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utah-firearms-digest     Friday, September 3 1999     Volume 02 : Number 157




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 30 Aug 99 11:17:00 -0700
From: [e-mail] (SCOTT BERGESON)
Subject: FW: GOUtah! Alert #28 - 26 August 1999 2/3

[ ...Continued From Previous Message ]
Feinstein wants to ban .50-caliber rifles.

While you ponder the ominous implications of the above legislation, get
ready for more bad news. Suddenly, a number of politicians are becoming
terrified of .50-caliber rifles. The fact that a small number of wealthy
people own $6,000 rifles weighing 90 lbs. and chambered for the .50 BMG
cartridge seems to be too much for some folks in Congress to handle, even
though such guns have been around for quite some time and have never been
used in violent crime. According to an article in the August 17th issue of
The Washington Post, written by Barbara Vobejda and David Ottaway, Senator
Feinstein and anti-gun Representative Rod Blagojevich (D- Illinois) "are
preparing legislation that would ban the rifles for all civilians except
for competitive marksmen who belong to .50-caliber shooting clubs. In those
cases, the guns would be kept under the control of the club itself." There
is only one ".50-caliber shooting club" in the United States, known as "The
.50-Caliber Shooters Association", which has a Post Office box address but
no physical facility or shooting range. Again, details are sketchy at this
point, but the proposed legislation sounds a lot like the law regulating
.22-caliber pistols in England until recently. You may recall that the
British Government banned private ownership of all handguns except .22
rimfire pistols a few years ago after a madman owning several legally
registered firearms killed 15 children at a schoolyard in Scotland. At the
time, British shooters were told that they had to turn in all centerfire
handguns (which were easy for the authorities to locate, thanks to
registration). However, shooters were generously allowed to still own
pistols chambered for .22 rimfire ammunition, provided that the pistol and
ammunition were stored in a secured locker at a government-approved gun
club at all times except when being used for target practice. Of course,
when Tony Blair took over as Prime Minister a year later, Parliament
proceeded to completely ban private ownership of all .22-caliber handguns.
It is not clear at this point whether Feinstein's proposal would include
guns chambered for other .50-caliber cartridges, such as certain African
big-game guns and black powder muzzleloaders, or whether it focuses only on
the .50 BMG cartridge. Either way, the real reason for Feinstein's
proposal, according to pro-gun activist Neal Knox, is to introduce the term
"sniper rifle" into the national political dialogue. We note a pattern
here. The gun-control lobby has invented several terms in the past which
have little technical meaning but which make for effective sound bites
designed to terrify naive suburban voters. These buzzwords include
"cop-killer bullets", "assault weapons", "Saturday night specials", and
"junk guns". The same folks apparently wish to add "sniper rifle" to the
legislative lexicon, so that the term can be employed by politicians and
media pundits wanting to "do something" about a non-existent problem. Of
course, any expert on military affairs will tell you that a true "sniper
rifle" is simply a deer-hunting rifle that has been painted black.
Naturally, Feinstein and her allies are counting on gun owners to sit idly
by while she outlaws .50-caliber rifles, since most of us have neither the
money nor the inclination to own such a gun. You as a GOUtah! activist
should be very concerned about this attack on our flanks, even if you don't
own a .50-caliber weapon. If someone shoots, he's one of us and we must
defend his gun rights as if they were our own. We're all in this together.
Rep. Blagojevich has also introduced legislation to prohibit the possession
of armor-piercing .50-caliber ammunition. In addition, according to the
Times, a bill currently in House-Senate negotiation (probably the Juvenile
Justice Bill, but we have not been able to confirm this) contains an
amendment by Rep. Blagojevich prohibiting the sale of military surplus
.50-caliber ammunition by the government.


Feinstein to introduce gun registration bill.

Senator Feinstein just won't leave us alone. She announced earlier this
week to several California newspapers that she has drafted a bill that
would require registration of firearms and licensing of gun owners. She
plans to introduce the bill in September. Again the details are not yet
available but we can be certain that they won't be nice.


