Wayne Ericksen, P.E. || President || wayne.ericksen@mcdl.org

Samantha Britton || President-elect|| samantha.britton@mcdl.org

Norman Balog, D.O. || Director of Medical Affairs || norman.balog@mcdl.org

COLUMBIA, MD (August 23, 2000) --- The Maryland Citizens Defense League, P.O. Box 2035, Columbia, MD 21045 (http://www.MCDL.org) will be holding the first annual "Turn In Your Gun Locks" event at the Takoma Park Folk Festival on Sunday, September 10, 2000 (see their website at: http://www.tpff.org).

Why turn in your gun locks to MCDL?  Because when seconds count, and your gun's locked, you're dead.  Because in clear violation of the Second Amendment, we are being forced to buy them before we can pick up our firearms.

Because gun locks are simply another ruse by the control fanatics of HCI, VPC, MAH(A), members of congress and others, to systematically desensitize Americans to their ultimate goal of victim disarmament.  It is creeping incrementalism of the most malodorous sort.

Gun safety will NOT be co-opted by the forces of evil which would make decent citizens more vulnerable to criminal attack to advance the cause of criminal protectionism.  Gun safety is OUR responsibility, our "choice," as is the defense of life itself, and we determine how to make firearms safe in our homes: gun locks, safes, or safety education and training.

Nationwide, while gun accident deaths are at an all-time low, crime rates are dropping EVERYWHERE faster than in Maryland. In the case of MURDER and VIOLENCE, Maryland is clearly losing ground to our 49 sister states, while in ROBBERY Maryland beats all contenders for the dubious title of "Home of America's Most Robbed Citizens" since 1995.   Do you want firearms safety?  Eddie Eagle works, as does safe handling and training.

If you like gun locks, then you'll LOVE knife locks and probably preemptive handcuffs for parents too as more children die at the hands of their parents and guardians than from ANY weapon.  Absurd, isn't it?  So are gun locks.  And unnecessary.

So, come one, come all, bring your hated and unneeded gun locks to Takoma Park on September 10th, and we will take them to be smelted into ingots for manufacture of new firearms to be raffled off at a later date.  A receipt will be given for each lock which is good for one chance in the raffle.

Turning the vile instruments of government control, our shackles, back into swords.  Has a nice ring to it, wouldn't you say?

Hope to see you in September.