The 1999 Fourth of July weekend heatwave registered temperatures well
over 100-plus degrees in the Northeast, but that heat will pale in
comparison to the heat generated for the passage of more gun control in
the U.S. Congress and the state legislatures. The summer of 1999 has
turned into a long, hot, sizzling summer for U. S. gun owners.
On July 14, the New York Times, which trumpets the case for more gun
control with the same Bill Clinton fanaticism, printed a feature article
by Frank Bruni
on the
House Republicans agreeing to new restrictions, while at the same time
running an editorial which praised the NAACP’s decision to start
litigation against firearms’ manufacturers.
Gun control proponents have never diminished their drive for passage
of the Senate version of the Juvenile Justice bill. The Democrats,
accusing the Republicans of delaying tactics, attempted on Tuesday to
add three different gun control amendments during the House
Appropriations Committee consideration of the FY2000 Treasury-Postal
Appropriations bill. All attempts were rejected. It is clear that the
gun prohibitionists intend to keep the gun control issue simmering for
the next 16 months.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who had favored some gun control
provisions prior to the House votes on the Juvenile Justice bill, has
now said that some gun provisions could be included in the final bill
even though the House defeated the gun control bill. The disclosure on
Wednesday that Majority Whip Tom Delay, R-Texas, would also support the
inclusion of some gun control measures as part of the House-Senate
conference committee legislation does not bode well for gun owners.
Delay is one of the strongest pro-gun congressmen from Texas.
While the House leadership says they will appoint conferees on the
Juvenile Justice bill this week, Sen. Bob Smith, I-N.H., has a hold on
the appointment of conferees in the Senate. This week Smith formally
announced his decision to leave the Republican Party and become an
Independent; his hour-long Senate floor speech included some very moving
thoughts about the great men in U.S. history. Even though Smith has put
the Senate Republican leadership in a quandary, it has been reported
that the Senate will appoint conferees next week.
While all the legislative maneuvering goes on in our nation’s
capitol, gun control has become one of the hottest topics among
presidential candidates. Between the two Democratic candidates, Gore
and Bradley, it’s a race to see who can offer the most restrictive
proposals. Last week former Sen. Bradley scored a three-point jumpshot
when he proposed registering every handgun as well as testing and
licensing those who purchase firearms. This past Tuesday, Gore
introduced his own gun registration program. His proposal consists of a
national licensing system for all gun buyers complete with picture ID’s
and “safety checks.” The “safety check” would be in the form of a
written exam. In addition Gore would ban “junk guns” and require
manufacturers and federally licensed dealers (FFL) to report all handgun
sales not only on federal forms but to state authorities as well.
Gore’s campaign rhetoric — “Unless you obtain a license, pass a
background check and pass a gun safety test, you could not buy a
handgun. Not in a gun shop, not at a gun show, not on a street corner,
not anywhere in America” — must have American criminals laughing
themselves to death. Come on, Al, re-read Haynes v. U.S.;
registration laws do not apply to criminals.
Neither Bradley nor Gore’s proposals would have prevented the
Columbine massacre, or the Illinois and Indiana shooting spree of
Benjamin Smith. In fact, it was the Illinois State police who issued
Smith a gun-owner ID card only two weeks before the tragedy. Why didn’t
they pick up Benjamin Smith and arrest him when on June 26 he failed the
instant background check at Heights Gun and Hunter Supplies? Even
later when his illegal firearms purchase was discovered by the police,
why didn’t anyone try and find him? If he had been arrested and sitting
in jail the tragic events would have been prevented.
Catching and prosecuting violent criminals will and does reduce
crime. But registering guns and their owners can and does lead to
confiscation. In California, as predicted, it is happening. The state
appears to be determined to go after those law-abiding gun owners who
registered their guns during a state authorized extended registration
period. That extended registration has now been declared illegal and
all those registered guns have become contraband. A California gun
owner sent me the following email that sums up gunowners’ frustration
and fear:
- Essentially, I am terrified that the State in all its wisdom,
has, through a bill of attainder, classified ME as a criminal, and will
soon knock on the door for a rifle I bought in about 1976 (H&K mdl. 91).
It was purchased through an FFL dealer at his shop; I used to work for
him behind the counter. After the controversy over the “Roberti-Roos Act
of 1989” I complied with the EXTENDED DEADLINE for registration, got
back a registration card from the state, and have kept the rifle locked
in a safe ever since.
I contacted NRA-ILA last week purely out of curiosity over another
controversy, the “SKS buyback.” The woman at the NRA was nice enough to
send me the shattering information in a letter I received last night. I
have been sick ever since. Language in the letter includes:
“… Calif. D.O.J. had NO AUTHORITY to register … after March
30, 1992 … all registrations after March 30, 1992 are NULL AND VOID
… you may be subject to criminal prosecution … relinquish weapon to
police … or render permanently inoperable … unlike the SKS program,
NO REIMBURSEMENT is authorized … D.O.J. will send each sheriff and
police chief a listing of affected individuals and specific weapons
corresponding with their jurisdiction.”
So then — what??? The state had its fingers crossed behind its
back? We changed our minds, ha ha ha? My name will be sent to the local
cops by Big Brother in the state capitol? My personal private property
is to [be] confiscated without compensation? I may be subject to
criminal prosecution? Pardon my French, but what the hell is wrong with
this picture? HELP ME!!!
The answer, unfortunately, is that this reader must be able to
prove that he got rid of his contraband rifle or turn it in. Other
Californians who own SKS sporters with a detachable magazine can now
begin turning those rifles in for a voucher good for $230. But the
turn-in period ends on Dec. 31, 1999. After that there will be criminal
penalties. For further information contact SKSbuyback.
I truly doubt that even one crime will be prevented by these
draconian measures. Laws such as Roberti-Roos and the Democratic
candidate proposals are only obeyed by honest, law-abiding citizens, but
gun control has become the political issue of the day. And as long as
the media pushes the issue on political candidates, there will always be
someone trying to out-gun-control the opposition. So we must be prepared
for a sizzling summer of gun control that lasts into 2000.
A final note:
It is with sadness that I report the death of Vikki Buckley, the
Colorado secretary
of state. Vikki Buckley, the highest-ranking African-American female
Republican, was the only Colorado public official who asked to address
the 1999 annual meeting of the NRA in May. She began her address with:
- Good morning! I greet you as Secretary Of State of Colorado and I
welcome you to Colorado, a state where some of us believe strongly in
the entire Constitution of these United States, including the Second
Amendment.
Isn’t it ironic that many who would run you out of town would
themselves be unable to even vote had we as a nation not honored all
provisions of the United States Constitution?
To them I say — shame on you!
To read the rest of her inspiring address click here.
I never met her, but her words and her actions stand like a beacon of
courage to those that value the U.S. Constitution. Thank you, and God
bless you, Vikki Buckley.
