From: JimPell@aol.com
Date: Fri, 28 Jul 1995 13:27:17 -0400
To: zoegram@hr.house.gov
Cc: ba-firearms@shell.portal.com, leroy.pyle@prn-bbs.org
Subject: Letter to Zoe Lofgren re HR 1488

San Jose, CA
July 28, 1995 (hardcopy USmailed this date)

Zoe Lofgren
Member of Congress
U. S. House of Representatives
118 Cannon House Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515

In Re: SUPPORT HR 1488

Dear Ms. Lofgren,
   With all respect, I ask you to help support HR 1488, which I believe to be
a realistic and principled expression of the will of informed American
people, and also a clear reflection of the spirit of the American
constitution.
   I have approached you previously to ask for the repeal of the gun ban,
which I regard as futile legislation, and one aimed at all the wrong people.
In your kind reply to me you said that it is "most people's" belief that this
law protects society. I respect this opinion, but I want you to keep an open
mind about HR 1488. There are plenty of fine, upstanding citizens who support
HR 1488 and believe, as I do, that Clinton's gun ban is not only ineffectual
but extremely risky.
   The basis for gun ownership is not hunting -- I myself am no hunter, I
have no inclination to kill brown-eyed beasties. The real issue is political,
far deeper and more difficult to discuss, and it does arouse painful
confrontation with our human weaknesses. People can be violent, and some
people will always take advantage of a chance to dominate, violate, even
enslave others.
   In Iraq, Sadam Hussein controls a nation by controlling the arms. It will
happen again somewhere else. Can any of us guess where?
   In Bosnia, the Serbs murder and pillage with impunity, because they cannot
be stopped by an unarmed populace. What a sad testimony to Clinton's policy
to disarm citizens.
   It is not likely to happen in America, but not because we are above this
sort of thing -- we are not -- but because we are free people. We vote with a
ballot, or we vote with our feet, or we vote with our dollars... and in the
back of our minds, at the foundation of our confidence in the American
system, we remember that we are armed, and we can never be oppressed by
tyrants.
   Please respect this as a delicate but honorable position. There is no
armed revolution happening in America today, neither in fact nor in
contemplation. But this is a balance, and I believe that the right to keep
and bear arms is essential to that balance. Clinton's gun ban upset that
balance and is dangerously polarizing the nation, and should be reversed.
   Violent crime involving guns is a relatively small problem and deserves
attention. But it is folly to gamble the whole bankroll against the long odds
of solving one problem. Don't confuse good citizens with violent criminals.
Keep America armed and free.
Sincerely,


Jim Pell