KABA News Briefs
6/13/2000
by The Awakener
TheAwakener@KeepAndBearArms.com

Scroll through the items below that interest you.
<<my comments, like this>>

Smith & Wesson to suspend some manufacturing in July 

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) Smith & Wesson, which angered some competitors and consumers when it struck a federal gun-safety deal, reportedly plans to shut down two manufacturing plants during July. <<Good, Maybe they will learn the cost of selling out>>

WGGB-TV in Boston, citing unidentified company representatives, reported Monday that Smith & Wesson was responding both to cyclically sluggish summer sales and consumer resistance in the wake of the gun-safety accord. <<Keep boycotting S&W>>

The company hoped its agreement with the government would bring in more contracts from city police departments. 

But a conference of the National Rifle Association last month underscored how the deal has hurt the company with some buyers, as some shunned the gun maker's exhibit. 

The federal government is granting $300,000 to help Smith & Wesson develop guns that recognize the legal user's fingerprints and only shoot for that person, state congressmen announced. <<They can't develop them if they are out of business due to lack of sales!>>

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BUSH PROMISES TO TIGHTEN GUN SAFETY MEASURES

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush Monday told the nation's mayors that he would ask Congress to raise the age for "juvenile possession of a handgun'' from 18 to 21, and that he would sign federal legislation requiring child safety locks on new guns.

<<This is what happens when the politicians only hear the voice of the other side. This would not even be an issue if 80 million Americans said they would not vote for anyone who tries to "infringe" on the 2nd Amendment.>>

Bush, speaking by satellite from Kennebunkport, Maine, to the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting here, cited a voluntary state program in Texas that provides free trigger locks for all existing guns, and promised that if elected president he would "take this idea to the national level.''

Delivered to a group snubbed in 1996 by GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole, Bush's remarks Monday were his latest move toward the middle of the political spectrum. 

<<SEE, THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING UNLESS APPEARING TO CARE WILL GET THEM ELECTED/RE-ELECTED.>>

Bush has generally addressed the need for stricter enforcement of existing gun control laws. Monday, he explicitly embraced the need for additional, if limited, federal regulation of handguns. 

<<Bottom line - Bush needs to be reminded of his state's motto: Don't tread on us. We need to fill his ear with our voices so the Constitution is no longer looked at as a document which can be revised or forgotten about by the government.>>

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Smith & Wesson gets technology grant 

The federal government is granting $300,000 to help Smith & Wesson develop guns that recognize the legal user's fingerprints and only shoot for that person. 

<<Is that a Payoff? What will this chump change produce? Guns that are only 95% functional. The one time you need it to save your life will be the 5% it fails.>>

Springfield-based gunmaker Smith & Wesson agreed to keep up the work, known as smart gun technology, as part of this year's agreement with the federal government. 

''These federal funds will help prevent accidental shootings and handgun violence across the nation,'' U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said Monday of the latest grant from the U.S. Justice Department. <<What a load of BS. How many guns out there are in the hands of criminals? Criminals = violence!>>

<<How much crime would there be if everyone that owned a gun was educated and trained
and carried their weapon? I know that if a criminal threatens someone's life in my presence, he better have insurance. I WILL STOP ANYONE WHO TRIES TO DO DEADLY BODILY HARM OR WORSE TO ANOTHER!!!! Will you?>>

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Parents of murder victims join national campaign against gun deaths

RENO, Nev. (AP) - The parents of a local murder victim are among Nevadans who have joined a new national campaign aimed at reducing gun deaths. <<More grief and energy pointed in the wrong direction.>>

"If my son's shoes could talk, they would tell the world to stop the violence," Juan Rangel told the Reno Gazette-Journal. 

<<You can not stop violence, only regulate it. That is why C.O.P.s (Citizens On Patrol) carry weapons (not only guns). The greater the force (i.e. the more citizens who are trained and armed) the less violence>>

"We'd like for people to join us in helping to ensure that guns are never used to kill people," said Patsy Gehr of Sierra Interfaith. <<What an illusionary fantasy world he must be in. Does he think his wife will not be mugged, or raped or assaulted? Or his house broken into? Someone in Reno contact his person, talk to him and wake him up, please.>>

Gehr said organizers are not out to ban guns, but to seek what they call sensible, comprehensive regulation of the gun industry.