Status of the Juvenile Justice Bill

Congress is still in recess, but will reconvene after Labor Day. The fate
of the gun control provisions of the Senate version of the Juvenile Justice
Bill (S. 254) is still up in the air. House and Senate negotiators will
attempt to hammer out a compromise bill based on the Senate and House
versions. Once the final compromise has been reached, it must be approved
by both houses of Congress before it can reach the President's desk.
The House version contains no gun control provisions, while the Senate bill
contains several, including one which would essentially make gun shows a
thing of the past and another that would make it a federal crime to let
your teenage son or daughter handle or shoot an "assault weapon", i.e. a
semiautomatic firearm that doesn't have the government-approved cosmetic
appearance. In addition, the Senate version would make it illegal to wear
body armor while committing a federal crime of any sort, including
non-violent crimes such as cheating on one's taxes. Another section of
this bill allows law enforcement officers to intercept electronic pager
messages without a warrant. Basically, S. 254 is a bad bill, even without
the gun provisions.
[ Continued In Next Message... ]



- -

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 30 Aug 99 11:17:00 -0700
From: [e-mail] (SCOTT BERGESON)
Subject: FW: GOUtah! Alert #28 - 26 August 1999 3/3

[ ...Continued From Previous Message ]
FBI admits that its agents used pyrotechnic devices at Waco.

The two paramilitary assaults on the Branch Davidian church in 1993 are
making headlines again. Both attacks (one by the BATF and the other by the
FBI) demonstrated what can happen when government gets out of control. One
assertion which the FBI has made repeatedly since the final assault on the
Davidian compound is that federal agents used no pyrotechnic devices of any
sort. On Wednesday, however, the FBI was forced to officially acknowledge
that pyrotechnic devices had indeed been used to insert CS gas into part of
the compound. The issue came up earlier in the week when Danny Coulson, a
former senior FBI official, disclosed the use of pyrotechnic grenades while
being questioned during preparations for a lawsuit being brought against
the government by relatives of some of the Davidians killed in the attack.
Although it is not likely that these particular devices started the fire,
according to Coulson, the new admission indicates that the FBI and the
Justice Department have been lying through their teeth for six years.
In addition, we have learned from Thursday's edition of the Dallas Morning
News that a retired CIA agent, who worked with the U.S. Army's elite
clandestine unit known as Delta Force, has revealed that several Delta
Force soldiers told him fairly detailed stories after the Waco incident
about having participated in the final assault on the church, not just as
technical advisors but as actual operatives. If this is true, it directly
violates federal law, which prohibits the use of military personnel in law
enforcement activities, except for narcotics operations.
We at GOUtah! recommend that you visit Blockbuster Video and rent a copy of
the Academy Award-nominated documentary film, Waco: The Rules of
Engagement, if you haven't already done so, and invite your friends to
watch it with you. Note that Roger Ebert and the late Gene Siskel gave
this film two thumbs up. The basic premise of gun control is that only the
government can be trusted with firearms. Waco: The Rules of Engagement
provides a powerful rebuttal to that argument. One of the reasons why so
many Americans nowadays seem willing to surrender their liberties,
including their Second Amendment rights, is that most of us don't think
that our own government is capable of doing terrible things to its
citizens. This film provides striking evidence to the contrary. Its
director, William Gazecki, is a liberal Buddhist from Berkeley who admits
that he has always hated guns. After having made this documentary,
however, he says that he now understands why we need the Second Amendment.
For more information, please visit the film's website at www.waco93.com.


What you can do this week.

Please call your Congressman and both U.S. Senators, visit them in person,
or write letters to them. Tell them that the Juvenile Justice Bill must
not pass if any gun control provisions remain in it. Ask them whether they
have read the entire text of the bill, and if they haven't (which is
probably the case), ask them why they would vote for something they haven't
read. Also, tell Senator Hatch and Senator Bennett that you are aware of
Senator Feinstein's efforts to whittle away at your Second-Amendment
rights, and that you will not tolerate any support for her activities by
any member of Utah's Congressional delegation. In particular, please ask
Senator Hatch to use his clout to oppose Feinstein's efforts. While
Congress is in recess, our senators and representatives are likely to be in
Utah, where you can visit them in person. Also, please attend any town
meetings at which your representatives are present.

