The PROponent Peoples Rights Organization 5 E. Long St., Suite 412; Columbus, OH 43215; (614) 268-0122 Volume 6 April, 1994 Number 4 (headline) Ohio Registration! H.B. 626: HANDGUN OWNER AND USER REGISTRATION FOR OHIO ... The Handgun Control Inc internal memo headlined it as well as anyone: "WHAT WAS ONLY A DREAM TEN YEARS AGO CAN BE REALITY AS EARLY AS THIS YEAR!!!" And what is that dream? Their dream is the termination of the great American experiment. It is to get this rogue country to fall in line with the rest of the world. As your high school buddies used to say, "everybody is doing it." and what "everybody" is doing is living under socialist-fascist dictatorial government. We are talking here about that kind of banana republic mentality that asserts the all-powerful rule of government and views the individual citizen as just so much spit on the sidewalk. After a considerable lull, Ohioans are once again faced with a major anti-gun push. This time they are going for broke. State Representative Karen M. Doty (D-45, Akron) has introduced H.B. 626 designed to register all handgun owners and users. The bill had its first reading March 10. As PRO warned earlier, the bill intends to use the popularity of firearm education programs to push through a Draconian measure to register not only gun owners but also gun users. The latter feature is implemented by the requirement that one must possess a firearms training certificate to even buy ammunition or even hold a handgun or ammunition (accept transfer). Doty proposes that government permission must be obtained for Ohioans to even touch a gun. Does anyone here happen to remember reading about the good old days in the south when a black man could be killed on the spot for just touching a white man's gun? Does anyone here notice just a hint of similarity? General Laney of the National Black Sportsman's Association said it best, "Gun control is race control." The Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA) is spearheading opposition to the bill and have sent a notice outlining its features which include: - Require state mandated safety training before the purchase of a handgun or handgun ammunition. The training would come under the entire control of the Ohio Attorney General's Office. (Ohio Attorney General Lee Fisher is a Board Member of Handgun Control, Inc.) - All applicants for safety training will be fingerprinted and a background investigation will be conducted. The total cost of the background check is to be borne by the applicant. - After training, applicants will be issued a state certification card (at unknown cost) valid for 5 years. They must maintain this card in their possession at all times while they are in possession of a handgun. Police officers are exempted from this, but civilian firearms instructors are not. - It would be unlawful to transfer a handgun to a non-certified person. The bill does not have any provision for people who are not certified and who, for example, come into receipt of a handgun by way of an inheritance. - Instructors that are utilized for the training have to pass under the scrutiny of the Attorney General's Office and would be allowed to instruct only at the A.G. 's discretion. - It is not mandated that there even will be any firearms instructors and/or classes to be held. - This bill would reclassify certain items as "dangerous ordinance" and thus, they would be prohibited: A) Section 2923.11(D) defines an automatic weapon as "...designed or specially adapted to fire more than 31 cartridges without reloading..." Basically any weapon that will accept a magazine could be twisted into this definition. B) Section 2923, 1 l(G)(3) defines a "zip gun" as "any industrial tool, signalling device, or safety device..." Flare guns, concrete nailers, etc. would be "zip guns." - Dangerous ordinance provisions are also expanded under Section 2923.11CK): Paragraph (3): "...any other explosive substance having sufficient brisance or power to be particularly suitable for use as a military explosive..." Blackpowder is used in military detonation cord. Paragraph (4); "any firearm...designed or manufactured for military purposes, and the ammunition for that weapon." This would ban a huge percentage of ammunition and essentially the weapons that fire them including .32, .38, 9mm Kurz(.380), 9mm Parabellum, .45, .223, .308, 30-'06, .30-40 KRAG, 45.70, etc. Police are NOT exempt from this provision. You can help now by calling the Office of Judiciary Committee Chairman Representative Ron Suster. Ask him to kill the bill in committee. Please be polite, it is not his bill. The number is (614) 466-9638. Also be sure to call Representative Doty at (614) 644-5085 or those in the Akron area can try her home phone at (216) 836-7778 to register your opposition to her draconian bill. CITIZENS AGAINST CRIME... The Fourth Annual CAC Fundraiser Shoot will be on May 22, 1994 at Edwards Firing Range in Union County. It will begin at noon and end at dark. Be there early so you are sure to shoot. This years fundraiser shoot will benefit Amy Salerno, candidate for the 23rd District of the Ohio House of Representatives. Edwards is a rifle/pistol club. This years shoot will comprise of 10 shots .22 rimfire rifle at 50 yard targets with open sights or 100 yard targets with a scope. The competition also includes 10 rounds with any center-fire pistol/revolver at 50 foot targets. All targets are the NRA official targets. All shots shall be fired free hold. A two-handed grip is allowed for the pistol event. Cost for each shooter is $10.00, and all targets shall be provided. Shooters will provide their own guns and ammunition, hearing and eye protection. A cash jackpot will pay 50%, 30% and 20% to the first, second and third place finishers. Ties will be decided by firing one shot each from pistol and rifle. All decisions of the Judges are final. Hot delicious food will be provided at the range along with soft drinks. For more information, call the PRO Hotline at 268-0122. Map and directions in the next issue of the PROponent. SB 172... Senate Bill 172 was introduced by Senator Gene Watts. Watts has also introduced legislation calling for a con-con if congress fails to pass a balanced budget amendment. SB 172 reads in part: "To amend sections of the Revised Code to create a compact allowing the Ohio National Guard to enter into agreements with other states and agencies for the purpose of conducting drug interdiction and counter-drug activities, to revise the law on calling the organized militia into state service, and to conform Ohio statutes regarding emergency management and the organized militia to existing federal laws." ARTICLE 1. PURPOSE "The purpose of this compact are to: (A) Provide for mutual assistance and support among the party states in the utilization of the National Guard in drug interdiction, counter-drug, and demand-reduction activities; (B) Permit the National Guard of this state to enter into mutual aid agreements, on the basis of need, with one or more law enforcement agencies operating within this state, or with a National Guard of one or more other states, whether these activities are within or outside this state, in order to facilitate and coordinate efficient, cooperative