Date: Mon, 13 Nov 1995 10:26:41 -0500 From: "Christopher W. Knox" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: FCO 11-12-95 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- ======================================================================== Online Report to the F I R E A R M S C O A L I T I O N Box 6537, Silver Spring, MD 20916 ======================================================================== November 12, 1995 Vol. 2, No. 10 ======================================================================== In this issue: Gunowners Gain in Off-year Elections -- Are you listening, GOP? "Gun Control Sacrifice" -- A retiring Democrat whines No Schumer "Solution" -- Handgun ban in Israel? Wisconsin Pre-emption -- End to the patchwork in Dairyland Senate Waco Hearings -- Hatch blasts "militarization" of FBI Ruby Ridge Findings -- End of Specter's "first phase" Capitalizing on Events -- Or, Why the O.J. Simpson Jury was Right Telephone Log -- From the Firearms Coalition Legislative Hotline 1-900-225-3006 $0.89 per minute after the first 17 seconds ======================================================================== A note from Chris First, a bit of administratrivia. This list is one-way only. I occasionally forward items to the list that have been sent to me, but the Firearms Coalition Online Bulletin is not and is unlikely ever to become a chat list. If you do have something for me, please send it to me directly (cknox@crl.com) rather than replying to the list. Replying to the list causes your note to get mixed up in the error messages and other network noise. Please and thank you. Second, my temporary web site (http://www.crl.com/~cknox/fco.html) is still up. Between the day job and family stuff I simply haven't made the time to work on moving it. CRL, my Internet service provider is a pretty good outfit, however they are very limited as to tools, so I don't have any way of knowing how many or who is using it. The site will eventually move to Mainstream, the gracious host of this list. Mainstream has more tools and I expect to polish up my HTML skills over there (the current page is pretty bare). Then there's the subject that brings us all together, the gun issue. There is a great deal of cynicism in the Net toward both the Republican Party and NRA. History being knowledge, much of that cynicism is justified. I do trust NRA much more than in years past -- there is no chance of a media event bringing Kennedy, Schumer, and Sarah Brady together with Wayne LaPierre, Tanya Metaksa and Neal Knox. The carping about NRA fincances that first appeared in the Boston _Globe_ and the Washington _Post_ and then spilled into the gun press are traceable to that faction of the NRA Board that is now on the outside and looking in. But I wish I felt the same about the Republican Party. I do believe they think that they pulled off their 1994 revolution by themselves, just like they thought back in 1982 when the McClure-Volkmer reform to the 1968 Gun Control Act languished in a Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee with a majority of the Senate sponsoring it. I sincerely hope that someone has learned something in the past dozen years. I intend to send notes to each of my Senators and to my Representative with words to that effect. I hope you will do the same. And now a word from our sponsor I've backed off on inserting beg notes in this newsletter, but I'm making an exception this month. This bulletin is not free. Membership in the Firearms Coalition is not free. Subscription rates and membership dues are unusual in that they are set by the member. Send what you think appropriate and what you can afford. The cost of a brick of primers is a good starting point. If you like, send me your name and I'll send a PERSONALIZED note where I pretend that Pop and I were talking about YOU just the other night. Seriously, as NRA grows more effective, Neal Knox watches his primary source of income dwindle. I'd love to find ways to diversify the family business, but until then, we're counting on you. Contributions are down markedly -- something like 25% -- under last year's levels. As an NRA officer, Neal gets only expenses while conducting NRA business. And contrary to what some of our brethren have claimed, he's pretty careful with NRA money. I remember when he was at ILA Dad drove an NRA-supplied car and fueled it with self-serve gas. He has retained those tight-fisted ways. We appreciate whatever past support you've been able to offer and hope that you can continue in the future. Chris Knox wrote and is responsible for everything above this