Sen. Orrin Hatch
Local Office: 8042 Federal Bldg.
125 South State St.
SLC, Utah 8484138-1102
Utah Phone: [phone]
Utah Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

Sen. Robert Bennett
Local Office: 4225 Federal Bldg.
125 South State St.
SLC, Utah 8484138
Utah Phone: [phone]
Utah Fax: [phone]
[e-mail]

Congressional District 1: Northern and Western Utah, except Salt Lake Metro
Rep. Jim Hansen (R)
Local Office: 324-25th Ave.
Ogden, Utah 84401
Utah Phone: [phone]
Utah Fax: [phone]

Congressional District 2: Salt Lake Metro Area
Rep. Merrill Cook (R)
Local Office: 125 South State Street
Salt Lake City, Utah 84138
Utah Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Congressional District 3: Central and Eastern Utah
Rep. Chris Cannon (R)
Local Offices: 51 South University Drive
Provo, Utah 84606
Utah Phone: [phone]
Utah Fax [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

Results of Salt Lake City's gun turn-in program.
We congratulate our GOUtah! activists who made appearances on TV and radio
to denounce the Salt Lake Police Department's recent gun turn-in program.
We contacted the SLPD recently to ask how many guns had been turned in
altogether, and we received answers ranging from 5 to 10, though no one
seemed quite certain.

GOUtah! Gun Rights (and Wrongs) Quote Watch.

"I, too, would like to see guns banned. . . . I can even vote that way and
still win reelection. But the vast majority of lawmakers cannot, so we vote
on measures now that we can. And then we move society along."

- -- Kevin Shelley (D - San Francisco), Democratic Floor Leader of the
California State Assembly (the lower house of the California State
Legislature), quoted in the August 18th edition of The Los Angeles Times.

"Taking a long view of history, we may say that anyone who lays down his
arms deserves whatever he gets."

- -- Col. Jeff Cooper (USMC, Ret.)

If you have a gun rights quote you'd like to share, please send it, along
with a verifiable original source reference to GOUtah!

This concludes the GOUtah! Political and Legislative Alert #27 - 20 August
1999. We hope this information will be of assistance to you in defending
your firearms rights. Remember that getting this information is meaningless
unless YOU ACT ON IT TODAY. If you just read it and dump it in the trash,
your gun rights, and the gun rights of future generations go in the trash
with it. Get involved, get active and get vocal!

Copyright 1999 by GOUtah! All rights reserved.



- -

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 01 Sep 1999 13:04:40 -0600
From: "David Sagers" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Fwd: Chuck Baldwin's "Food for Thought from The Chuck Wagon" for 09/01/99

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Subject: Chuck Baldwin's "Food for Thought from The Chuck Wagon" for 09/01/99
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Waco: Why Now?

September 1, 1999

=20

All of a sudden everyone in congress and the Justice Department are =
greatly
concerned about what really happened at Waco. Really? Why now?=20

I distinctly remember the hearings that were conducted in congress
concerning the Waco matter back in 1995. I sat mesmerized as I watched
those hearings on C-Span; most of them tape replays shown well after
midnight. I well recall Charles Schumer and the other Democrats on the
committee acting like defense lawyers for the government witnesses. They
stonewalled, smirked, delayed, postured and pandered for Reno=C6s =
henchmen.

At first, Republicans Bill McCollum and Bill Zeliff, the committee
co-chairmen seemed sincere in wanting to get to the truth. I was
encouraged. My confidence quickly evaporated as the hearings continued,
however. By the end of the hearings, Republicans and Democrats alike
sounded a united chorus that the government had done nothing amiss, that
there was no conspiracy, no cover-up, and no illegal activity on behalf of
the ATF, FBI and other federal agencies involved. Attorney General, Janet
Reno, was absolved of any wrongdoing. David Koresh and the other Branch
Davidians were painted as evil monsters that, basically, got what they
deserved. It was a stunning display of congressional cover-up and =
cowardice.

