from Angel Shamaya
Founder/Executive Director
KeepAndBearArms.com

September 27, 2001

The American Bar Association is having its annual "Forum on Justice Improvement" for October 26 & 27.  Calling the event "Building Community Partnerships," the group intends to "address gun violence."  Their partners include the American Medical Association, and the President of the politicized and thus somewhat fraudulent organization has already made it known that he is a devoted gun control aficionado.

According to the ABA website, "One full day will be devoted to the critical issue of gun violence in our communities." On this auspicious day, the following will reportedly take place:

• Medical professionals will share their experiences of building successful community partnerships.

• Experts will discuss school violence and what can de done at the local level.

• Sunday morning the Presidents of a number of national organizations will participate in a plenary session and develop an action plan for furthering the efforts of the Forum.

And Senator John McCain is slated to speak. The topic of his speech will be entitled "Where do we go from here?"

Also included in the schedule of events are the following:

• Why are Community Partnerships Critical to Reducing Gun Injuries?
• Suicide Prevention
• Model Projects: National & Regional Levels
• Model Projects: State & Local Levels
• Sesame Workshop - Survey of 6-11 Year Old Children
• Do's and Don'ts of Building Local Partnerships to Address Gun Violence
• Illegal Acquisition, Unfair/Deceptive Trade Practices
• Funding the Community Partnership to Reduce Gun Violence
• School Violence

It is my hope that rights-friendly attorneys and doctors will attend this event and find out if the group is being honest in its promotion of the event.  They tell us that "presenters will discuss what communities can do to stem the tide of gun violence...without focusing on legislative efforts..." That would be new and different -- to truly address causes and not tools and how to eradicate them -- and we can hope.

If you have interest in contacting the American Bar Association, as there are so many email addresses on their contact page, here is the web address: http://www.abanet.org/email.html. The page says that General Inquiries can be sent here: service@abanet.org, but there are several other email addresses that could yield helpful information, as well.

From past experience in watching the AMA's President parrot gun control nonsense and with knowledge about the other groups involved and the generic language being used in promotion, this gathering doesn't bode well for liberty. I'd love nothing more than to be wrong -- to find out they really want to honor gun rights while going after criminals and the social conditions that inspire them -- but I'm not holding my breath, and I say we need to keep an eye on these folks.