocking coming less than a month before the Republican Convention where he will ask for his party's endorsement for another term in Congress. Perhaps he's been in Washington long enough that he needs to be reminded who elected him - and what we expect him to do! Rep. Cannon needs to hear from all Utahns - and especially his constituents! Please contact him right away and ask why he isn't willing to stand up for our gun rights. How to contact Rep. Cannon: 1. Call his office. This is the most effective method. Washington - (202) 225-7751 Provo - (801) 379-2500 Congress switchboard - 1-888-449-3511 2. Send a fax. (202) 225-5629 3. Send an email. 4. If you live in Rep. Cannon's district, go to: http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm From there you can send an email or letter. PLEASE CONTINUE TO BOYCOTT SMITH & WESSON! HR 4051: Project Exile Alert! Please contact your Congressman and ask him to OPPOSE HR 4051, Rep. McCollum's "Project Exile" bill. HR 4051 creates a $100 million dollar federal grant program to bribe states to surrender their sovereignty and agree to enforce Washington's gun control mandates. This (like so much that comes out of Washington these days) is blatantly unconstitutional. Law enforcement is a state and local responsibility. HR 4051 will be used to bribe states into enacting five year mandatory minimum sentences for "violent crimes" involving firearms. "Violent crimes" will be defined by the Attorney General. And as we saw here in Utah earlier this year, "violent crime" can be defined to include such non-crimes as spanking a child, or possession of cold pills. In addition, states will be required to agree to "promote Federal involvement and cooperation in the enforcement of laws within that State" and to conduct a "public awareness and community support" program calling attention to "firearms sentencing laws." In other words, states will be required to promote an unconstitutional federal takeover of local law enforcement! Please contact your Congressional Representative today! The vote is expected very soon! James V. Hansen - Republican P.O Box 654 Farmington, Utah 84025 Phone: (801) 451-6500 Congress switchboard - 1-888-449-3511 E-mail: hansen@stratis.com http://www.hansenforcongress.com Merrill Cook - Republican 631 16th Ave. Salt Lake City, Utah 84103 Phone - SLC: (801) 323-0135 or 524-4394 Phone - Washington (202) 225-3011 Congress switchboard - 1-888-449-3511 Fax - (202) 225-5638 No email Chris Cannon - see above Sample letter: (Feel free to use this!) Dear Rep. Please OPPOSE HR 4051, Rep. McCollum's "Project Exile" bill. This bill bribes states to surrender their sovereignty to federal law enforcement. Law enforcement and criminal justice are properly reserved to the states. HR 4051 will also enable mandatory five year sentences for minor offenses involving firearms - even if the firearm is not used in the crime. HR 4051 in unconstitutional! Please protect our Constitution and the sovereignty of Utah. Sincerely, Your name Remember to include your ADDRESS! New Gun Owners of America Legislative Action Center Check out the new Gun Owners of America Legislative Action Center! The GOA folks have really outdone themselves. The site is one-stop-shopping for all your gun rights information needs. You can find information on pending legislation and current issues obtain information on legislators - both state and federal send letters, faxes and email to legislators send email to all your favorite media outlets get information about all upcoming elections learn more about candidates The Legislative Action Center makes it much easier for all of us to get involved and hold our elected officials accountable. Please take advantage of this wonderful new service! Remember - legislators are most likely to listen to constituents from now until November. The period before conventions is especially important. NOW is the time to make your voice heard! Thanks! Sarah - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 15:23:32 -0600 From: Scott Bergeson Subject: FW: Beware NRA's Project Exile Bill HR4051 - ----- Subject: Beware NRA's Project Exile Bill HR4051 Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 21:58:47 -0400 From: "Weldon Clark" To: 2nd-Amendment-News@frostbit.com Beware NRA's Project Exile Bill HR4051 NRA is pushing HR4051 the so called project exile bill. This is a dangerous bill. Representative Lindsey Graham April 10, 2000 1429 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 phone 202-225-5301 fax 3216 Dear Representative Graham, I did as your assistant suggested and went to