Now, these same congressmen seem shocked to learn that perhaps those
federal agents had lied. Shazaam! Maybe the Feds really did start the =
fire.
Maybe they did hide evidentiary material that would have incriminated =
them.
Maybe they did violate the Constitution and laws of our land. Golly Gee!
Let=C6s investigate! Let=C6s conduct more hearings. Let=C6s get the bottom =
of
this. Again, I ask the question, why now?

Congressmen, while you are at it, let=C6s get the facts about why those =
Delta
force troops and Special Forces troops from England were on hand at Waco.
Let=C6s find out why FBI agents were trained by our own Green Berets. =
Let=C6s
get the facts concerning why it was necessary for automatic machine guns =
to
open up on old men, women and children as they fled that inferno? Let=C6s
find those steel, front doors that would prove who fired first. And, since
you are suddenly energized to seek the truth, let=C6s get the facts about
that helicopter that fired a hail of bullets into those buildings. And, =
why
were Army tanks knocking holes in the building, if not to create a
tinderbox?=20

Here are some more questions for our suddenly concerned congressmen. Why
was an ATF raid necessary in the first place? Wasn=C6t it true that David
Koresh daily took long jogs alone? Wasn=C6t it true that he often =
frequented
the merchants in Waco and could have been peacefully apprehended at
anytime? Isn=C6t it true that shortly before the initial raid David Koresh
called the ATF and invited them come out and inspect the weapons that he
possessed? Why did the ATF not take him up on his invitation? Isn=C6t it =
true
that the charges of illegal weapons and child abuse were nothing more than
a ruse to give the Feds the excuse they wanted in order to justify their
illegal and unconstitutional raid?=20

We could go on forever. You get the point. This entire government has
covered up the Waco massacre from the beginning. For congressmen to
suddenly discover righteous indignation is the height of hypocrisy! Again,
why now? Could it be that Republicans want to use Waco as a campaign issue
for the presidential elections next year? Hmmm.

And, speaking of presidential elections, what did George W. Bush do since
becoming Texas Governor to get to the bottom of Waco? After all, those =
were
Texas citizens that were slaughtered. How did his "compassionate
conservatism" help the Waco victim=C6s families find closure?

Watch these developments carefully. I predict that in the end Janet Reno
will still be Attorney General. No federal agents will be charged with a
crime or punished in any significant way. It will be another circus. More
smoke. More mirrors. More rhetoric. No answers. No truth. No justice. But,
hey, Republicans can use it to try and win a presidential election.

Before you go to bed tonight remember the names of Chanel Andrade, 1,
Daylan Lord Gent, 3, Paiges Gent, 2, Bobbie Lane Koresh, 2, Cyrus Howell,
8, Star Howell, 6, Serenity Sea Jones, 4, Chica Jones, 1, Little One =
Jones,
1, (They were twins.) Crystal Martinez, 3, Isaiah Martinez, 4, Joseph
Martinez, 8, Abigail Martinez, 11, Startle Summers, 1, Hollywood Sylvia, =
2,
Mayanah Schneider, 2, Melisa Morrison, 8, and newborns Summers and Little
(born into the flames as their mothers perished). These are the little
children that were burned alive, suffocated or machine-gunned to death in
the Waco massacre. Then, go look in the faces of your own children or
grandchildren and know that what happened to the Davidian=C6s little =
children
could happen to yours!
=20
NOTE:

My editorials are published Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays on Gulf1.com =
and
are sent via email to anyone who requests them. If you have friends whom
you would like to receive these editorials please forward their addresses
to me at [e-mail]

Newspapers, periodicals, journals and newsletters also carry my editorials.=

Editors or Publishers interested in running these editorials may contact
[e-mail]. To learn more about my radio talk show please
visit my web site at http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com
=20
For AOL users:
<A HREF=3D"http://www.gulf1.com "> Gulf1 </A>
<A HREF=3D"http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com "> Chuck Baldwin LIve </A>