enforcement efforts directed toward drug interdiction, counter-drug activities, and demand reduction; (C) Permit the National Guard of this state to act as a receiving and a responding state as defined within this compact and to ensure the prompt and effective delivery of National Guard personnel, assets, and services to agencies or areas that are in need of increased support or presence; (D) Permit and encourage a high degree of flexibility in the deployment of National Guard forces in the interest of efficiency; (E) Maximize the effectiveness of the national Guard in those situations that call for its utilization under this compact; (F) Provide protection for the rights of National Guard personnel when performing duty in other states in counter-drug activities; (G) Ensure uniformity of State laws in the area of National Guard involvement in interstate counter-drug activities by incorporating these uniform laws within the compact. Article II. "Entry into Force and Withdrawal (A) This Compact is effective when enacted into law by two states. Thereafter, this compact becomes effective as to any other state upon the compact's enactment by that state. (B) Any party state may withdraw from this compact by enacting a statute repealing this compact, but no such withdrawal shall take effect until one year after the Governor of the withdrawing state has given notice in writing of such withdrawal to the Governors of all other party states. Article III. "Mutual Assistance and Support (A) As used in this compact: (1) Drug interdiction and counter-drug activities means the use of National Guard personnel,..., in any law enforcement support activities that are intended to reduce the supply or use of illegal drugs in the United States." This onerous bill also provides complete and total protection for the individual guardsmen from suits filed against them in the performance of their drug interdiction duties. In previous issues of the PROponent, we have covered Operation Achilles, which provided Michigan National Guardsmen to stand on Detroit street corners with a police officer and a civilian observer. They would cordon off specified areas of Detroit and then search anyone going in or out and would be able to search house to house without search warrants. Hopefully, one can remember back to the Tiananmen Square face-off of unarmed Chinese and Chinese army tanks. The home town troops would not fire on their fellow neighbors, so the Chinese brought in troops from the country to quell the uprising. That worked. Is this what Senator Watts has in store for Ohio. Bring in troops from Arizona or West Virginia to perform drug interdiction tasks in our fair state. Troops that would have no ties to Ohio. Troops that would not have any compunction in re-creating another Kent State type incident. An incident that they could not be held accountable for because they were protected by law from any suits involving their actions while performing drug interdiction tasks. Note that SB 172 is a nifty end-run around the posse comitatus act forbidding the use of the military in law enforcement. With this bill it could be possible for the national guard troops of ALL STATES descend in a massive sweep of ONE STATE! All it would take is quick amendment at a later date expanding "drugs" to "drugs and guns" and we are ready for the legendary house to house gun search. Even if the various governors suddenly discover their troops are being used in appalling ways, they can't pull them out for One Year! That's one free year of "search and destroy" even if most governors decide they want no part of it. Call Senator Watts and your Representative and voice your vigorous objection to this bill. PRO IN CYBERSPACE ... I cannot tell you how much satisfaction I get when I think about how all of YOU have built PRO into a dynamic force in the pro-gun movement from those first humble beginnings of a few guys meeting behind the bait store. One of the most important tasks that PRO has performed is to keep gun owners and others interested in civil rights informed of what is going on both locally and nationally. Since PRO is located in the state capital we naturally have an advantage in keeping an ear to the ground. However, local news is not enough. It needs to be tempered and placed in perspective with the big picture. One way your editors do that, is to scan the various gun magazines and newsletters, but one other important input is electronic. The PRO leadership (and membership who voted to provide financial support for the idea) recognized early on the value of electronic networking. Long before there was an NRA computer bulletin board, PRO was on line. We generated a special arrangement with the Blue Moon BBS (bulletin board system) and began placing the text of our newsletter on Compuserve each month. Things in this area seemed to develop rather slowly, but the power inherent in the system should never be underestimated. The best thing about the computer network connection is that information flows both ways. In this country the computer interconnections network began life as ARPANET which was a project of the DOD Advanced Research Projects Agency. It was mainly to further communication between the military, military contractors and universities doing military research. Later as interconnections formed to other computer networks the reach of the system expanded. Today the network has grown so large and out of control that nobody knows its complete extent. It is called INTERNET and is often represented on diagrams as a huge cloud. The entire network is referred to as "cyberspace" by aficionados. While network information is at times anonymous and the kooks are mixed in with the real stuff, the value of the real stuff is often astounding. For example we were able to read the text of the Waco warrants and the same judge's charge to the jury (showing evidence of possible jury tampering by him). There was some guy in Idaho providing the world with a weekly synopsis of the Weaver trial while the entire national media engaged in a code of silence. It is this kind of grassroots communication that drives government bureaucrats and spin doctors nuts. No wonder they are lying awake nights trying to figure out how to put "clipper chips" and trapdoors into all these networks to keep an eye on us. Another thing that drives them nuts is that Internet has no central control. It just runs itself. The network is run by the individual elements who just sort of take care of their own corners of the universe and interconnect by pure cooperation. There is no government agency or central committee that can be usurped to control the network. I'm sure there are many in government who are sorry the Department of Defense ever let this genie out of its bottle. Interestingly enough, you might think that a bunch of liberal university techno-types would not be fertile ground for a gun-rights debate. Not so. Many of these network denizens are extreme libertarians. They are believers in the "hackers creed" which demands the free exchange and use of all information. Indeed, programmers and technical people tend to form the backbone of the Libertarian party. But the network is not limited to just those who squint into a computer screen