line. ======================================================================== Gunowners Gain in Off-year Elections By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 10) -- Two months ago The Washington Post reported that "Virginia's new concealed-weapons law has become a potent issue" with which to defeat incumbents. It wasn't. The article said Handgun Control Inc. had targeted 30 Virginia incumbents who had voted for the right to carry law, including three Republicans from Northern Virginia, where Democrat polls claimed up to 77 percent opposed the new law. Despite an expensive all-out effort to defeat them, all three of those Republicans were re-elected, as were almost all of the members -- from both parties -- who had voted for the carry bill. With one exception, the gun vote wasn't an issue because the challenger also supported gun rights. However, one of NRA's main targets, Majority Leader and Finance Chairman Hunter Andrews, a 33-year incumbent who rarely had an opponent, went down in flames. NRA pulled out all the stops, including a major volunteer effort. An anti-gun Republican Senator from Northern Virginia, Robert Calhoun reportedly a member of HCI's advisory board, and a personal friend of Sarah Brady's, was defeated by an anti-gun Democrat. I don't know what HCI did in that race, but NRA stayed out. Overall, NRA calculates that it gained a net two votes in the Virginia Senate and a net one in the House. In Mississippi, NRA-endorsed Gov. Kirk Fordice won with 55 percent of the vote, and of 85 endorsed legislative candidates, all won except two incumbent Democrats and four incumbent Republicans. In Kentucky, NRA stayed out, giving both candidates an "A" grade. ======================================================================== 'Gun Control Sacrifice' Anti-gun Rep. Tony Beilenson of California this week joined the flood of retiring Democrats that are leaving the House -- with a parting shot that will long be remembered. He told The Hill newspaper "I happen to be for reasonable gun control. But we unnecessarily lost good Democratic members because of their votes on the Brady Bill and semiautomatic assault weapon ban. I am glad we passed them, but they will have a modest effect out there in the real world. "It was not worth it at all. Why lose 15 good members [Note: Bill Clinton said 22] because they cast a good vote on gun control, which made a modest difference, but their loss made a huge difference? "We lost control of the place, so great damage can be done to seniors, to the environment, to Medicaid because these folks cast principled, good votes on gun control. "It wasn't worth it. It's a terrible thing to say, but it's the truth. "I don't want any more of our fine colleagues to be sacrificed on the altar of gun control." Mr. Beilenson still has a year in which to do penance by bringing up, and passing, and getting Mr. Clinton to sign, repeals of both Brady and the semi-auto ban. But don't hold your breath. ======================================================================== No Schumer 'Solution' Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) was part of the large U.S. delegation that attended Israeli Prime Minister Yitshak Rabin's funeral. I'm still waiting for him to lecture the Israeli government that they should prohibit guns like the 15-shot Beretta 92 with which Rabin was killed. You can bet that he would have been demanding just that if Rabin had been killed in the U.S. -- praise God he wasn't. ======================================================================== Wisconsin Preemption The Wisconsin Senate last night approved, by 23-9, the House-passed preemption bill -- which will put a stop to the series of local gun ban initiatives we've seen in the last few years. The Senate did accept an amendment supported by the governor which will leave Milwaukee's seven-day waiting period in place until 1998. That face-saving amendment doesn't really change anything, for I'm told there are no gun shops in Milwaukee. However, it means the governor will sign the bill. ======================================================================== Senate Waco Hearings By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (Nov. 1) -- At the close of today's Senate Judiciary Committee Waco hearings, Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) lambasted the BATF and particularly the FBI for "increased militarization ... and reckless and over-aggressive tactics of field commanders." But he also declared Louis Freeh is "the best FBI Director we've had," emphasized that Freeh wasn't director during Ruby Ridge or Waco, and sidled around his now-revoked promotion of Deputy Director