http://www.thomas.loc.gov and put in HR4051 and pressed the go button. I have read the bill. This bill bribes states to enact laws to place violent criminal and those who break serious drug laws and who carry or possess firearms in prison under a mandatory sentence. However, the following is wrong with the bill: Every state will introduce a gun bill to do that and much, much more. The bill does not say that the state cannot apply the mandatory sentence to just any violation of any law effecting firearms or anything else for that matter. We will have to fight gun bills in every state in the nation. The bill needs a provision that says that the states cannot make mandatory sentences apply to less serious firearms laws and other things as well if they are to receive grants under the law that HR4051 would create. Also the bill allows the Attorney general to expand the scope of the bill. As you know the present occupant of that office is very anti-gun. Very truly yours, Weldon H. Clark Jr. Liberty, SC - - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 15:18:34 -0600 From: "Karl Pearson" Subject: April 14 column -- Thomas Gaule FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED APRIL 14, 2000 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz The troublesome case of Thomas Gaule A series of unusual things happened in Clark County District Judge Mark Gibbons' courtroom on April 4. The defendant, Thomas Gaule, stood convicted of voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon, a charge which could have netted him years in the state pen. Last year, a Clark County jury had convicted Gaule, 43, of chasing Ricky Tripp down Lakehurst Road in Las Vegas on Oct. 25 of 1998, and killing him with a shotgun. Officials at the Nevada state Division of Parole and Probation recommended a sentence of at least four years in prison. Generally speaking, a fellow in the position Mr. Gaule found himself in last Tuesday would be well advised to have brought along a toothbrush. But that's when the unusual things began to happen. Rising to oppose the recommendation of the Division of Parole and Probation was ... Chief Deputy District Attorney Bill Koot. "This case has been troublesome to me personally for as long as I've been assigned to this case," said Koot, who rarely stands to oppose the sentencing recommendations of the Parole Division. But in this case, Mr. Koot said he doubted prison time would serve any purpose. More, he said he believed jailing Gaule would send "the wrong message," that members of the public do not want to see a citizen go to prison in a case like Gaule's. Judge Gibbons promptly agreed: "If there's ever a case with extenuating circumstances, this is the one." The judge then sentenced Thomas Gaule to a period of probation not to exceed three years -- no jail time. For killing two men with a shotgun. If prosecutor Koot was so troubled, of course, one might ask why he pursued the case at all. But let's admit it did take some political courage to do what he and Judge Mark Gibbons did last week. Why did they do it? What happened to Thomas Gaule on the afternoon of Oct. 25, 1998 is that he came home to find two burglars in his house. He testified the two men jumped him and beat him severely, shocking him repeatedly with high-powered stun guns. He can still show the scars on his neck. Somehow, Gaule managed to make it into another room to retrieve a shotgun. He testified at his trial the men came at him even after he had retrieved the firearm, wrestling with him for control of the weapon. So Thomas Gaule shot them. Jason Allen Lamb was hit inside the house and died in the driveway. Ricky Tripp died 500 feet down the street, after Gaule chased him out of the house and fired again. In the death of Jason Allen Lamb, no charges were ever filed. Kill a burglar and assailant in Nevada, in self-defense, at the scene of the crime, and it's "case closed." Rightly so. In the death of Ricky Tripp, the question was whether a victim and homeowner -- Gaule -- has a right to chase down a home invader and assailant after that assailant turns to flee. Was Gaule still in fear for his life at the time he fired his final shot? The trial jury thought not. But was Gaule stunned and confused enough by his experience that his actions are excusable -- can society reasonably expect a man shocked with high-voltage taser blasts to the neck, on top of the fight-for-your-life adrenalin dump which could overrule normal deliberation for any average person caught in such a crisis, to pause at his doorway and muse on the intricacies of the laws of