- -

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 13:39:10 -0600
From: charles hardy <[e-mail]>
Subject: Fw: Sept. 1 column -- pardon Davidian survivors

==================================================================
Charles C. Hardy
<[e-mail]>

- --------- Forwarded message ----------
From: [e-mail] (Vin Suprynowicz)
To: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 14:53:48 -0700
Subject: Sept. 1 column -- pardon Davidian survivors
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    FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED SEPT. 1, 1999
    THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz
    Set the Branch Davidians free


    Documentary filmmaker Mike McNulty of Colorado, whose "Waco: The
Rules
of Engagement" was nominated for an Academy Award, is prepared to release
a
sequel this fall, presenting evidence that at least six spent incendiary
mortar rounds and "flash-bang devices" (the kind that can start fires)
were
found in the main Mount Carmel church (not just two, and not just in some
outbuilding) following the final assault by federal troops in Waco, Texas
in April of 1993. The new film will also document the assignment --
illegal
without a special presidential order -- of members of the Army's elite
Delta Force to be present during that final, deadly government assault,
against American civilians on American soil.

  What a coincidence that the FBI in the past week has admitted to only
as
much as Mr. McNulty and the Texas Rangers can apparently now prove --
"spinning" these revelations with the bizarre explanation that (only two)
incendiary mortar rounds were fired, only into an outbuilding, hours
before
the fatal fire which killed 80 people (including scores of innocent women
and children.)

  Of course, it was Mr. McNulty and his associates who first used the
Freedom of Information Act to pry from the federal government the aerial
"Forward-Looking Infrared" footage of the final Waco assault -- the real
assault, conducted on the back side of the building, out of sight of
commercial television cameras -- revealing what several experts have
interpreted as fully-automatic rifle fire into the building from
positions
behind the armored vehicles as those converted tanks moved in to knock
down
walls and staircases and spray in flammable and disorienting CS gas,
effectively making escape impossible for most.

  The idea that these are the first "Waco lies" to be revealed is mere
wishful thinking. To gain access to military helicopters for the initial
assault (by armed tax collectors supposedly investigating reports of an
unpaid $200 machine gun tax, but in fact mostly anxious to pull off a
dramatic televised raid shortly before their upcoming congressional
funding
hearings), government agents had to lie on affidavits contending they
believed the Rev. David Koresh was running a methamphetamine lab in his
church. He was not, and no one ever believed he was.

  The government has long insisted there was no gunfire into the building
from the helicopters during the initial February raid, though non-Branch
Davidian witnesses allowed into the building before it burned saw
downward-splintered bullet holes through the ceiling, and eyewitnesses
have
sworn to me they saw gunfire coming from those helicopters.

  Attorney General Janet Reno said the final assault had to be ordered
because of new evidence Koresh and others were abusing children in the
church, though the Justice Department later admitted there was no such
new
evidence.

  Some might be tempted to dismiss all this as ancient history. But let's
recall that most of the Branch Davidian survivors -- not their assailants
- -- were put on trial following the fiery holocaust at Waco, and seven
were
sentenced to decades in prison despite being unanimously found (start
ital)innocent(end ital) on every major, capital charge.

  Yes, they're all still in jail, despite being unanimously acquitted of
any wrongdoing in the deaths of four federal agents -- agents killed in
the
initial raid by bullets whose type and caliber the prosecutors were never
willing to identify.

  And those sentences were meted out over the written objection of jury
forewoman Sarah Bain, a Texas schoolteacher, who tells me the jury was
shocked at the size of the sentences -- and who wrote to the judge that
the
jury assumed the defendants would be released for "time served" on the
few
minor, technical charges on which they were convicted.

  Writing in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, Dr. Alan Stone, who teaches
both law and psychiatry at Harvard University and who was brought in by
the
Justice Department to write an independent review of the handling of the
Waco siege, says: "I do not know whether the FBI's pyrotechnic devices,
which the bureau has finally acknowledged, actually started the fire. I
do
know that much of the gas was aimed at the so-called bunker where most of
the children suffocated. I do not know whether Delta Force military
advisers drove the tanks; I do know the tank drivers departed from the
agreed-upon plan and, for reasons never explained, started crushing the
compound. As in Vietnam, the government decided to destroy the village in
order to save it. ...