<<Here is that phrase again, "sensible ...". I told you to watch out for this one.>>

That includes strict oversight of the design, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and ownership of firearms, she said.

"The gun situation has gotten out of control," Gehr said. "We want stricter controls. At the same time, we want people to realize that legislation alone won't do. We have to work to create a society where there is no violence."

<<Then make the criminals scared to be criminals!!!>>

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Southern states are primary gun source 

New York, June 12 - Nearly one in four guns used in out-of-state crimes committed nationwide last year came from four Southern states with weak gun laws, according to a report released Sunday by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer.

Using data obtained from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the study shows that gun runners funneled thousands of weapons to criminals in the Northeast and Midwest states where laws are stricter. Out of a nationwide total of 30,453 out-of-state gun traces, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas were the source of 7,494, according to the report. 

The senator has introduced a bill that would increase funding for ATF agents, give law enforcement greater authority to investigate gun dealers and require all gun manufacturers to file ballistics DNA with law enforcement authorities. He also is backing legislation to license and register handguns and limit purchases to one per month. 

<<1st they limit freedom, 2nd they take it away. Study the history of Germany, Russia, China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, etc.>>

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Okla. Teen Gunman Influenced by Columbine Shooting

Court records showed that Trickey took numerous prescription medications, had been receiving psychological counseling, and was obsessed by military tactics. Furthermore, Dr. Shreekumar Vinekar, a psychiatrist who testified in the boy's defense, said the teen was influenced by media accounts of the Colorado shooting rampage. 

<<Why aren't we investigating the relationship of prescription drugs to strange acts of violence? Besides, he is a defense witness, who has been hired to show the kid is not responsible. Who the hell else is responsible?>>

Trickey was found guilty of six counts of shooting with intent to kill and one count of having a weapon on school property. Muskogee County Associate District Judge Tom Alford recommended clinical counseling at a state-run facility for juvenile offenders. As a result, Trickey could be back in school in less than two years. <<This needs no comment.>>

<<This should send chills up your spine, it does mine.>>

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Calif. Police Chief Calls for Tighter Controls on Guns

6/12/00 - In a television interview, Los Angeles, Calif., Police Chief Bernard Parks said the United States needs stricter controls on firearms, Reuters reported June 9. <<Criminals won't obey restriction laws, they are criminals!>>

Parks made his comments during CNN's "Both Sides with Jesse Jackson," just 12 days after his 20-year-old granddaughter was shot to death by a gang member outside a fast-food restaurant. Lori Gonzalez was with a childhood friend, who was a member of a gang. Police said the gunman was aiming at the friend. 

He added, "It's a serious issue of having access to guns, the amount of damage it does to the community. And I think it also reflects that even the family of police officers do not live in any kind of secure environment." <<All the more reason for citizens to be armed!>>

"We would get rid of assault weapons," said Parks. "There would not be an assault weapon in the United States, whether it's for a show or someone having it in a collection. There's no purpose of assault weapons other than in the military." <<How about that? They make the best home defense weapon against a large number of attackers and he knows it.>>

<<Bottom line - How many drive-by shootings would continue in a neighborhood where the news reports: "The third car to engage in a drive-by shooting was stopped today. All the members of the car were shot and killed by the neighbors of the person they were attempting to murder. It seems they are sending a message to local gangs: "stay out." The criminals are not afraid of the police or court punishment. Thus there is little deterrent. Without armed citizens, there will be nothing to stop them.>>

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<<A voice of truth and reason. Too bad it is not an elected official>>

Don't blame crimes on guns

The news media emphasizes every gun tragedy, making sure that everyone knows it is gun related, therefore stirring up everyone including the president. Why don't we take the words "gun" and "shooting" out of the headlines and look at the real problem.

