From firearms-alert-owner Fri May 6 20:07:18 1994 Received: from localhost (chan@localhost) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.4/8.6.5) id UAA22657 for firearms-alert-outgoing; Fri, 6 May 1994 20:05:19 -0700 Received: from nova.unix.portal.com (nova.unix.portal.com [156.151.1.101]) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.4/8.6.5) with ESMTP id UAA22647 for ; Fri, 6 May 1994 20:05:15 -0700 Received: from gatekeeper.nra.org (gatekeeper.nra.org [192.231.143.12]) by nova.unix.portal.com (8.6.7/8.6.5) with SMTP id UAA05441 for ; Fri, 6 May 1994 20:04:56 -0700 Received: by gatekeeper.nra.org (5.65/DEC-Ultrix/4.3) id AA02713; Fri, 6 May 1994 23:03:19 -0400 Date: Fri, 6 May 1994 23:03:19 -0400 Message-Id: <9405070303.AA02713@gatekeeper.nra.org> Reply-To: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org Originator: press-release@nra.org From: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org (NRA Alerts) To: firearms-alert@shell.portal.com Subject: Press Statement re: Gun Ban X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: NRA Press Releases Sender: firearms-alert-owner@shell.portal.com Precedence: bulk Status: RO WHERE POSSIBLE, PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS TO YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS - NEWSPAPER, RADIO, TV... FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR INFORMATION CONTACT: May 5, 1994 NRA Public Affairs 703-267-3820 STATEMENT BY WAYNE LAPIERRE, NRA EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Today, a narrow majority of the U.S. House has led Americans down a blind alley of make-believe crime control. At the end of that alley lies the city of Washington, D.C., where honest citizens are prohibited from owning firearms. Yet, the criminals the politicians refuse to lock up, nightly turn Washington's streets into butcher shops. Today's House vote to ban semiautomatic firearms is just another example of politicians taking the easy way out, rather than addressing the real problem of violent criminals. It is nothing more than pretend crime control that leads to more and more victims ... innocent people victimized by repeat violent offenders. Rather than focusing on those truly violent criminals, this legislation targets law-abiding citizens who may, overnight, be turned into "paper" criminals, subject to untold potential abuses of their civil rights. But law-abiding Americans are watching. And they know what will work to reduce violent crime. That's why voters in Washington state adopted the NRA-backed "3 Strikes You're Out" initiative last fall to keep repeat violent offenders behind bars. That's why voters in Texas approved an NRA-backed billion dollar prison construction bond to take more criminals off the streets. Americans also know what won't work. That's why New Jersey voters rejected former Governor Jim Florio's pretend crime control. And when Virginia voters were presented with a clear-cut choice between Mary Sue Terry's "gun control" platform and George Allen's campaign to abolish parole for repeat violent offenders, those voters overwhelmingly elected George Allen. The people are watching. They know what works and what doesn't. And as concern over criminal violence increases, Americans are demanding that Congress confront violent criminals directly, rather than throw another futile gun law at the law-abiding. And the National Rifle Association will continue to promote meaningful criminal justice reforms across the country to truly crack down on repeat violent offenders. In the meantime, Americans will continue to watch and, in November, judge for themselves. -- nra --