December 1997

Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of
Mississippi, a CCRKBA Congressional
Advisor, last month announced there will
be a delay until next year of a confirmation
vote on the nomination of anti-gun
Dr. David Satcher to be Surgeon General
of the United States and Assistant
Secretary of Health in the Department
of Health and Human Services.
As Director of the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Satcher
oversaw the use of biased studies to
promote an agenda designed to make
gun ownership look dangerous so that
it becomes socially unacceptable.
Keep up the good work! Write
Sen. Lott at Room S-320, U. S. Capitol,
Washington, D. C. 20510, or call him at
(202) 224-3135 and let him know how
much you appreciate his efforts.
Is Kiwanis International, a distinguished
service organization, in danger
of falling prey to the blandishments of
anti-gun propagandists? The group
is listed as an ally by the Handgun
Epidemic Lowering Plan (HELP), one
of the many anti-gun front groups. The
Kiwanis honchos should see to it that
the service organization continues to
serve, and not to disserve, the public.
The President is Walter G. Sellers of Wilberforce,
Ohio and the President-Elect
is Glen M. Bagnell of Dartmouth, Nova
Scotia, Canada. The headquarters are
at 3636 Woodview Terrace, Indianapolis,
Indiana 46268. Chris Rice, the Director
of Program Development, probably is
the guy most responsible for the HELP
connection. Sounds like he may need
some help. The toll free Kiwanis number
is 1-800-549-2647. Rice’s extension is
211.
In Washington, D. C., CCRKBA announced
its opposition to yet another
anti-gun bill introduced by Rep. Charles
E. Schumer of New York, a candidate for
the U. S. Senate from the Empire State.
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His latest, H. R. 2702, would amend section
925 of title 18, U. S. Code, to provide
that the Treasury Department “shall
prohibit a firearm from being imported or
brought into the United States if the firearm
would be a semiautomatic assault
weapon but for cosmetic alteration.” It
was referred to the House Committee
on the Judiciary.
Rep. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois
introduced H. R. 2774, which would
“prohibit the transfer of a handgun by
a licensed dealer unless the transferee
states that the transferee is not the subject
of a restraining order with respect
to an intimate partner or child of the
transferee.” It was referred to the House
Committee on the Judiciary.
Pro-gun Congressman Ron Paul of
Texas introduced two pro-gun bills in
late October, H. R. 2721 and H. R. 2722,
both of which were referred to the House
Committee on the Judiciary.
H. R. 2721 would repeal the Brady
Act and eliminate the “lawful sporting
purposes” test from the Gun Control
Act of 1968, substituting for it a simple
“lawful purposes” test.
H. R. 2722 would provide that a
resident of a state who is entitled to carry
a concealed firearm in such state may
carry such firearm in any state.
As a constitutional justification for
the provisions of H. R. 2722, the Paul
measure would stipulate that they “are
enacted to effectuate the requirement,
under section 1 of article IV of the Constitution
of the United States, that ‘Full
Faith and Credit shall be given in each
State to the public Act, Records, and
judicial proceedings of every other State’
(in accordance with the precedents established
by 23 U.S.C. 401 et seq.), and
are enacted to effectuate the provisions
of the Second Amendment to the Constitution,
together with other applicable
provisions of the Constitution.”
In Mexico City, “urban residents are
quietly arming themselves, mainly by
purchasing handguns from the black
market, since procedures for registering
weapons legally are cumbersome,”
reported THE NEW YORK TIMES on
November 7.
“A few blocks from the headquarters
of the Federal Judicial Police in Mexico
City,” continued the TIMES, “a blackmarket
gun dealer in a sharp white suit
and expensive dark glasses took time
out from his booming trade to describe
his customers.
“‘My business has grown a lot
because of the lack of public safety,’
explained the dealer, who asked to be
identified only by his street name, The
Egyptian.
“‘It’s a vicious circle. Criminals need
more and better weapons to work, and
the number of private citizens who buy
from me is growing, too.
“‘Even housewifes who have been
assaulted buy from me,’ the dealer
continued, appearing relaxed despite
the police patrol cars that passed by
on their way to headquarters. ‘To tell
you the truth, they are my best customers.
I can sell them a good weapon at
a good price. But thieves and people
with higher debts to justice are hard to
deal with. They want weapons with no
criminal record at a cheap price.’”
“A decent society is not based on
rights,” declared Britain’s gun grabbing
Prime Minister, Tony Blair, “it is based
on duty,” reported THE WASHINGTON
POST on November 9.
“Our duty to one another,” continued
Blair. “To all should be given opportunity;
from all, responsibility demanded.”