all night long. ANYBODY with a personal computer, modem (telephone communication device) and a few bucks can tap in. And they do. Every gun club or rights organization in the country that has one or more members with a PC can get the latest right from the horses mouth. That can be the NRA in Washington, PRO in Columbus or some other group that happens to be located where the action is. No TV bias. No newspaper censorship. No government delays in giving out information. During the coup that crashed the Soviet empire in 1991 an attempt was made to cut off information to the west. Radios were jammed, newspapers banned, and TV just ran old movies. The lone leak was the only domestic email (electronic mail) service in Russia. Located just a mile from KGB headquarters, RELCOM hackers, "set up a diffused network with reserve nodes and secret locations, and the authorities never caught up with them. And beyond that, of course, there was the great big illuminating cloud of the Internet itself." PRO's efforts in cyberspace have been spearheaded by Dennis Carney who is chairman of our Electronic Information Committee [email address: 73427.1615@compuserve.com]. He is the one who takes the time each month to "upload" (that is place on the network) the PROponent each month. He is also the one who takes time to scan the network for "good stuff" which is duly passed on the to PROponent editors who pass it on to you. The results of his efforts are beginning to show. We are setting records for PROponent downloads (files taken off the network) which are reaching nearly 100 each month. And the good news is that we don't know how many people get copies from each person downloading the issue. We would love to see downloaded printouts of our PROponent hanging on gun club bulletin boards all over the country. And failing that, at least copies of some of the articles of more general interest. Everyone should feel free to use our stuff. If you like it, if you think it's important, copy it and send it around. Put it in your newsletter. We hope you reference us but if you don't we won't sue (we will make an exception here for HCI). To show you how this works, we now quote the latest The Bullet: The Official Publication of the Western Missouri Shooters' Alliance who found some value in what we had to say. We pulled this text out of their network newsletter: "The current issue of The PROponent (put out by the Peoples' Rights Organization in Columbus, OH) contains, as ever, much good material. Particularly interesting to me was an observation pertaining to the pogrom the Clinton administration is mounting against FFL holders. The plan is to drive 80% of these people out of business (that amounts to 210,000 dealers). What happens when a dealer surrenders his FFL is that he also surrenders all of his 4473 forms to the government. BATF is then free to use the information on those forms to construct a truly massive, central database containing the dealers' customers and all the guns they purchased from him. Doesn't look good..." We thank The Bullet for their praise and we hope other pro-gun organizations will join the discussion in cyberspace. [Electronic Information Committee Chairman Note: PRO has its own section on the Blue Moon BBS called PRO Online. The E.I.C. regularly posts updates from Gun Talk (NRA BBS) and other sources to this board. Blue Moon has 4 public lines and 1 private line for PRO members only. The public lines are 614-868-9980 (82) (84) (85). Call the PRO Hotline 614-268-0122 and leave a message if you would like to be contacted with further information about the Blue Moon BBS or activities of the E.I.C.] ONE POSSIBLE FUTURE ... It is a beautiful spring day and you are leisurely tooling along in your car. Already since his inauguration for a second term, Bill Clinton has rammed his "Comprehensive Gun Violence Act of 1997" through a willing Congress. But this didn't much bother you because at best you were just a casual shooter, not like those radical types the government was now hunting down. You know, like you saw every day on the TV news. Sure you used to target shoot enough to have your own reloading bench, but like a good citizen you got rid of your guns in the "amnesty" period because, well, it just wasn't that important to you. You even got rid of your reloading stuff. And then you saw it. It was the unmistakable black uniforms and submachine guns of a National Police gun search roadblock. Too late to turn off now, so you sit in line waiting your turn. They get you out of the car and first they search you. You think they are a little rough with you, but hey, you've got nothing to hide and in times like these you suppose they have to be careful. You notice how young these cops are. They are nothing but a bunch of college kids who by rights should have been out drinking beer and making noise, but something in their manner unmistakably brings to mind old movies portraying the Hitler Youth. Then they find IT. "It" was one lone .45 ACP spent brass case lodged in the corner of your trunk. Over the hood you go and on go the handcuffs. You know you are in trouble because possession of an "ammunition component" is now a felony with a $10,000 fine and a minimum of 5 and a max of 10 years in jail for a conviction. You can't deny you had it. Your mind is going a mile a minute. You are thinking that surely the federal judge will understand that one lone piece of brass is just an accident not a crime. Of course, on the other hand, federal judges are appointed. But things just don't seem to be going your way today. The police shove you in the back of a cruiser and tell you that the cartridge casing is probable cause to search your home and that they are taking you there now. Once at your house, they tell you that if you confess and show them your ammunition stash it will surely go much easier for you in court. But you keep insisting you have no firearms or ammunition anymore. They don't believe you. The police methodically begin to tear your house apart. They appear to you to be trying to maximize the amount of damage they can do to your possessions. And their search is not in vain. High on a shelf they find it. And this time the "it" is a full brick of large pistol primers. Somehow out of nowhere news cameras from the local TV station appear and now the National Police really get rough with you. Later that evening in the smelly county jail, you see the evening news on the communal TV and you see yourself handcuffed, bent and broken being shoved into a police car. You see your wrecked home. You hear the prettyboy newscaster describing your "clandestine ammunition factory" and telling how national agents found supplies to manufacture "thousands of rounds" of contraband handgun ammunition. He noted that you had no "arsenal" license. From that point on you now know that your life has changed forever. Is this possible future going to be YOUR future? Well I'd say that it just depends. It depends on what you are going to do this year. Sit on your butt and it could very well be you. But if this is not the kind of America you want for your children then get busy. There are primaries this spring and a big election in the fall. Decide right now that you are going to help put a