Larry Potts, who managed both operations. Treasury Undersecretary Ron Noble testified that Waco was an aberration. Nonsense. The only difference between what BATF did at Waco and what they've done in many other raids in the past 25 years, from Kenyon Ballew on, is the size of the operation -- and the fact that the Davidians shot back. After the Ruby Ridge hearings Sen. Specter called for dissolving BATF, and transferring its law enforcement functions to the FBI. While that's tempting, bear in mind that a half-dozen BATF officials were replaced -- gently -- as a result of Waco, but FBI has yet to hold anyone accountable for either Waco or Ruby Ridge (despite the $3.1 million settlement to the Randy Weaver family). Though Sen. Orrin Hatch's hearings were not intended to be "fact-finding," some significant new facts were revealed -- particularly about the conflicts between the paramilitary Hostage Rescue Team and the negotiators. The chief negotiator, Clint Van Zandt, was pulled in (despite his protests) three weeks into the siege, simply so the original negotiator could make a speech overseas. He said that in earlier successful negotiations, the negotiators and tactical team met one or twice per day, but that the two groups met only one time at Waco. He said the field commander, Jeff Jamar, made impossible demands of the negotiators, such as insisting that they not negotiate for the release of one or two at a time, but of 50. And the HRT -- which Sen. Charles Grassley called "the swashbucklers" -- repeatedly antagonized the Davidians by destroying their vehicles, cutting off electricity, playing loud recordings of rabbits being slaughtered (and Nancy Sinatra's song "... these boots are gonna walk all over you") and other "punishments" whenever the negotiators seemed to be making headway. The FBI's expert on cults and child abuse testified that he was never once consulted. Retired New York City Police negotiator Frank Bolz, one of the leading figures in the field, said he was appalled by tactics used by the HRT. He said he couldn't believe the repeated announcements during the final gas attack that "This is not an assault." He said: "It sure looked like an assault." He also said: "In terms of whether the tanks started the fire (by knocking over lanterns) or whether the fires were started by someone else, it doesn't really make any difference." Amen. These revelations made it clear -- though no one ever said it -- that the HRT was determined not to have a peaceful resolution, but to avenge the deaths of the BATF agents killed in the original raid (just as they "avenged the death" of a U.S. Marshal at Ruby Ridge a half-year before). That mindset went much higher than the HRT. During the standoff, then-FBI Director William Sessions wanted to personally go down to Waco -- where he had been a Federal judge, and knew many of the people involved -- to try to reach a peaceful settlement. But the Clinton Administration and their friends in the press were trying to force Judge Sessions out of the FBI; someone above him prohibited him from going, then leaked it to the press, which chortled that he was attempting to "save his job" by "becoming a hero at Waco." I talked with the judge last week at a Capitol Hill reception for his son, Pete Sessions, a solid pro-gunner who came within a hair of beating Dallas Congressman John Bryant last year - -- and who is taking him on again, with whatever help I can give him. I told Judge Sessions that if he had been allowed to go to Waco, had seen what was going on -- and had been told of the FBI's arrogance by Texas Ranger Captain David Byrnes (as I have been) -- eighty lives might have been saved. Mr. Sessions sadly agreed. ======================================================================== Ruby Ridge Findings By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 20) -- The "first phase" of Sen. Arlen Specter's six weeks of hearings into Federal law enforcement's performance at Ruby Ridge ended today with reporters, editorial writers and much of the public shocked by what had been revealed -- which many of us had known for three years. Sen. Specter -- a "moderate" Republican Jew, not a "tool of the gun lobby," and certainly not a defender of racial separatists like Weaver -- had high credibility from the beginning. And he demonstrated his prosecutorial skills in demolishing witnesses from BATF, U.S. Marshal Service, FBI and Justice Department who persisted in trying to justify outrageous, improper and unconstitutional behavior at Ruby Ridge. Not one member of the committee attempted to defend what the law enforcement agencies had done: * A well-paid