[I'm faxing this warm-up letter to congress tonight. If you want me to fax a letter for you, call me at 415-964-9329 tonight or 510-841-5083 during the day. I may ask you to chip in the approx $40 it costs to send. -- Jeff C.] ----- Jeff Chan xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx chan@shell.portal.com November 21, 1993 Dear Senator: I urge you to vote AGAINST both the Senate version of the Crime Bill and the Brady Bill. Neither would reduce crime but both will restrict honest citizens' access to safe and effective self- defense. Recent research by the U.S. Department of Justice shows that 94% of criminals get their firearms through illegal means. On the other hand millions of ordinary, honest, working citizens purchase firearms yearly, primarily for self defense. Obstacles to purchasing firearms such as mandatory training, background checks and waiting periods are only an impediment to people seeking to defend themselves from crime. Criminals will continue to be able to get firearms illegally, some only 20 minutes after leaving prison. A waiting period would kill people who really do need immediate access to a firearm, such as the woman fleeing an abusive partner. Such women are most often beaten to death by their partners after a long history of abuse, too often in spite of restraining orders. When a man is killed at home, 85% of the time it is by the woman defending her life and the lives of her children against violent attack. Much of the recent anti-gun research has been politically motivated and does not hold up to the usual standards of criminological research or common sense. For example, the recent study supposedly showing that people who owned guns were more likely to be murdered only looked at people who had been murdered. It ignored the other 70 million honest people who own guns and the millions of people who have used a gun to stop a crime. Even more absurd is the figure of 300,000 "children" carrying guns to school. Ask a teenager how often they have sex and see how reliable the answers are. Unfortunately these misleading numbers are endlessly repeated by the overwhelmingly anti-gun media until people start to believe them. If stopping crime is the real goal, an honest analysis should include the defensive uses of firearms. Scientific, national polls show that defensive uses of firearms number between 1 and 2.4 million per year, but they tend to be underreported both to the media and to police. The police usually only see the results of failed self-defense, i.e., successful crime. Most people who successfully defend themselves against crime, more than 98% of the time without any shots fired, are reluctant to gain media attention. If crime really is on the rise, then it is even more essential not to delay or obstruct the right of the vast majority of honest people to defend themselves. Again, I urge you to vote NO on the Senate Crime Bill and Brady Bill. Sincerely, [sig] Jeff Chan