stop to this destruction of our country. If you have not already done so, register to vote and join the NRA. Take an oath to yourself that you will spend at least 2 mornings distributing literature for pro-gun candidates. Once in the primary and once in the fall. Give at least $20 to the pro-gun candidate of your choice. Give another $20 to a pro-gun PAC. And lastly, VOTE! VOTE EVERY SOB WHO VOTED FOR MORE GUN CONTROL OUT OF GOVERNMENT. Even if his opponent is just as bad, vote them out. At least the new member won't have the seniority. Do it all and then do some more! This is YOUR country and you don't have to willingly hand over your Rights. You don't have to let them steal them either. BAD CONNECTION ... PRO's lack of enthusiasm for the Channel 4 - Kroger food-for-guns nonsense had the media ringing our phone off the hook. Needless to say, getting the facts straight was something many reporters couldn't handle. The following garbled paragraph appeared in the March 16, 1994 Columbus Guardian: "The Peoples Rights Organization, formerly known as the National Inbreeding Consortium, tried to play spoiler this week when it criticized Kroger's guns-for-food offense as being responsible for more crime. The wise money says Peoples Rights won't be a contender until St. Ann's makes a guns-for-lobotomies offer." Of course, PRO did not say the program was responsible for more crime, we said the program would not have any effect in reducing crime. A tricky little play on words that was obviously too much for the Guardian writers to handle. Since we are sure the staff of the leftist freebie didn't have any guns to turn in for lobotomies having pawned them to buy drugs in the early 70's, we can only say: "Man! Nice tie-dye! Ya wanna toke?" THREE PEOPLE AWAY ... Since this seems to have turned into the "networking" issue of the PROponent, I will carry that just a bit further and pass on one of the great secrets of the universe. It has a great deal to do with how PRO stays informed and gets things done. You may think that PRO has spies everywhere feeding us information about various anti and pro-gun activities. We do, of course, have members located in strategic jobs around town who feed us information, but the real secret has to do with an amazing interconnectedness of people in this country. Let me explain. Many years ago when Psychology Today was a vibrant and exciting magazine full of new thinking about psychology and related fields, a certain professor reported about an experiment he performed. He wanted to determine how "connected" people were in this country. So he devised an experiment that went like this: He took a huge collection of telephone books for the United States and picked people at random. He divided the group in two and the idea was to give a letter to each person in the first half to send to a person picked at random from the second half. But they couldn't just mail the letter to them, the rules were that they could only send the letter to someone they knew. It didn't need to be a good friend, but you had to know them. For example, someone from work, or school or a relative etc. The person getting the letter got the same instructions. So the first person would send it to someone of his or her acquaintance who they thought most likely to be able to pass it on and that person would do the same and so on and so on. The professor thought that the letter would probably move through 20 or 30 persons on its way to the destination. But he was wrong. The astounding fact was that each letter moved on the average a total of three times! In other words you are only three people away from ANYONE in this country! I have tested this theory and people I have told about this have tested it and we all find that it is true. You can't believe how powerful you are. Want to buy a rare item? Just put out the word and soon that bread cast upon the waters washes back in one thousand fold. Want to know about Whitewater or Waco? An eyewitness is just three people away. Want to know what HCI is up to? It's just three people away. Of course getting in touch with someone who knows is not exactly the same as getting them to tell what they know, but the powerful fact is that all of us are VERY interconnected even without INTERNET. So the next time you want to give an elected official an idea or a piece of your mind, just send it off with the person you think most likely to know someone who knows someone who knows the official and soon that "unreachable" person will not only be hearing your thoughts, but also will be hearing them from someone he knows. ____________________________________________________________ "In the United States the difficulties are not a Minotaur or a dragon - not imprisonment, hard labor, death, government harassment and censorship, but cupidity, boredom, sloppiness, indifference. Not the acts of a mighty, all-pervading, repressive government but the failure of a listless public to make use of the freedom that is its birthright." Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Russian dissident and author. ____________________________________________________________ OPTION 3 ... Let's do something very unusual for this day and age. Let us engage in cogent and incisive thought about "gun control." At it's fundament, arms control of which "gun control" is a portion presents three possible approaches. The first, I shall call option 1 argues that safety can be found by denying arms to everyone including military and police. While many gun control advocates pretend to espouse option 1 , in truth, they do not aspire to total disarmament. True believers are few and are largely found among the Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Amish. Option 1 presents a number of very serious problems of which one of the most serious is how to implement it. Many in the police, military and criminal element have very strong feelings about giving up the tools of their trade. Another problem with option 1 is that violence springs from the hearts of men (including women) not from the arms they carry. Proof lies in the historical implementation of this approach. Before the invention of firearms there were no "gun deaths." There were no firearm suicides, firearm homicides or gun accidents. Was life a blissful Eden then? Hardly. And now that the firearms toothpaste is out of the tube can it ever be stuffed back in? Perhaps, but our civilization would need to descend into a neo-dark ages to do it. The direct opposite of Option 1 and the choice of the American Founding Fathers is Option 3. This approach says that everyone should be permitted to be armed if they so choose. Option 3 is enshrined in the Second Amendment to our Constitution where the right of "the people" to "keep and bear" arms is affirmed. In spite of the efforts of "gun control" revisionists to say that "people" refers only to the National Guard, the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed in United States v. Verdugo-Uriquez that the rights of "the people" in all of the Bill of Rights including the Second Amendment always refers to citizens of the United States. But there is also a problem with Option 3. "Easy access" to firearms for "the people" also means "easy access" to firearms