BATF informant worked for three years to entice Randy Weaver into selling two sawed-off shotguns. * BATF used the threat of prosecution to blackmail Weaver into spying on the Aryan Nation; Weaver refused. * BATF manufactured a non-existent criminal record for Weaver and lied to a U.S. Attorney -- and the U.S. Marshal Service -- about his being a suspect in bank robberies, a major trafficker in illegal firearms, and a dangerous man. * Weaver was indicted for making the guns and ordered to trial -- and given an erroneous trial date. When he failed to show up, and before the date that he had been told the trial would occur, he was indicted for failure to appear. * U.S. Marshals mounted an 18-month surveillance, which included buying adjacent property occupied by two Marshals, posing as husband and wife. * In August 1992, three agents from the Marshals' paramilitary Special Operations Group -- armed with M16's and a "silenced" MP-5 submachinegun -- entered Weaver's land. * Sammy Weaver, 14, saw a marshall -- dressed in camouflage and wearing a mask -- kill his dog, and fired toward the intruders. * Sammy ran for home as the agents returned fire. A .223 bullet, probably from Marshal Billy Degan's M-16, knocked the buttplate off Sammy's Mini-14 and almost severed his arm; a 9mm bullet from Marshal Larry Cooper's MP-5 hit him in the back, killing him. (During the hearings Cooper claimed that Randy had shot his son by accident, which the Senators doubted; no tests of bullet fragments were conducted.) * Kevin Harris, Randy's semi-adopted son, fired three shots from the hip with his bolt action .30-06; one hit and killed Degan. The Marshals swore Harris fired first, but Degan had fired seven rounds. * The FBI Hostage Rescue Team (which conducted the disastrous final assault on the Branch Davidians at Waco six months later) was called in and given unconstitutional "Rules of Engagement" that stated snipers "could and should" shoot any armed adult without warning. * Within hours Vicki Weaver was dead from a bullet that severely wounded Harris, and Randy Weaver was badly wounded. * An Idaho jury acquitted Weaver and Harris of the murder of Deputy Marshal Degan; Weaver was convicted only of failure to appear for trial on the gun charge; the jury foreman said the wrong people were on trial. * The Justice Department "admitting no wrong-doing" paid $3.1 million to settle the Weaveram fily's wrongful death lawsuit against the government. * Five senior FBI officials, including former Deputy Director Larry Potts and Waco supervisor Danny Coulson, were suspended in August during investigation of a coverup in which Potts's assistant has admitted destroying documents concerning the shoot-on-sight orders. (Sen. Specter has said that coverup will be Phase 2 of his hearings.) * Five FBI agents, including sniper Lon Horiuchi, refused to testify in the hearings, citing fear of self-incrimination. * Senators hammered both FBI Director Louis Freeh and Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick for promoting Potts (who magenad both Waco and Ruby Ridge) after censuring him for the Idaho fiasco. * Gorelick, while defending Horiuchi's shots, announced new uniform rules of engagement, accepted by most Federal law enforcement agencies, declaring there must be an imminent threat before deadly force can be used. Sen. Specter said the anti-terrorism bill, icwhh would give Federal law enforcement even broader powers, is stalled "because of what we have seen at Waco and Ruby Ridge." That's small comfort to the Weavers, but it's a start. ======================================================================== Capitalizing On Events By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 11) -- The Arizona train derailment (which may -- or may not -- have been a protest against excessive government powers) was quickly used by Bill Clinton to promote more power for the Federal government. The derailed train had barely stopped before Quick Willie was teinllg reporters that sabotage illustrated the need for the stalled "anti-terrorism bill" -- which the Senate overwhelmingly passed in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing. The House version of the anti-terrorism bill, H.R. 1710, has been approved by committee but is in trouble when, or if, it comes to the floor because of bi-partisan concer tnshat it gives too many new powers to the Federal government. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, that unusual coalition is due to the revelations of Federal law enforcement excesses revealed during the Waco and Ruby Ridge hearings. H.R. 1710, as approved by committee, defines "terrorism" to include any not-for-profit firearms crime. That would give Federal law enforcement the authority to investigate and prosecute virtually any firearms crime except armed robbery. Though Rep. Charles Schumer's (D-N.Y.) attempt to require identification taggants in explosives -- including black and smokeless propellants -- was defeated when H. 1R.710 was in committee, he intends such an amendment on the floor. (The Senate version, S. 735, requires taggants in explosives, but not in black or smokeless -- for the moment.) Schumer also wants to attach an armor-piercing bullet ban to the anti-terrorist bill -- probably H.R. 2386, the nonsensically named "Saving Police Officers Lives Act," which he introduced at the request of the Clinton Administration. That bill would allow the BATF to ban the production of any "projectile that may be used in a handgun" which is capable of penetrating "protective gear, generally known as bulletproof vests." If Congress didn't "repudiate" BATF's regulation within 10 days -- a virtual impossibility -- the ban would go into effect. A lot of Congressmen think there really is such a thing as a "bullet-proof vest" and that no handgun load should be capable of penetrating them -- though depending on the thickness of the vest, the hardness, shape and weight of the bullet, and the power and barrel length of the gun, a great many common hunting and self-defense loads will do it. Something to keep in mind is that no police officer has ever been killed by the penetration of light body armor by a handgun bullet designed for that purpose. If it had happened, Clinton would be talking about it. Clinton is always quick to use current events as a springboard to more government power, just as he did with the Oklahoma City bombing. That's why I'm worried about all the talk about the O.J. Simpson acquittal. It's only a matter of time until Quick Willie or his cohorts will start talking about limiting the powers of jurors by requiring them to follow the dictates of judges. Judges routinely tell jurors that they must find a person guilty if the evidence indicates they have violated a law; and lawyers are forbidden from telling the jurors that it isn't true. Every jury, and every juror, has the right to judge not just the facts of a case, but the law itself -- which is why we have juries. The principle was established in 1670 when an English jury refused to convict William Penn for preaching in the streets, and was itself jailed and fed only bread and water for ignoring the judge's instructions. But the judge was overturned. In 1735 an American jury refused to convict Peter Zenger, a journalist charged with sedition. That right of the jury to judge the law was warmly embraced by our Founding Fathers. It is the ultimate defense against government tyranny short of open rebellion. And the jury system must not be tampered with. But all the talk about the "wrongness" of the O.J. Simpson jury's decision worries me. The decision may have been wrong, but juries are always right. Nothing would do more to enhance the power of government -- or diminish liberty -- than putting harness on juries. Maybe Clinton won't personally propose it, but before the Simpson saga is over, his cronies will -- and they'll be supported by a bunch of law and order Republicans who should know better. ======================================================================== Telephone Log For current legislative news call 1-900-225-3006. $0.89 per minute after the first 17 seconds. Here is a recap of the hotline up to last week. October 14 Oct. 14 update -- Sen. Arlen Specter said this morning during a Court TV interview that Attorney General Janet Reno is also being asked to testify at this week's expected conclusion of what he called "Phase 1" of the Ruby Ridge hearings. Sen. Specter said the anti-terrorism bill, which has passed the Senate with broadened powers for the FBI and BATF, has stalled in the House "because of what we have seen at Waco and Ruby Ridge." He said both Congressmen and lawmakers are balking at giving Federal law enforcement even more powers. But he also said the train derailment in Arizona may cause the bill to be passed. Sen. Specter said the hearings have caused a shakeup at FBI and caused the BATF Director to admit that their faking of a criminal record of Weaver was "inexcusable." For years BATF has made false allegations about people they wanted prosecuted; this time they got caught. The anticipated second phase of Ruby Ridge hearings on FBI will concern "the shredding of documents and the coverup." He didn't say alleged coverup. Five senior FBI officials are under suspension