August 1997

In Fairfax, Virginia, the Fairfax County
Board of Supervisors decided last month
to end the practice of fingerprinting applicants
for CCW permits.
The Board did this against the urging
of Fairfax County Police Chief M.
Douglas Scott.
Under the fingerprinting program,
the applicants’ fingerprints are sent to the
FBI for checks against prints of known
criminals.
Earlier this year, the state government
enacted a law requiring local
governments to adopt ordinances if they
were to continue using the FBI fingerprint
service.
The move to enact the Fairfax ordinance
failed on a five to five vote.
Earlier, the neighboring Prince William
County Board of Supervisors took
similar action but planned to revisit the
issue.
In both counties, fingerprinting opponents
said the practice did not make
much sense and was not worth the
money. Even without the fingerprinting,
applicants must show identification and
undergo a criminal background check.
Fairfax Supervisor Michael R. Frye of
Sully said a concealed weapon permit
is not required for a handgun purchase
and that people intent on breaking the
law are not likely to apply for such a
permit. “Someone who is a criminal or
who has criminal intent is not going to
apply for a permit,” he said.
In addition to Frye, Supervisors voting
against fingerprinting were Elaine N.
McConnell of Springfield, Robert B. Dix,
Jr. of Hunter Mill, Stuart Mendelsohn of
Dranesville and Gerald W. Hyland of
Mount Vernon.
Voting for fingerprinting were Board
Chairman Katherine K. Hanley and
Supervisors T. Dana Kaufman of Lee,
Sharon S. Bulova of Braddock, Gerald
E. Connolly of Providence and Penelope
A. Gross of Mason.
Colt’s Manufacturing soon will announce
it is buying its chief competitor,
Belgian firearms manufacturer FN Herstal,
from Giat Industries of France, a
state-controlled defense group, reported
THE COURANT of Hartford, Connecticut.
Herstal owns the Browning and Winchester
brand names, making guns for
civilian use.
“During five decades of communism,
the gun was a tool of state oppression,”
wrote Cristi Cretzan of the Associated
Press from Gjirokastra, Albania last
month in THE WASHINGTON TIMES.
“For a short time in March,” continued
the AP reporter, “it became a symbol
of freedom when thousands of people
looted state warehouses as part of an
armed rebellion…
“Everyone here seems to have at
least one weapon at home…
“Shkeloim Guce, a 39 year old member
of the Socialist Party and his friend
Zigur Seferi, 56, a leader of the local
branch of the Democrat Party, agreed
they will turn in their guns if the rule of
law returns.
“‘Guns are for defending the country
against foreign enemies, not for Albanians
to fight each other,’ Mr. Guce said.
But both cradled guns as they sat at a
cafe.”
In Honolulu, Hawaii, Gov. Benjamin
Cayetano signed into law H. R. 233,
which allows hunters to use handguns
while hunting game animals.
In Boston, Massachusetts, the
Committee on Criminal Justice voted
to give an ought-not-to-pass report to
a so-called “assault weapons” ban bill,
S. 148. In other words, the Committee
advised the State Senate not to pass
S. 148, which also included three other
gun ban proposals.
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In Bellevue, Washington, CCRKBA
Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb has called
on CCRKBA Members and Supporters
and all freedom-loving, firearms-owning,
law-abiding American citizens to ask U.
S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of
Mississippi to help stop President Bill
Clinton “from using punitive ‘executive
orders’ that restrict your right to keep
and bear arms.”
Gottlieb points out Clinton already
“has issued an executive order that
mandates all federal law enforcement
officers must keep trigger locks on all
firearms.”
He states gun owners must “expose
Clinton’s planned use of his ‘executive
order’ power to increase federal fees on
guns and ammunition, ban guns that
are imported, extend waiting periods,
ban the use of guns on all government
property and even make it illegal to
own a gun if you smoke or use tobacco
products.”
Gottlieb has prepared a citizens
injunction which interested parties may
sign and return to CCRKBA National
Headquarters for forwarding to Sen. Lott.
To obtain copies, please write to
CCRKBA National Headquarters at
12500 N. E. 10th Place, Bellevue WA
98005, or call (425) 454-4911.