for criminals, the insane and those who through substance abuse are not of sound mind. It means there is a cost associated with Option 3. It means that on occasion there will be senseless murders and deranged shooting of school children. However it was a cost the founding fathers were willing to live with. George Washington said, "Every corner of this land knows firearms and more than 99 99/100 percent of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands." Which brings us to Option 2. This approach affirms that only some persons should be allowed to possess arms while others should not. The usual division is for the rulers to have arms and the subjects to be denied them. This is the approach of virtually all "gun control" advocates. If you doubt that you should carefully read the laws they have passed or proposed. Each and every one of them makes an exception for military, police and other government agents with sworn loyalty to those in power. While the crimes of a Jeffry Dahlmer or Patrick Purdy are sensational and of great interest to a "man-bites-dog" press, A quick check of the number of dogs biting men is also very instructive, even if less likely to sell advertising space. Check the Guinness Book of World Records for mass murderers. These records are all held by governments. In this game even Hitler was a runner up. We are not talking here about war dead, but rather the murder of civilians by their leaders. The record is there of millions upon millions of bodies piled high in China, Russia and Cambodia and yes, Germany, standing in mute testimony to the folly of Option 2. The reader should now take the place of our Founding Fathers and ask which option you would recommend as the basis for this land in which you live and raise your children. Does the high school buddy argument that "everybody does it" give credence to an argument for a switch to Option 2 which is so favored by the rest of the world. Does the magnetic attraction of the United States as a destination of world emigration despite it's avowed Option 3 foundations say anything about the costs of an Option 3 society versus an Option 2 society. Throughout our history a great many people have said it does say something and they voted with their feet and lives. JEWS SAVE HAWAII ... Anti-gunners in Hawaii were on a roll. Two bills: one to ban all handguns and another to register all firearms passed the state senate in February. As usual the state attorney general, police officials and many politicians backed the measure. Hawaii known for its anti-gun politicians seemed poised ready to be the first domino to fall. Pro-gunners for the most part just threw up their hands and waited to hear the crash ... that is all but one group. Members of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) began a grassroots fundraising campaign to fight back. According to the March 25 and April 1, Gun Week, the first advertisement they ran with the money was their famous likeness of Hitler giving the Nazi salute with the phrase "all in favor of gun control raise your right hand." Anti-gun Jewish leaders then countered by raising the false issue of Hitler and the Star of David [part of JPFO's logo] appearing together on the same billboard. The billboard company pulled the ads after just ten days. They refused to put them back up because they said there was too much community opposition. JPFO, however, said that they got four complaints and 600 favorable comments about the ads. The furor died down, but just when the two bills reached the House Judiciary Committee JPFO launched another flight of ads. These showed an AR15 and the statement "Never let go of your life preserver." They featured a table of genocides around the world and the gun control laws that preceded each rash of government killing. It headlined: "56 million murdered thanks to "gun control." The Hawaii ads also included the statement "124,000 Japanese Americans almost made this list, " which referred to the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. This is still a sore point in Hawaii where many Japanese Americans live. The public response to these ads was complete silence. No letters to the editor, no public statements by community leaders, ... nothing. Except that the noise of this overwhelming silence reached the statehouse. On March 21, the Hawaiian House Judiciary Committee stripped the two measures from the Senate package and substituted a milder substitute that mandates 2 hours of safety training for a handgun license and makes handgun owners responsible for almost any damage caused by their firearms. Since handgunners are already licensed in Hawaii, mandatory training would not make them any more registered than they already are and these liability laws are wide open for testing in court and most areas that have passed them have not even tried to enforce them. I am sure that most of you by now have seen the "don't ever give up" cartoon that show a wetlands bird with a frog in its bill where the frog on its way down has reached out and is choking the bird. We have seen that drawing and chuckled and nodded in agreement. But do we live that ideal? These Jews in Hawaii were about to be swallowed, but they didn't give up. They reached out and touched someone and wonder of wonders the bird coughed and spit the frog back out! LETTERS... Dear PRO: I can understand that the American people want something done about crime and rightly so, but- Owning guns in America for their hunting and protection has been under attack since the middle of the century by the socialists in government who cannot see that guns aren't the problem - Criminals are! This erosion of the Constitutional protection guaranteed by the "Bill of Rights" is an assault on Americans to keep and bear arms which is guaranteed by the Second Amendment. The right of self defense is also an established principle of the common law. The intention of the framers of this constitutional Bill of Rights (Second Amendment) [who] believed not only in the goodness of man but [also] in his innate depravity, was to insure that free men always had the right to resist the efforts of tyrants to enslave them. Americans only need to reflect on the gun registration of Nazi Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union to see that the wisdom in that protection and the folly of surrendering their guns to the state. Clinton called the "Brady Bill" a "Thanksgiving Present" to the nation. In less than two weeks later, a gunman in New York killed six people and injured many more. The man had waited fifteen days to purchase a gun in California. Most of the news media, including newspapers and television journalists are clamoring for those in power to take away our guns. They scream and cry about their first amendment rights while at the same time they want to usurp the Second Amendment while trying to mold the minds of the American people. I will resist these leaders in government who are trying to take away my guns and along with them, my freedom. In fact, I will fight to keep them. Respectfully, George Garretson, Marietta, Ohio Dear PRO: I believe the $15.00 fee being charged dealers is illegal. The "Brady Bill" does not require a background check-only opportunity(5 days) to