and investigation, including former Deputy Director Larry Potts, who also managed the Waco raid. Yesterday's hearings went about as expected in yesterday's report. --------- California's Fair Political Practices Commission has filed a record 404-count complaint against the now-disbanded organization that attempted to recall Sen. David Roberti, co-sponsor of the state's Roberti-Roos ban on about 180 military-look semi-autos. Wednesday Roberti blamed the recall effort for ruining his attempt to be state treasurer -- so while the recall wasn't successful, it achieved its objective of getting him out of politics. Roberti gleefully said Wednesday that the organizers may have to pay their "pound of flesh." Most of the complaints concern failure to list complete information on contributors, many of whom were from outside California and not familiar with its extensive reporting requirements. The biggest unreported contribution was $5,000 from NRA; the commission said NRA had not attempted to conceal it. I haven't talked to the principals about this, but I had heard a year or more ago that some contributions and expenditures were not directly related to the recall, and did not have to be reported. October 18 October 18 update -- The television networks gave major coverage tonight to Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorlick's announcement of new, standardized rules for the use of deadly force which will apply to most Federal law enforcement agencies. They require that the person shot must present an imminent threat. The press reported that the new rules resulted from the Ruby Ridge shootout three years ago. Nonsense, they were the result of the heat from Sen. Specter's Ruby Ridge hearings, where she was testifying. The press did not pay much attention to her statement that the shooting was both tragic and should never have happened. She said local and Federal law enforcement had exaggerated the threat posed by Weaver, causing the FBI to overreact. Ms. Gorelick admitted a dozen major FBI mistakes, including that the FBI's investigation was flawed but said little about Attorney General Reno's approval of Larry Potts as Deputy FBI Director after she had just approved his censure for Ruby Ridge. She stressed that Ms. Reno had merely approved FBI Director Louis Freeh's recommendation. Sen. Specter also pressed Ms. Gorelick about the decision of the Clinton Civil Rights department not to prosecute the FBI sniper for the killing of Mrs. Weaver despite the recommendation of the Justice Department's study. Now-suspended Former Deputy Director Larry Potts was hammered by all the Senators on the committee except Dianne Feinstein, who said she now believes that he didn't approve the "could and should" shoot on sight rules of engagement. But Sen. Feinstein said she had serious problems about the way FBI had handled itself at both Ruby Ridge and Waco. All the Senators grilled Potts about his handwritten notes of the rules of engagement, which were inconclusive, but did not match the typed copy that he said were immediately prepared from those notes. Sen. Leahy was astounded when Potts said he hadn't bothered to read the after-action report on Ruby Ridge because he didn't realize there was a problem. With a marshall, a mother and a boy all dead, Leahy demanded to know why he didn't think there was a problem. Sen. Larry Craig simply didn't believe Potts assertions that despite the broadened rules of engagement the FBI's professional snipers would always follow the standard rules. --------- The Senate won't take up the Labor, HHS appropriations bill this week, or Sen. Bob Smith's effort to defund the anti-gun Injury Prevention Center of the Centers for Disease Control. October 22 Oct. 22 update -- Louisiana Sen. Mike Foster, who made gun rights a major part of his campaign, was the leader in yesterday's Louisiana governor's race, and will face Congressman Cleo Fields in a Nov. 18 runoff. Fields did unexpectedly well in defeating anti-gun Democrat Mary Landrieu and former Republican Congressman Buddy Roemer in the wild all-party election, but will face tough sledding in a state where David Duke maintains a considerable following. NRA-ILA Executive Director Tanya Metaksa, who had endorsed Foster and went to Louisiana to give pro-gun activists a boost on election day, told me this morning "We were all rooting for Cleo." If the runoff had been between two Republicans, which had seemed quite possible, it would have been a tossup. Now Foster has the edge, despite the fairly close split in votes between Democrats and Democrats-turned-Republican. October 24 Oct. 24 update -- Sen. Arlen