  "But there is one truth that should be obvious by now; the Branch
Davidians were more victims than culprits. ... Mr. Clinton should pardon
them. By now he must realize both that the government made reckless
mistakes at Waco and that those federal prisoners were motivated by
deeply
held religious convictions."

  Dr. Stone is correct. If Mr. Clinton can justify his recent pardon of a
dozen pro-independence Puerto Rican terrorists who set off of bombs --
causing one police officer to lose an eye -- how can he allow breakaway
Seventh Day Adventist parishioners who merely tried to defend themselves
and their children when illegally attacked in their home to continue
serving sentences longer than those which we impose on many a
premeditated
killer?

  Set the Branch Davidians free. Indict their perjury-prone assailants.


Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas
Review-Journal. His new book, "Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the
Freedom Movement, 1993-1998," is available at $21.95 plus $3 shipping ($6
UPS; $2 shipping each additional copy) through Mountain Media, P.O. Box
271122, Las Vegas, Nev. 89127. The 500-page trade paperback may also be
ordered via web site http://www.thespiritof76.com/wacokillers.html, or at
1-800-244-2224. Credit cards accepted; volume discounts available.

***


Vin Suprynowicz,   [e-mail]

"The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it." -- John
Hay, 1872

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed --
and
thus clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless
series
of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H.L. Mencken

* * *


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------------------------------

Date: Thu, 02 Sep 99 19:27:00 -0700
From: [e-mail] (SCOTT BERGESON)
Subject: FW: Cato Daily Dispatch - 8/31

- ----------

Cato Daily Dispatch
August 31, 1999
by Peter J.M. Orvetti, Manager of Editorial Services

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.cato.org/dispatch/08-31-99d.html

SNIP

Lautenberg's Loud Call For Gun Restrictions

Retiring Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) is drafting legislation that would
require registration of all new handguns bought in the United States, AP
reported. Lautenberg's bill may also require the registration of guns
bought in the past. National Rifle Association spokesman Bill Powers said
Lautenberg was actually adding to a proposal by Sen. Dianne Feinstein
(D-Calif.) for national gun registration. "Registration, licensing and
confiscation: That is what Dianne Feinstein wants to bring to America,
and now Frank Lautenberg is getting on board. You shouldn't have to get
government permission and licensing to own a firearm in your home for the
purposes of personal protection. It goes after law-abiding citizens who
own firearms, and makes them paperwork criminals," Powers said. Feinstein,
a potential vice presidential candidate next year, has made gun control
a major part of her legislative agenda.

In the Cato Policy Analysis "Trust the People: Case Against Gun Control"
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa109.html, former Manhattan assistant district
attorney David B. Kopel writes, "Few public policy debates have been as
dominated by emotion and misinformation as the one on gun control. Perhaps
this debate is so highly charged because it involves such fundamental issues.
The calls for more gun restrictions or for bans on some or all guns are calls
for significant change in our social and constitutional systems. Gun control
is based on the faulty notion that ordinary American citizens are too clumsy
and ill-tempered to be trusted with weapons. Only through the blatant
abrogation of explicit constitutional rights is gun control even possible.
It must be enforced with such violations of individual rights as intrusive
search and seizure. It most severely victimizes those who most need weapons
for self-defense, such as blacks and women. The various gun control
proposals on today's agenda--including licensing, waiting periods, and
bans on so-called Saturday night specials--are of little, if any, value as
crime-fighting measures. Banning guns to reduce crime makes as much sense
as banning alcohol to reduce drunk driving. Indeed, persuasive evidence
shows that civilian gun ownership can be a powerful deterrent to crime."
In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, Kopel testified
http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct5-24-5.html before the Senate Judiciary
Committee on the demonization of lawful gun owners.