conduct one. The Chief Law Enforcement Officer does not have to conduct a check. Since the check is not mandated by law, how can the state legally charge a fee to dealers for a service not required? R. Landstrom Cumberland, Ohio [Editor's Note: We feel the same way as Mr. Landstrom. Our legal department is looking into the issue along with the NRA] Dear PRO: I would like to recommend that you include the location, date and time of the monthly PRO meetings in each issue of the PROponent. I will assume that new members join every month who may not know of the meetings, and a reminder in the newsletter would be a kindness for those of us who forget or don't know. Next, I want to make a point about "Disposable Kids" which appeared in the January issue, page 11. When children fail, it is because the parents have not done their job. It is the primary responsibility and obligation of parents to oversee and direct the education of their children. That many, many have abdicated this responsibility to the government schools and their self-proclaimed experts is no excuse. Parents are the ones completely and totally responsible. While the state of government schools in this country is appalling, it is to be expected. The compulsory, government controlled, tax supported schooling is based on socialism. This philosophical model and its expression in human form will NEVER work. Americans are compelled by the force of the state to pay for government schools, they are forced to send their kids to the schools unless they have the ability to pay taxes and private school tuition, or if they understand the issues sufficiently to teach them at home. The government school system will never work. No government monopoly has ever been efficient or successful at anything other than self perpetuation and growth. Apparently we have learned nothing from the Soviet experiment, and the fall of communism during our lifetime, for we continue to increase funding to these funding to these moribund systems, and forget that we are responsible for our actions, and for those of our children. I was surprised that you pointed the finger at the tax-supported education employees for the failure of children to pass the 9th grade proficiency test. It is the responsibility of the PARENTS to make sure that this doesn't happen. The parents and the tax payers are not holding those in the socialistic school system accountable. And by the way, it is called the 9th grade proficiency test because it is given in the 9th grade. It is 6th grade level material. We love the newsletter, we write our elected officials, we read, write editors, attend committee meetings, legislation hearings, and we vote. R. Coleman-Roush [Editor's note: When one signs a contract, they always tell you to read the fine print. On page two of all PROponents we have what is called a masthead. This tells who the editors are; that those who wish may use any portion of the PROponent as long as they give us credit and send us a copy of the article, and the last line of the small print tells everyone that PRO meetings are on the third Tuesday of every month at Veteran's Memorial in rooms 206-207. PRO's next meeting will be April 19, 1994, at Veteran's Memorial in rooms 206-207. All general meetings start at 7:30 pm and all meetings end by 10:00 pm. April 19 is an important date for us, in that the American Revolution began on this date, as did the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in WW II, as did the final conflagration in Waco, Texas. It is also important due to the fact that Dewey Stokes, candidate for Franklin County Commissioner, will attend this meeting. You are right, we should put the meeting time and date in bigger print in each issue. Due to space constraints, this is sometimes difficult. And congratulations on being politically active. You are setting an example for all PRO members to follow.] Dear PRO: In the February issue of the PROponent you talked of turning in of the yellow sheets (4473) when a dealer goes out of business. (Almost all of us have signed one to get that special firearm.) NRA membership and even PRO membership would reflect gun ownership and would give the government a national hit-list (95% accurate) with a stroke of a pen the government could have our names and numbers! We must vote to eliminate anti-gun leaders. During "prohibition" only gangs and mobs had the booze. Gun prohibition would be no different, only this time the criminals would have the guns! (And probably the booze also!) It is clear that the political leaders gnawing away at our 2nd Amendment Rights are indeed breaking the law. (But, they did take an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.) Political leaders must be "above the law" when I was in the military I took a similar oath, will our military support new laws or the Constitution? T. Easton [Editors note: While the government can pass a law with the "stroke of a pen", getting membership lists could take a much bigger stroke. Both the NRA and PRO keep membership lists strictly confidential. (Our mailing list, however, is another matter. It was generated from public sources.) While we can't speak for the NRA, the PRO leadership has no intention of handing over confidential files, law or no law.] Dear PRO: On April 19, 1994, one year will have passed since fire leveled the residence of the Waco Branch Davidian, killing more than 80 men, women, and children. The actions taken by the FBI at that scene raise many questions about the conduct and intent of the FBI and AFT [BATF, editor] officials and agents during the entire episode. Our government's conduct in Waco reminds many of the conduct of other governments in the past--the government of Nazi Germany under Hitler, the government of the U.S.S.R. under Stalin, and the government of Cambodia under Pol Pot. In those cases, the citizens of those countries failed to speak out forcefully enough, early enough. They allowed tyranny to grow until it could not be contained and millions perished. We need to call attention to what happened at Waco to help our country take responsibility as a civilized people. I and several of my neighbors will hold a protest demonstration on April 19, 1994. The protest will be held between 11:30 am and 2:30 pm outside the FBI building on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. between 9th and 10th Streets, in Washington D.C. Please join us. This forum is open to all those who wish to condemn the FBI actions. Come representing your organization or come as an individual. Bring your own picket signs, and, if you wish, your own literature to hand to a passerby. I intend to send out a press release before the event, and would be happy to mention your attendance in that release if you wish. Alternatively, feel free to arrange your own press coverage for your organization if you wish. If you can come, call me at the above number. I want to be able to give an estimate of crowd size to the D.C. police. The Committee for Waco Justice will hold a vigil for the Branch Davidians an April 19, 1994 at Lafayette Park, across from the Whitehouse from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. For more information contact Carol Moore at 202-986-1847. Carol Valentine 703-323-7484 or Fax: 703-323-8073 5635 Sutherland Court Burke, Virginia 22015 [Editor's note: If Washington D.C. is too far to travel, hold a vigil in front of your own state capital at the same time as the one in Washington. 