Specter, who probed the outrageous conduct of BATF, the U.S. Marshals and the FBI at Ruby Ridge, yesterday called for BATF to be abolished and its law enforcement functions transferred to FBI. Almost 20 years ago I called for the same thing; BATF hasn't gotten much better and FBI has gotten a lot worse. I would remind the Senator that we don't have five top BATF officials under suspension for a cover-up -- though I've seen times when I thought we should have. Abolishing BATF might be a good idea, but that's only a band-aid on a cancer. There will be an unusual press conference this morning featuring more than a dozen groups that seldom agree on anything -- ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation to the NRA, Gun Owners of America, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Second Amendment Foundation. The group is calling for putting Federal law enforcement under a microscope -- with a 24- point plan that includes tightening the rules on deadly force, on issuance of warrants, and opposition to increased government power as proposed by H.R. 666 and the anti-terrorism bill, and included in last year's crime bill. Until all Federal law enforcement policies and practices are reviewed and improved, rearranging the deck chairs won't solve a thing. October 26 Oct. 26 update -- President Clinton distorted his tax policies during a speech to Democrat fat cats at a high-dollar fundraiser in Houston last week -- which has made headlines. But not one newspaper reported his distortion of the effects of the Brady Bill, or his further admission of the damage to Democrats caused by his firearms policies. He said: "You know and I know they cut us a new one in Texas over the assault weapons bill and the Brady Bill. But let me tell you something: since we adopted the Brady Bill last year, 1994, there were 40,000 felons who did not get handguns ....." That's another lie. When Attorney General Janet Reno presented that 40,000 figure at a press conference last March she was asked how many of those 40,000 were prosecuted. An aide had the answer: FOUR. Either the Justice Department is criminally negligent in failing to prosecute 39,996 bad guys trying to buy guns, or real bad guys don't buy guns at gun shops. Which is it Slick Willie? October 27 Oct. 27 update -- Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington State has over 40 signatures of Congressmen on a letter to Republican Whip Richard Armey, calling for a vote on H.R. 1488, which repeals last year's ban on military-look semi-autos and high-capacity magazines. Ask your Congressman if he's on Doc Hastings' letter -- and if he's a co-sponsor of the bill. There's no question that some Congressmen don't want the vote. At a reception for Dallas Congressman John Bryant's opponent, Pete Sessions, Wednesday night, I went toe-to-toe with a prominent Republican who voted against the gun ban, but doesn't want some of the Freshmen from close districts to have to vote on the issue. I reminded him that a lot of those Freshmen wouldn't have been elected if their predecessors hadn't voted for the ban -- and that they have a commitment to keep. --------- There's a lot of pressure from "moderates" to pass the anti- terrorism bill, which would give more powers to Federal law enforcement -- and won't pass unless there's some significant changes. And some want to lump the gun ban repeal, the remanants of the crime bill, and an anti-terrorism bill into one big package. Rep. Ernest Istook had cut a deal to get the House-Senate conference on the Treasury appropriations bill to accept a softer version of his bill to prohibit lobbying by non-profit groups which receive large amounts of Federal funding -- but Sen. Jim Jeffords killed it. The House-passed amendment was stripped off, and will have a separate vote in both houses. It will almost certainly fail in the Senate. But inside sources tell me this fight isn't over -- the Istook-McIntosh amendment to defund the left, including some of gun owners worst enemies, may be added to the huge and growing continuing resolution. --------- Attorney General Janet Reno has responded to the call by NRA, ACLU and a dozen other groups for greater oversight of Federal law enforcement agencies -- saying they can investigate themselves. Right. Another FBI agent was suspended this week and notified that he is the subject of a grand jury investigation into the FBI's high level cover-up of their screwups at Ruby Ridge. That makes six. Five agents took the Fifth during the Ruby Ridge hearings. Meanwhile, a group that included postal inspectors were at Randy Weaver's former cabin in Idaho recreating what