Unwarranted "Justice" Legislation

Gun control is likely to play a part in a "juvenile justice bill" being
hammered out on Capitol Hill, the Washington Times reported late last week.
Republicans and Democrats expect to reach a consensus on legislation soon.
"They are very productive discussions. They're not a waste of time at all,"
a senior Democratic staffer said. Throughout the August recess, staffers
from both parties have worked to iron out differences between the House and
Senate versions of the legislation. The Senate version includes new gun
regulations such as background checks for all buyers at gun shows, sale of
trigger locks or similar safety devices with all handguns and a ban on the
import of large-capacity ammunition magazines and clips. The House version
includes no new gun control but does add increasing penalties for various
weapons offenses. In a June commentary
http://www.cato.org/dailys/06-15-99.html, Dave Kopel wrote that the Senate
version "is laden with provisions to expand forfeiture, increase wiretapping
without warrant, promote drug testing and immunize police who commit violent
crimes from criminal punishment. When senators are presented with a
648-page-long bill, few bother to read it. Thus, many senators who voted
for S. 254 may have been unaware that the bill contains a sweeping new
forfeiture provision that allows U.S. attorneys to base forfeiture on
violations of state law--even misdemeanors--S. 254 significantly expands
that statute to include any felony, including state felonies, and any state
misdemeanor involving physical harm. Instead of just applying to profits
from the sale of a criminal's story, the statute as revised by S. 254
would allow forfeiture of any enhanced value, in any property owned by
the criminal, that resulted from the crime. But the measure ignores the
constitutional fact that forfeitures for state law violations ought to
be determined by state legislatures and carried out by state and local
prosecutors, not by the federal government. Also buried deep within S. 254
is language that for the first time allows the police to intercept the
content of electronic communications--the contents of pager messages--
without a warrant. Those messages can reveal information about a person's
travel schedule, private life and current location. The bill's 'cloned
pager' language is the latest expansion of wiretap authority to be buried
in a large, complex bill where the public, which is generally skeptical
about wiretapping, is not likely to notice. 'Public safety' seems to demand
that the public be protected from any opportunity to debate whether the
federal government needs more power to peek in on the public without a
search warrant."

For highlights of this month's best audio clips check out CatoAudio
http://www.cato.org/pubs/catoaudio/ca-index.html, a lively monthly audio
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Date: Thu, 02 Sep 99 21:12:00 -0700
From: [e-mail] (SCOTT BERGESON)
Subject: FW: Cato Daily Dispatch - 9/2

Cato Daily Dispatch
September 2, 1999
by Peter J.M. Orvetti, Manager of Editorial Services

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.cato.org/dispatch/09-02-99d.html

SNIP

Bush Wants Background Checks

Gov. George W. Bush (R-Texas) raised eyebrows last week by endorsing gun
control measures including raising the legal age for purchase of a handgun
from 18 to 21, Reuters reports. Bush, the GOP presidential frontrunner,
said he also supported congressional efforts to ban large ammunition clips
and to require instant background checks. "I think there's problems
everywhere when people illegally use guns, and so the first question we
must ask is, is it possible to have reasonable laws to keep the guns out of
the hands of people who shouldn't have them? That's why I support instant
background checks," Bush said.

But any background checks should be part of a "shall-issue" licensing law,
Jeffrey R. Snyder wrote in a 1997 Cato Policy Analysis
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-284.html. "The key feature of the new
concealed-carry laws is that the issuing authority--usually a sheriff or
the chief of police--must grant the permit as soon as a citizen can satisfy
specific and objective licensing criteria. It is for that reason that those
reforms are often referred to as 'shall-issue' concealed-carry laws. So
long as the state requires a criminal background check, the check will
disclose whether the applicant who desires to carry a firearm is permitted
to possess a firearm under federal or state law. If not, obviously no
permit may issue, and the applicant's possession of a weapon would be in
violation of federal or state law. Further, since permit holders are
registered, that is, the application information is maintained in the
state's criminal records, the data provide a ready means of identifying and
confiscating the weapons of permit holders who commit a crime postissuance
or otherwise become disqualified (e.g., by drug use or mental illness).
Critics of laws liberalizing the ability of citizens to carry firearms in
public often ignore the fact that the new licensing statutes provide an
ongoing way of policing compliance with federal and state laws regarding
firearm ownership... Shall-issue licensing systems are not, as is sometimes
asserted by their opponents, another example of America's free-wheeling,
hands-off approach to guns. The licensing systems are gun control.
Applicants are registered and fingerprinted and their backgrounds are
thoroughly checked, both at the state and at the national level through the
FBI, for criminal histories, and histories of drug or alcohol abuse and
mental illness. In addition, the great majority of states require that
applicants have received training with firearms. On the basis of 10 years
of experience in 25 states, we may conclude that shall-issue licensing
systems work. They accomplish the twin goals of providing a mechanism by
which law-abiding citizens can carry the means with which to defend
themselves from a violent criminal assault that imminently threatens life
or grievous bodily harm and provide the public reasonable assurance that
those who receive permits are persons who will act responsibly."