50 Waco Memorial Services across our nation would make the news, and send a strong message to the bureaucrats of the FBI and BATF and their leaders.] Dear PRO: I am writing in response to your February, Volume 6, PROponent issue. My husband and I usually enjoy reading this and find it very informative. However, just as you urge people to write or call a person or agency who has published or said something insulting, untrue, etc., that is the reason for my letter. On page 11, under the title "liar, liar", which discusses Stokes, you wrote that Stokes should become a security guard for the animal shelter, thus fulfilling his dreams of a county job and making "anti-gun animal wackos happy." How dare you make such a statement? I am the radio dispatcher for Franklin County Animal Control, which is the same agency as the animal shelter (just a separate building). I am an avid squirrel, rabbit, deer hunter, as are several of my co-workers. My husband has an extensive gun collection, both for hunting and simply to admire. We and my co-workers go to gun shows together, both as customers and exhibitors. Does this sound like a bunch of "anti-gun wackos" to you? I find it very offensive that simply because someone works with animals you automatically assume that not only are we "anti-gun" but to top it off we are also "wacko." Do you own a pet sir? I think a published apology in your next PROponent would be nice. C. Mulvain Columbus, Ohio [Editor's note: When I was a lad growing up in the `50's, a favorite expression of the time was that someone "couldn't get elected dog-catcher." In my diatribe against Dewey, I meant no disrespect towards the fine work done by animal shelters or those that work for Animal Control. "Anti-gun animal wackos" refers not to those who work with animals as you do, but rather those misguided persons who would go to your animal shelter and open all the cages to "free" the animals you have "oppressed" or believe that the "humane" way to control deer populations is through disease and slow starvation rather than a painless quick harvesting. It is quite obvious from your letter that neither you nor your co-workers would be happy if Dewey Stokes, who has worked hard with Handgun Control to take away your hunting privileges and guns, came to work at your shelter. As we grow older and times change, once in a while an old sexist remark will emerge or a derogatory comment about elected officials will come out wrong. If I had said trash-compactor collector, someone would have skewered me also. You asked if I had a pet. The answer is no. Nor do I hunt and shoot as much as I used to. I would like to do more hunting and shooting and to be able to enjoy a dog, but most of my time is spent helping to preserve the Second Amendment, going to gun and trade shows and expo's. In the article,"Liar, Liar" I meant no insult to you and your co-workers, and I apologize for ruffling your feathers, fur, dander, feelings.] Dear PRO: It is most gratifying to me to know there are good people like you out there who are fighting for our Second Amendment Rights as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. Let me introduce myself - I am 66 years young- have been a hunter for about 56 years except two years while I was in the army. I have been a member of the NRA for a few years now and do support them with a little donation (what I can spare) from time to time. I am a small game hunter - rabbit, squirrel, grouse, groundhog and love it. I only do a little squirrel hunting now because the others require too much walking. I enjoy getting and reading your PRO pamphlet which I pass on your exceptionally good information on to others. Is it possible that I could get some more pamphlets (PRO's) to pass out? At present, a friend and I are getting together a letter to be signed by several hunters and sportsmen so we may pass this letter to our Congressmen and Senators. Personally, I have written many letters to these people in the past. Congressman Miller always said that he would uphold the Constitution, but our two Senators have always more or less rebuffed me in the negative- having stated that they are for gun control. I believe it damned necessary to get more letters and PROponents out to more people so that they will be informed. Hopefully, this fall we can make a difference in the election so we can have more say in determining our destiny. Keep up the good work. G. Garretson Marietta, Ohio [Editor's Note: We are always happy when members pass on the information in our newsletter. You can always pick up a few extra at our gun shows. We try to cut it close so not every month has leftover issues. If you belong to a gun club have them ask to be put on our mailing list. We will exchange newsletters (even if they don't have one) with any club that asks. If you want to pass out copies of a certain PROponent article, just make copies and hand them out. (We would like you to mention PRO and the issue you took it from on the copy. When you put our phone number on each copy, if someone reads it and wants more information they can just give us a call.) Also, PRO is always looking to begin new chapters throughout the state. If you want to start a PRO group in your area of the state, contact the PRO hotline at 614-268-0122. Also, most farmers or those that live in the country will let you on the property to harvest groundhog. If their infestation is bad enough, they may even drive you back and forth.] [Editor's Note: This next letter is an excellent idea. We have changed a few points to, hopefully make it even better. We do apologize to the originator of this idea for losing his name. If you see this altered plan, please drop us another letter so that we can give you credit for an excellent idea.] A Peaceful Protest is better than an armed revolution. On July 4, 1994, let it be proclaimed that: 1. That this nation be in mourning due to the passage of the Brady Law's People Controls, and that 2. All vehicles of any type shall be on the Nation's highways at 3 pm, and that 3. A speed limit of 45 mph shall be maintained for 15 minutes, and that 4. All legislators responsible for the passage of the Brady Law shall be remembered on Election Day, and that 5. All Patriots shall make at least 10 copies of this Proclamation for distribution to friends throughout the land and then be on the highway on July 4, 1994. In order to make this effective, news releases should be sent to your local news media a week in advance of the 3 pm Mourning Time. Then do it with several friends. Turn on your lights and cover all lanes of the highway! ____________________________________________________________ "And what makes the people of America afraid - what has made them afraid - is the fear of servitude in any form! Yet all must learn that those who are greater ... are to be the servants of all ... not lords over others ... life in all its manifestations, expressions, relationships, and dealings with one another is not to be gouging, not a "gimme," not a hating ... not things