happened when Vick Weaver was shot by an FBI sniper. Randy's attorney looked through the sniper's 10-power scope from the spot where he fired and said he could see an agent standing where Vickie was standing, even through curtains on the door. --------- The National Center for Health Statistics announced this week that the number of homicides has declined for three straight years. Law enforcement groups said it was due to more cops on the beat -- but I would put my money on the fact that more of the repeat offenders who commit most of the crime are in prison. October 31 Oct. 31 update -- Tomorrow's scheduled House vote on the conference version of the Treasury appropriations bill has been cancelled because it no longer contains the Istook-McIntosh amendment prohibiting non-profit organizations which receive Federal grants from spending major sums for lobbying. About 60 Republican freshmen are determined not to let the bill pass unless such recipients of Federal grants -- most of them actively anti-gun -- are prohibited from most lobbying. The prohibition is likely to become part of the temporary funding bill called a continuing resolution. The same is true of the Smith Amendment to whack the budget of the anti-gun Centers for Disease Control. A group of organizations led by the American Conservative Union will come out Thursday against the GOP Presidential Nomination of General Colin Powell -- who has called for gun registration. The Violence Policy Center -- a tax-deductible foundation headed by Josh Sugarmann, formerly of National Coalition to Ban Handguns -- will tomorrow release its study about the impact of the Florida concealed carry law. Not surprisingly, they say that law is terrible -- and that 292 people had their licenses revoked for crimes of various types, out of some 280,000 licenses issued. Care to bet how much press that piece of propaganda gets -- compared to say the ACU opposition to Colin Powell? Last night, in a warmup for the Senate Judiciary Committee's Waco hearings which begin today, Chairman Orrin Hatch was shown on CBS News blasting the FBI and BATF for their performance at Waco -- but I'll be happily surprised if the current leadership, and their quest for even more Federal law enforcement power, are criticized by the committee. ======================================================================== Copyright 1995 by Neal Knox Associates P.O. Box 6537 Rockville, MD 20916. Reproduction and distribution of this bulletin by any means is encouraged so long as this statement is retained. ======================================================================== Do not put your credit card number in e-mail. ======================================================================== Dear Neal, I use the information you provide to protect my gun rights. Enclosed is my contribution so that you can continue your work: $500 [ ] $250 [ ] $50 [ ] $25 [ ] Other:____ [ ] Quarterly [ ] Bill my MasterCard [ ] Visa [ ] Monthly [ ] Once [ ] Card No. ________________________________________ Expiration Date _____ Mr. [ ] Mrs.[ ]________________________________________________________________ Ms. [ ] Signature_______________________________________________________________ Address__________________________________________ Phone ________________ City _____________________________________________State ____ Zip________ Email Address ______________________ Print and mail to: Firearms Coalition Box 6537 Silver Spring, MD 20916 ======================================================================== PGP users: Remove the leading asterisks from the BEGIN and END lines before using this key. *-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.6.2 mQCNAy8Q4mIAAAEEALKdSCTF6BvTg4luk1IOYtiQyxPotnTjjijSawo9htwZeFS/ KU0WAPkeDuhgKSN3H5242irpkfUu8g84fAPBH6a6joaFN7OchRa49WXnz2dReT0V iT9xeec9rPSASH04dz+lEONeDZ17yh/JGt+tjYq0CIenFZ9JMCGz4I2lBJDFAAUR tCdDaHJpc3RvcGhlciBXYXJyZW4gS25veCA8Y2tub3hAY3JsLmNvbT6JAJUDBRAv pxqvIbPgjaUEkMUBAS8BA/9PP4teu4vja6dTXkOMhVN8xgf1fl66VCc2V4A0/lli uRdf75GS1uQd+pzPIZoIReU440uuLfNSMqAAjCLHDja9ViAUllTk7YIKJMe53+nZ UnQndT2a6ikeQgh/kFxFM1z4NHgTBZ/KMg3td45WzEA3XpjWACrXWNAtYplaQ0hg Iw== =VDsh *-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMKbUWiGz4I2lBJDFAQFgFgP+O5u5fUQh6M5U32bcVny9Y5WoT3oByxoF mEoAXze6ul0GihwisgSn1QHD7sDYT3/5fCAxuZg42JvLEyYA7E6qzKtn+zpP/dZp R59PF0FtQoqnPO3iR2cuhR28JB4ukFf7hSDJyuEgVDr5pOBVcmUI4qrICHm9PiIX IWL+zXGUpKQ= =j4Nf -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To receive the Online Firearms Coalition Bulletin send mail to listproc@mainstream.com containing in the message body: subscribe fco New! http://www.crl.com/~cknox/fco.html