Swiss Army Life

The Times of London featured Switzerland's long history of peace. "Created
as a nation in arms, Switzerland is proud of its heritage of Alpine
liberty, based on the legendary figure of William Tell, who is said to have
liberated the Swiss from aggressive Austrians in 1291. Switzerland has one
of the largest land-based armies in Europe. It has a small professional
army of about 3,300, with a pool of about 360,000 conscripts... Charles
Heyman, editor of Jane's World Army, said: 'The Swiss have a very large
defence establishment and it tells you straight away how Switzerland
managed to avoid the First and Second World Wars.' According to Article 18
of the Constitution, every Swiss male is subject to military service. In
1992, this was amended to allow alternative civilian service. When a Swiss
conscript enters military service, it will engage him virtually his entire
life. Until 1995, conscription lasted a period of 30 years, from 20 to 50.
Since then, it has been reduced to 22 years," the Times writes.

But it is Switzerland's gun policies and not conscription that keeps it
free and safe. "[P]rivate possession of weapons does not automatically lead
to their misuse: heavily armed societies like Israel and Switzerland have
only a fraction of our violent crime," Doug Bandow writes
http://www.cato.org/dailys/05-26-99.html. And a Cato Policy Analysis
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa109.html notes that "Switzerland, through
its militia system, distributes both pistols and fully automatic assault
rifles to all adult males and requires them to store their weapons at home.
Further, civilian long-gun purchases are essentially unregulated, and
handguns are available to any adult without a criminal record or mental
defect. Nevertheless, Switzerland suffers far less crime per capita than
the United States and almost no gun crime." As for conscription, it is not
advisable in a free society, Bandow writes in a just-released Cato Policy
Analysis http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-351es.html : "The draft was bad
policy during the Cold War and would constitute amazing foolishness today.
For instance, renewed conscription would reduce the quality of new service
personnel. Returning to the draft would also increase the costs of raising
a military force. Conscription is an expensive process-for individuals,
government, and society. For the armed services, a draft would yield higher
turnover, thus increasing training costs. Also, because few conscripts
choose to make the military a career, the Pentagon would have to hike
reenlistment benefits. A draft would not improve the retention rate of
skilled personnel or inculcate civic virtue. The military does have some
serious personnel problems; however, such problems could be solved by
returning to a foreign policy that is proper for a republic. The Clinton
administration's promiscuous use of military force in conflicts irrelevant
to U.S. security drives many potential recruits away from and current
career personnel out of the service. Furthermore, policymakers should
adjust compensation and benefits to more successfully attract both new
recruits and skilled personnel in the years ahead. A renewed draft would be
bad for the military. But more important, conscription would be unfair and
unjust-sacrificing the very constitutional liberties that the military is
charged to defend."

For highlights of this month's best audio clips check out CatoAudio
http://www.cato.org/pubs/catoaudio/ca-index.html, a lively monthly audio
series that brings you inside the Cato Institute for Policy and Book
Forums, speeches and debates.

To unsubscribe from this list, visit
http://www.free-market.net/partners/c/cato.html#dailydispatch



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End of utah-firearms-digest V2 #157
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