by Harry Schneider
Chairman, Pennsylvania Sportsman's Association

The theme of the hour long ABC Peter Jennings attack^{(1, 2)} on gun owners was that NRA is deceiving members to panic them into donating money to NRA. ABC claims that NRA uses the money to defeat politicians who voted for reasonable gun control laws.

Peter Jennings focused on the fact that NRA is campaigning against congressman Stupak for voting against NRA only one time: Stupak voted for House concurrence of an anti-gun bill that the Senate already passed (S.254) with the support of Rick Santorum.

Wayne LaPierre defended the NRA's attack on Stupak by bragging that NRA leadership supports more gun control laws and stricter enforcement of existing gun control laws

S.254 will expand instant check to include transfers between private individuals at gun shows. Instant check already applies to dealers at gun shows, just the same way that it applies to dealers in their stores. Wayne LaPierre and Sarah Brady both support expanding the instant check to include private transfers at gunshows. They disagree on the definition of a gun show and Sarah wants "instant" to mean 72 hours, while Wayne wants "instant" to mean 24 hours.

Both versions have the potential to destroy gun shows which are vital to the gun rights movement. Gun shows are where thousands of gun enthusiasts gather in one place. They meet with fellow enthusiasts and gun rights leaders. As they view thousands of firearms and accessories they learn more about their hobby and have a chance to upgrade their collections. They learn about the latest threats to their culture, about how gun banners have learned that soften their rhetoric to make their legislation sound reasonable and safety oriented to lull gun owners to sleep. They learn who to vote for and who to vote against. They learn which groups fight gun control and which only claim to fight gun control.

INSTANT CHECK HAS THE POTENTIAL TO DESTROY GUN SHOWS - the Justice Department has repeatedly shut down the instant check during major gun show weekends. This year Justice stopped all dealer sales at the Pennsylvania Gun Collectors Assn show in Pittsburgh and the Harrisburg Show. The following weekend they shut down NICS again during the Ohio Gun Collectors Assn. show. Only private transfers kept the shows from being a total loss - and thus discouraging participants from returning to future shows.

EXTENDING INSTANT CHECK TO INCLUDE PRIVATE TRANSFERS at gunshows will greatly increase the ability of the government to destroy gun shows. The 24 hour vs. 72 hour issue is insignificant compared to the proven fact that extending instant check to include private sales will stop all sales and destroy gunshows when the NICS computer is again shut down for "maintenance" during gun show weekends.

Jennings confronted Wayne LaPierre and accused him of misleading NRA members by telling them that there were no federal prosecutions for Brady violations during a three year period 96,97,98. Wayne corrected the NRA position by saying that there was one prosecution during that period. Jennings produced documents claiming that there were about 600 Federal prosecutions during that period - LAPIERRE LOOKED LIKE A DEER CAUGHT IN THE HEADLIGHTS and I have yet to see NRA respond.

Instant check is especially devastating to Pennsylvanians. It isn't just felons who can't possess guns, almost every person who was convicted of any misdemeanor in Pennsylvania prior to 1968 is prohibited from possessing guns. The Gun Control Act of 1968 contains an ex post facto provision mandating lifelong loss of gun rights for any person who has ever been convicted of any misdemeanor punishable by more than two years - even if the person got no jail time at all. Up until 1968 all, yes all Pennsylvania misdemeanors were punishable by up to three years. This includes drag racing, bastardry, a single DWI, and many sealed juvenile offenses that were recently unsealed and entered into the instant check computer.

Most of these people were unaware that they had lost their gun rights under the ex post facto provisions of The Gun Control Act of 1968. Most lived their lives as model citizens until Wayne LaPierre's instant check caught them when they tried to buy a shotgun at their local sporting goods store and they were shocked to discover that they were rejected. Wayne LaPierre wants people prosecuted. We disagree.

Since 1992 each year Congress has voted to prevent these people from applying to have their rights restored. NRA has never asked members to lobby to give these people a chance to have their Constitutional rights restored. Like any good "consumer" we need to learn to differentiate between advertising rhetoric and actual performance.