that belittle; but that which creates hope, faith, and understanding in the minds and hearts of men everywhere!" Edgar Cayce, 1877-1945, American psychic, "reading" 3976-19 ____________________________________________________________ SARAH... You can have a sexy time with Sarah Brady and HCI. With just 29 cents you can have a relationship with Sarah. Send a letter to: Handgun Control, Inc. 1225 Eye Street, NW, Suite 1000 Washington, D.C. 20005. We are sure that every PRO member wants to be fair and learn as much as they can about both sides of this issue. Therefore, in your letter politely ask that HCI send you some information about their "fine" organization. This should cost them $3.00 to $4.00 in shipping and handling and printing costs as well as keep you informed of their plans. Wartime makes for strange bedfellows, so let's all have a romp with Sarah and send in a letter asking for information. CAROL ANN CARROLL... All PRO Republicans should be informed of the primary race between Dewey Stokes and Carol Ann Carroll. Mr. Stokes with a history of taking money from Handgun Control Inc. as well as publicly supporting their positions has won the endorsement of the Republican Central Committee to run for Franklin County Commissioner, but Ms. Carroll who sports a long record of volunteer activity in the Party was reportedly not happy with the behind jockeying that gave Stokes the endorsement. Described as a "real" Republican she found much support among PRO members when she spoke at the March meeting. She described her two sons; one of which is a West Point Graduate and is in the military while the other is attending Yale University Law School. She said that she did not want to see a world that came to the point where her sons could not defend themselves either in or out of the military. She does not want her son to have to give up having a gun when he gets out of the service. She spoke of the recent troubles of within the Republican party such as those with Palmer McNeal and how she had tried to blow the whistle on questionable accounting practices to no avail. She tries to be the "conscience of the party" and thinks, "We should demand more of political leaders than we do of our children." She said, "I am prepared to be held accountable by the voters of this community." She also spoke of crime in our neighborhoods. She felt that the crime problems need some serious thoughts about the root causes of crime, but that "gun control" is no answer to reduce crime. Her view is that guns her sons might own in no way increase the likelihood of crime in their neighborhoods as the gun control people would have us believe, but rather their presence makes the neighborhood safer for all who live there whether or not they themselves choose to owns guns. Lastly she asked PRO members for help with her campaign. It's pretty obvious that she does not have the support of the city's big bucks movers and shakers. She can use any grassroots donations she can get, but much more important than that, she said, was the need for people to help her blanket neighborhoods. Candidates with big money can just mail out literature, but a grassroots candidate can do exactly the same thing if enough volunteers pitch in. PRO members who wish to help can make the equivalent to a large cash donation by simply spending a few hours covering a neighborhood. PRO is convinced that Carol Ann Carroll would make a Franklin County Commissioner with honesty and morality on the front burner not a back one. Also, she won't be working to disarm the honest people of this county and make self-defense a crime. Her idea is that you go after crime by going after the few repeat offenders who commit 80% of the crimes. We think so too. HER OPPONENT ... Don't forget that Carol Ann Carroll's opponent in this Republican primary election, Dewey Stokes, will be speaking at the April PRO meeting. Don't miss it. THE ATLANTIC ... Intellectuals tired of appearing to be fools by parroting propaganda from Handgun Control Inc. are beginning to think for themselves and the facts are inescapable. For proof see the article by Daniel D. Polsby in the March 1994 issue of The Atlantic Monthly entitled "The False Promise of Gun Control." He begins, "Alas, however well accepted, the conventional wisdom about guns and violence is mistaken. Guns don't increase national rates of crime and violence - but the continued proliferation of gun-control laws almost certainly does." He debunks the old saw that the "only" purpose of guns is to kill people. He notes that the real function of a handgun is "to allow a person tactically to dominate a hostile transaction with another person." People calling for gun control like professors and newspaper editors are actually at very low risk of being involved in a situation needing a gun. Criminals, on the other hand know ahead of time that they will be in such a situation. Thus, criminals will be willing to pay a very high price for a gun even if they are banned. He continues with a critical analysis of the "studies" that purport to show that a gun in the house makes it more likely you will be killed. He notes that the problem with the Kellermann study in The New England Journal of Medicine is that causality arrow points the wrong way. Kellermann defended his study saying that what he did was no different than the studies that linked smoking and cancer, but the catch is he has essentially concluded that cancer causes smoking! Polsby continues to methodically tear apart the entire structure of "gun control" until virtually none of it is left as true. He examines crime and concludes that we need to go after the root causes of crime and notes there are many including, "for certain people predation is a rational occupational choice." "But firearms are nowhere near the root of the problem of violence." PRO says check it out. ____________________________________________________________ Campaign Kickoff Amy Salerno will be holding a campaign kickoff at 2:00pm on April 16, 1994 at the Government Building (City Hall) in Grove City. Any PRO member who wishes to attend can call 221-5555 for more information. ____________________________________________________________ The PROponent is published by: Peoples Rights Organization; 5 E. Long St., Suite 412; Columbus, OH 43215; Tel (614) 268-0122 Fax (614) 275-0092 EMAIL: 73427.1615@compuserve.com Michael T. Regan, Chairman; Ron Herman, Vice Chairman Dennis Walker, Secretary; Sherry Herman, Treasurer Editors: Dennis Walker and Frank Jacoby Contributions, either written or financial are gladly accepted. Anyone wishing to reprint all or part of an article from the PROponent may do so. Please mention the PROponent and the issue that the article was in, and send a copy of your publication to our PRO office. (We like to know what your organization is doing too.) Also, PRO will exchange newsletters with any pro-gun, pro-rights, pro-hunting, etc. group to further grass-roots communication. Put us on your newsletter mailing list and we will put your club on ours. PRO general meetings are held the third Tuesday of every month at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, W. Broad St. Columbus, Ohio. _________________________________________________________________