Gun Grabber Web Watch
A Periodic Service to Help Gun Rights Activists “Watch the Enemy”
by Sean Oberle

Nov. 27 – Dec. 3, 2000

Author’s Note I: KeepAndBearArms.com has asked me to provide some commentary to counter the absurdities I list every week. Frankly, I think most of this stuff falls flat without my help, but it’s fun to attack it, so I’m obliging.

Author’s Note II: Wouldn’t you know it: the week I start to have fun adding commentary, the grabbers don’t seem to be up to much. Thus this week’s GGWW is rather short. Oh well, every week should be as quiet on the gun grabber front.

NATIONAL

** BATF releases report, Crime Gun Trace Report 1999, designed to “to help identify violent criminals and their illegal suppliers by tracing all crime guns with the National Tracing Center.” [Sean’s commentary: Well, this is the third time you fellows have issued this annual report. You’ve identified the minority of gun dealers who behave illegally. You’ve also identified the illegal black aftermarket routes. What year are you going to do more than issue a report?]
http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/ycgii/1999/index.htm 

** Million Mom Marches invites those who are victims of “gun trauma” and get depressed during holidays to reach out to join some of its activities. [Sean’s commentary: Leave it to the grabbers to behave like a cult. Lure people in while they’re down, give them a sense of purpose and thus turn them into zealots. It’s exactly how Handgun Control Inc. nabbed Sarah Brady. Now she’s a victim passing along a legacy of victimization. Stop the madness!]
http://www.millionmommarch.com 

** Violence Policy Center issues a “report” showing that FFL holders have dropped dramatically. VPC claims this is due to Brady Bill and then claims a causal connection to lower crime rates. [Sean’s commentary: This is an extended “post hoc” fallacy. Just because things happened together doesn’t mean that one caused the other. VPC’s hypothesis falls apart when you consider that despite the fall in dealers, gun sales rose dramatically. This is nothing more than an attempt to prop up the discredited Brady Bill.] [KABA NOTE: ATF harassment of legitimate gun dealers has also assisted in the process of culling the gun dealer herd.]
http://www.vpc.org/studies/fflcont.htm 


STATES

** Pacific Center for Violence Prevention provides link to Chicago Tribune story that President Clinton will push to have background check failures go immediately to local police. [Sean’s commentary: Regardless of what you think of background checks, you’ve got to wonder why it took seven years to start trying to attack criminals who try to buy guns.]
http://chicagotribune.com/news/printedition/article/0,2669,SAV-0012010262,FF.html 

** Pacific Center for Violence Prevention provides link to Baltimore Sun story claiming that failure of ultra-liberal Takoma Park, Md., to ban handguns is evidence that it is becoming increasingly harder to enact total bans. [Sean’s commentary: Let’s hope so.]
http://www.sunspot.net/content/archive/story?section=archive&pagename=story&storyid=1150510220052 

** Coalition to Stop Gun Violence posts opposition to Michigan legislation for shall issue CCW permits, attempting to scare people with images of guns in schools, churches and such places. [Sean’s commentary: Hey, Mike Beard, how come you don’t provide statistics showing that this is dangerous? Because you cannot, so you have to resort to scaring the ignorant with inaccurate innuendo.]
http://www.csgv.org/content/action/action_alert_mi_ccw_113000.html 

** Handgun Control Inc. claims that potential Michigan CCW law would make arguments of Detroit Lions games more deadly and claims that “over 3,000” criminal acts have been committed by Texas CCW holders. [Sean’s commentary: Hey, Sarah Brady, at least Mike Beard has enough honesty to just skip over the fact that he doesn’t have evidence. You know darned well that those 3,000 acts had nothing to do with use of their guns. Yep, that CCW permit caused that bookkeeper to imbezzle his boss’s money. Please.]
http://www.handguncontrol.org/press/release.asp?Record=40

** Million Mom March claims that potential Michigan CCW law would give a permit “to just about anyone who wants it.” [Sean’s commentary: Stop trying to imply that dangerous criminals will get armed this way. Other states are very good at weeding felons out of CCW permits and then catching the few who get through. If only driver’s licenses weeded out dangerous drivers as well.]
http://congress.nw.dc.us/cgi-bin/alertpr.pl?_state=mi&dir=mmm&alert=1 

Do you have an item I should include or a group I should watch? Email me at dischord@keepandbeararms.com  

Sean Oberle is a featured writer with KeepAndBearArms.com whose archive is kept here: http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/Oberle.  Distribution permitted and encouraged. Please say you saw it first on KeepAndBearArms.com.