February 2002

President George W. Bush has
named John W. Magaw to head
the Transportation Security Administration.
Magaw, a former director
of the Secret Service and
BATF, has been Acting Executive
Director of the Office of National
Preparedness within the Federal
Emergency Management Agency.
His new title is Undersecretary of
Transportation for Security.
About 21,000 Michigan
residents have received concealed
weapons permits and
about 14,600 are awaiting approval
under a new state law, reports
The Bay City Times. The
state law that took effect last July
1 makes it easier for Michigan
residents to get the permits. It requires
county gun boards to approve
applicants unless they have
criminal records or mental health
problems.
“ A 25 percent reduction i n
murder since 1994 has to be the
most amazing boost that our
beautiful country has experienced
in many years,” said an editorial in
Business Day of Johannesburg in
the Republic of South Africa.
“However,” the newspaper said,
“these same statistics have blown
apart the toxic mumblings of the
antifirearm and victim disarmament
brigade. How do they explain
the reduction in violent crime
when in the same period there
was an increase of 64 percent in
licensed firearms?
“The desire for removing licensed
firearms from society originates
not from any proof that it will
reduce crime, but from the need
to remove the personal responsibility
from citizens and to make
them dependent on the state.”
“Maryland’s new law requiring
p r o – spective handgun b u y –
e r s to sit through a two- hour
video ostensibly about ‘gun safety’
before they take possession of
their firearms is all about hassling
would-be gun buyers – not curbing
crime or reducing the number
of accidental deaths and injuries
involving guns,” The Washington
Times editorialized.
“Maryland should follow the example
of such states as Virginia,
which streamlined its concealedcarry
law and adopted instant
background checks. That way,
gun purchases by law-abiding citizens
can be completed in just one
day. After all, law-abiding gun
owners never have been and
never will be the problem.”
“Big or small, the Armed Females
of America (AFA) are on a
mi s – sion to protect every
American’s constitu- tional
right to own and possess a firearm,”
wrote Michael L. Betsch,
editorial assistant of the Cybercast
News Service.
“And don’t mistake this
women’s group with a homemakers
association, warns the AFA…
The AFA is strictly a Second
Amendment advocacy organization,
explained AFA of Texas Director
Kathryn Graham. ‘We’re trying
to educate women concerning
firearms and promote laws that
are friendlier to the Second
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
“There is every reason to assume
that the vast majority of firearm
sales by private, u n l i –
censed dealers at g u n
shows are to law-abiding citizens,”
the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (PI)
editorialized. “And there is every
reason to believe that the gun
show system is ripe for exploitation
by those legally barred from
purchasing a firearm through
other means.”
The editorial quoted CCRKBA
Executive Director Joe Waldron,
who wisely noted that in every
piece of gun control legislation,
“the problems…are in the mechanics.”
The PI is taking what it considers
a “moderate” approach to gun
show legislation, noting: “Those
who sponsor these shows are by
all accounts honest, law-abiding
citizens themselves, who would be
loath to be party to the sale of a
firearm to buyers who are criminals
or mentally unqualified to
possess them. Background
checks will help prevent that from
happening.”