self-defense? Doubtless adding weight to Judge Gibbons' burden last Tuesday was the fact that Thomas Gaule is a quirky character, possessed of unusual opinions. "I think he's extremely paranoid ... obsessed with what he perceives to be an injustice," says prosecutor Koot. But Thomas Gaule has never been known to commit another violent act, before or since. Nor should defendants be sent to prison for their "oddball views," as correctly observed by Gaule's attorney, Peter S. Christiansen. In the end, Judge Gibbons authorized probation officials to require counseling for Mr. Gaule, and treatment for depression. And then he sent Thomas Gaule home. In the end -- while a felony trial and record are no picnic, and the jury clearly issued no license for others to engage in armed pursuits -- the county and the court decided the most important thing here was to protect the citizen's sacred right of self-defense. The county and the court ruled an otherwise peaceful Nevadan shouldn't go to prison for defending himself in his own home, even with deadly force, even if -- in the heat of a fight for his life -- he chases one of his tormentors out the door and down the street. It was a tough call. It's an oddity of modern American jurisprudence that civilians are held to a much higher standard than trained cops when it comes to shootings that aren't clear-cut self-defense. But last Tuesday, Chief Deputy D.A. Bill Koot and Judge Mark Gibbons got it right. Vin Suprynowicz is assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. His book, "Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998," is available by dialing 1-800-244-2224; or via web site http://www.thespiritof76.com/wacokillers.html. *** Vin Suprynowicz, vin@lvrj.com "The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it." -- John Hay, 1872 "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and thus clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H.L. Mencken * * * - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If you have subscribed to vinsends@ezlink.com and you wish to unsubscribe, send a message to vinsends-request@ezlink.com, from your OLD address, including the word "unsubscribe" (with no quotation marks) in the "Subject" line. To subscribe, send a message to vinsends-request@ezlink.com, from your NEW address, including the word "subscribe" (with no quotation marks) in the "Subject" line. All I ask of electronic subscribers is that they not RE-forward my columns until on or after the embargo date which appears at the top of each, and that (should they then choose to do so) they copy the columns in their entirety, preserving the original attribution. The Vinsends list is maintained by Alan Wendt in Colorado, who may be reached directly at alan@ezlink.com. The web sites for the Suprynowicz column are at http://www.infomagic.com/liberty/vinyard.htm, and http://www.nguworld.com/vindex. The Vinyard is maintained by Michael Voth in Flagstaff, who may be reached directly at mvoth@infomagic.com. - - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2000 11:19:15 -0600 From: Scott Bergeson Subject: FW: UTGOA 4-14: Hansen and Cannon betray Utah's gun owners! And Cook wimped out of taking a stand. More useful information for the upcoming conventions and elections..... The following was provided by Gun Owners of America. Strange Things Happening on Capitol Hill - -- Weird coalition helps pass gun proposal by overwhelming numbers in House Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408 http://www.gunowners.org "I would hope that we, Members of the House of Representatives, now knowing that the NRA and Handgun [Control], Inc., is supporting this motion to instruct that deals specifically with access to guns and keeping them away from children, can we not have a meeting of the minds...?" -- Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), 4/11/00 (Friday, April 14, 2000) -- Rep. Jackson-Lee asked for a "meeting of the minds" (see above quote) and she got it. More than 400 Representatives voted on Tuesday to instruct House-Senate negotiators to bring the anti-gun juvenile bill out of conference committee. If there is a silver lining to this dark cloud, it is the fact that the motion to instruct -- offered by the notoriously anti-gun John Conyers (D-MI) -- was non-binding. But it is a very thin silver lining at that. The fact that so many "pro-gun" Congressmen crossed the line on Tuesday to support Conyers' anti-gun proposal is a dreadful harbinger of things to come. The instructions ask the House-Senate conferees to produce a bill that contains the bulk