When we have students killing their teachers and fellow students with no remorse, we do have a very serious problem, and it is not guns! Forget the weapon, and focus on the problem! <<Preach on my brother!>>

I think these kids know that the gun will be blamed instead of them. Regardless of age, those who commit crimes with guns should be tried as adults. Commit an adult crime and pay with an adult sentence! <<Exactly>>

It is easy to blame guns and pass dumb laws. How do you pass a law too raise better children -- kids that respect other people's property including their lives? <<Good Question>>

<<It must start in our homes, our neighborhoods. We need to start to reach out to our neighbor's children. We must begin with making kids responsible for themselves. That starts with the parents taking responsibility for the child's upbringing. Don't leave it up to the schools, TV or day-care. If a child has to work to earn money to purchase a toy, they will value it and take care of it. Thus they will learn to respect their property and that of others.>>

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<<A man who is part of the solution! We should all take notes and follow his lead.>>

Targeting a new audience

New Jersey - Bennett, a compact, 57-year-old African-American political activist from Newton, is on a mission: He wants more minorities to become gun enthusiasts.

Bennett is a member of the Tenth Cavalry Rifle and Pistol Club, a national group that encourages blacks and other minorities to take up sport shooting. Bennett and his supporters want to erase the negative stereotypes that suggest that African-Americans carry guns only to cause trouble.

With help from the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC), and the National Rifle Association, Bennett organized the first-ever Minorities Day at the Cherry Ridge Range in Highland Lakes on Saturday. 

One wall in the clubhouse has photographs of Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert G. Torricelli, both Democrats from New Jersey, and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Handwritten under the pictures is the phrase "The Three Stooges." Schumer, Lautenberg, and Torricelli have supported strict gun laws; they also enjoy a high level of support in the African-American community.

To this day, Blanchard said, many blacks who do use guns shoot only in private hunting clubs that have no white members. They never mention the fact they shoot to anyone. <<We must find theses people and join forces with them.>>

"This won't be done overnight," said Blanchard, who runs his own Web site. "I'm trying to correct decades of misinformation." <<Tell us about it.>>

Blanchard, who trains governmental agencies on how to provide security and protection for high-level government employees, travels around the nation lobbying for concealed gun-carrying laws and encouraging blacks to take up the sport of shooting.

<<Get them involved and they will become interested and then you have made an ally.>>

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Gun task force tells mayors that it's time to act on safety measures 

Congress must act on gun-safety legislation to stop urban violence that killed more Americans in the 1990s than the Vietnam War did in 15 years of fighting, members of a gun task force said yesterday at the U.S. Conference of Mayors' annual meeting, held in Seattle.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at the conference tried to persuade mayors to join the agency's Communities for Safer Guns Coalition. The coalition seeks agreement with other gun makers on a "Code of Responsible Conduct" on safety devices and gun sales.

HUD said more than 430 mayors and other civic leaders have pledged to support the code and give their business to gun makers who do. <<This is blackmail and favoritism. Are we going to allow this?>>

The U.S Conference of Mayors includes mayors of the more than 1,100 cities that have populations greater than 30,000. Some 300 mayors are in Seattle for the group's 68th annual conference, through June 13.

<<Contact your Mayor and tell him/her that you will not vote for them if they continue to "infringe" on the 2nd Amendment because crime still exists in their city and the only thing that can protect you and your family is you and your firearm. Tell them if they restrict the availability of firearms, we will sue them for every crime, just as they are attempting to sue the gun manufactures!>>

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<<More mis-information.>>

Poll: Fathers Care About Policies

He noted overwhelming support in the poll for such policies as trigger locks for guns, education funding, tax incentives to encourage "family friendly" policies and health insurance for children that cuts across lines of gender, race, income and party affiliation. <<Who did they poll? Any of you?>>

More than 80 percent of fathers and 90 percent of mothers surveyed favor requiring trigger locks or safety devices with guns, tax breaks for higher education, tax incentives to encourage family friendly policies and health insurance for every child, the poll found.

The survey of 650 parents was taken Jan. 26 to Feb. 8 and had an error margin of plus or minus 4.5 <<They only talked to 650 parents and this will probably be presented as a national poll.  Does this outrage you? It does me.>>

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TheAwakener@keepandbeararms.com provides news items and commentary from time to time for KABA.  Feel free to offer your feedback.