of the gun restrictions that were in the original juvenile bill, as well as some Project Exile-type provisions. The final vote was 406-22. Gun owners can see how their Representative voted by going to http://www.gunowners.org/cgv.htm and clicking on U.S. House of Representatives: 2000 (106-2). However, one can easily determine who voted wrong by viewing the list below. Those who are NOT listed below voted wrong and supported the anti-gun motion offered by Democrat John Conyers. Who Voted Right? These Representatives voted AGAINST Conyers' anti-gun motion: Barr (GA) Mollohan (WV) Chenoweth-Hage (ID) Paul (TX) Coburn (OK) Peterson (MN) DeMint (SC) Pombo (CA) Goode (VA) Rahall (WV) Hayworth (AZ) Riley (AL) Hill (MT) Sanford (SC) Hostettler (IN) Souder (IN) Jenkins (TN) Stump (AZ) Jones (NC) Wamp (TN) Metcalf (WA) Young (AK) Who Missed the Vote Entirely? Bliley (VA) McIntosh (IN) Cook (UT) Myrick (NC) DeGette (CO) Rodriguez (TX) Hastert (IL) ACTION: 1. Please use the letter below to help direct your comments to your Representative if he is NOT listed above. If your Representative is NOT listed above, then he voted anti-gun this week. 2. If your Rep. voted right, then please thank him or her. You can contact your Rep. by calling the toll-free number at the Capitol: 1-888-449-3511. Or, see the GOA Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to identify your Rep. and send the letter. - -------- Pre-written message --------- Dear Representative: I am outraged that you supported the anti-gun motion to instruct by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) on April 11. Make no mistake about it, Rep. Conyers is one of the most outspoken gun banners in the Congress. He holds an F- rating with Gun Owners of America, and he is no friend of gun owners or 2nd Amendment rights. Just what kind of supposed "common sense gun safety measures" did Mr. Conyers have in mind when he offered his motion to instruct? Well, in a speech on the House floor, Rep. Henry Hyde -- another anti-gun zealot -- understood this language to mean trigger lock requirements, a ban on medium capacity magazines, a prohibition on young adults owning certain semi-automatic firearms, and a restriction upon private sales at gun shows. Judiciary Chairman Hyde is a senior member of the House-Senate conference committee that is wrangling over the juvenile crime bill. Certainly his interpretation of this motion -- which does not differ from Mr. Conyers' -- is what will carry the day in the conference committee. Do you believe the 2nd Amendment protects the right of the "people"? By supporting the Conyers' motion, you helped send Hyde's conference committee the "marching orders" he needs to impose all kinds of anti-safety, anti-freedom firearms restrictions. I realize the Conyers' motion also called on the committee to report a bill with Project Exile-type provisions. These provisions, controversial even within the gun rights community, certainly should never be the "sugar" that helps us swallow the bitter pill of gun control. Never, never, never. There were 22 members of the House who stood for freedom on April 11. I am deeply troubled that your name was not one of them. Sincerely, ************** To subscribe to free, low-volume GOA alerts, go to http://www.gunowners.org/ean.htm on the web. Problems, questions or comments? The main GOA e-mail address goamail@gunowners.org is at your disposal. Please do not add that address to distribution lists sending more than ten messages per week or lists associated with issues other than gun rights. Leg-alerts is written and distributed by Utah Gun Owners Alliance and Sarah Thompson, M.D. All information contained in these alerts is the responsibility of the author, unless otherwise attributed. Leg-alerts can also be found at Utah Gun Owners Alliance web site. The temporary location is: http://www.UTguns.freeservers.com. This is a one-way list. Please do NOT try to post to the list. It won't work, and repeat violations will result in your removal from the list. Comments may be sent to me at righter@therighter.com. Thanks! Permission is granted for distribution of these alerts so long as no changes are made and this message is left intact. To subscribe/unsubscribe from leg-alerts, send a message to: majordomo@aros.net In the body put: subscribe (or unsubscribe) leg-alerts - ------------- To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to leg-alerts-request@aros.net with the line unsubscribe leg-alerts in the body. - - ------------------------------ End of utah-firearms-digest V2 #188 ***********************************