--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 275 GUNS Ref: DAL00012 Date: 06/16/96 From: JOHN PERZ Time: 09:53am \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: Neal Knox Report - Item 2, Part 1 Crossposted from the Internet Mailing List ONLINE REPORT TO THE FIREARMS OWNERS COALITION which reprints various columns and news tidbits from Neal Knox. (who has just moved up from second vice-president to first vice-president of the NRA) BEGIN QUOTE *************************************************************** Roberti's Revenge By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 1) -- When California Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti and Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Mike Roos pushed through the infamous Roberti-Roos ban on military-look semi-autos in 1989, gunowners across the state -- and the nation -- swore they'd get even. They did. Both Roberti and Roos are now out of politics. But their friends have struck back with an $808,000 fine against two of the leaders of the fight against them! Roos resigned after pro-gun grass roots groups began stirring up his smelly political past, using an innovative "chain letter" technique for reaching the voters in his district -- a system that the politicians couldn't control. Then came the big one: An equally innovative effort to use an obscure constitutional provision to recall Roberti, the first recall to get on the ballot since 1914. Roberti survived the recall election, but only after expending so much political capital and campaign funds that he was defeated in his subsequent campaign to be elected state treasurer. Last fall, the California Fair Political Practices Commission struck back with that grossly unfair $808,000 fine. Citizens Against Corruption Executive Director Russ Howard (who did most of the research on the recall effort) and Assistant Treasurer Steve Cicero were each saddled with the largest such political fine in U.S. history -- over five times the total raised by the committee. It wasn't enough to rap CAC, Howard and Cicero the maximum $2,000 fine for each of the 105 contributors whose names and donation, but not their addresses, were reported. Instead, the FPPC charged one count each for failure to report the address, occupation, and employer's name. In many cases that amounted to a $6,000 fine for initially reporting only the name and amount of a $100 contribution! Russ says there were three main reasons for the initial reports not being complete: (1) Many contributions came from out-of-staters who didn't provide that information; (2) The inability of a tiny band of amateurs to comply with all the bureaucratic requirements while attempting to conduct a campaign and, most importantly: (3) Desire to save contributors the harassment that occurred after names and addresses of supporters of the Roberti recall were published in local newspapers. By double and triple-counting each incomplete report, FPPC came up with 404 counts at $2,000 each. Perhaps it's only coincidence, but Roberti spent some $800,000 -- almost exactly the amount of the fine -- in defending against the recall. A few days before the recall election Roberti told CBS News: "They want to send a message to any politician who dares fight them that they're going to make it so costly and so expensive that they're not going to fight the gun lobby." And I think it's a fair assumption that the California political establishment, through the FPPC, is now sending an $808,000 message to grass roots activists who invade their turf, or figure ways to evade their control and/or give politicians fits. The innovative "chain letter" campaign used against both Roos and Roberti involved gun owners across the country -- many of them readers of this column -- who photocopied campaign material, then used their own envelopes and postage to send it to registered voters in Roberti's and Roos' districts. The recall effort these guys helped pioneer has since been used three times to recall politicians who angered their constituents. CONTINUED IN PART 2 ************************************************** --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 * Origin: Hudson Valley BBS (1:2624/808.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 275 GUNS Ref: DAL00013 Date: 06/16/96 From: JOHN PERZ Time: 09:55am \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: Neal Knox Report - Item 2, Part 2 CONTINUED FROM PART 1 ************************************************ A "brain trust" of skilled constitutional, administrative law, and gun rights lawyers has formed to try to save Russ and Steve from bankruptcy -- and give the FPPC pain. (The FPPC has filed suit to have the fine converted into a civil judgement.) And the Institute for Constitutional Rights, an established IRS 501(c)(3) organization which often defends the "politically incorrect," has taken up the case. Even with that kind of legal help, it's expensive to fight the establishment. The immediate need is about $10,000 to pay 10 cents per page to copy documents showing how FPPC has treated others -- which will show the rank discrimination against Russ and Steve. We can't leave our wounded warriors on the battlefield. Please send a generous contribution to ICR, 1999 Avenue Of The Stars, Suite 2800, Los Angeles, CA, noting that it's for the CAC Defense Fund. It's tax-deductible. As Russ has said, "Isn't it nice that the government will be helping to weaken its own power to oppress?" ======================================================================== Copyright 1996 by Neal Knox Associates P.O. Box 6537 Rockville, MD 20916. Reproduction and non-commercial distribution of this bulletin by any means is encouraged so long as this statement is retained. ======================================================================== To receive the Online Firearms Coalition Bulletin send email to listproc@mainstream.com containing in the message body: subscribe fco TOPIC: 275 GUNS Ref: DAL00014 Date: 06/16/96 From: JOHN PERZ Time: 09:59am \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: Neal Knox Report - Item 3, Part 1 Crossposted from the Internet Mailing List ONLINE REPORT TO THE FIREARMS OWNERS COALITION which reprints various columns and news tidbits from Neal Knox. (who has just moved up from second vice-president to first vice-president of the NRA) BEGIN QUOTE *************************************************************** Political Foolishness By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 20) -- Until I heard Dennis Fusaro trash House Speaker Newt Gingrich at Saturday's Gunstock rally in Detroit, I didn't believe that the leadership of Gun Owners of America had lost their collective minds. Fusaro heads state and local matters for GOA, and I had heard that, in addition to well-known NRA-bashing (perhaps to enhance their fund-raising), he and they were adopting some incomprehensible and counter-productive political positions. Speaker Gingrich took immense flak for causing the promised repeal vote on the semi-auto and magazine ban; if it hadn't been for him, there would have been no Waco hearings, and Freshman Bob Barr wouldn't be chairman of the House Firearms Task Force. To treat Gingrich as an enemy is plain stupid. Yet Saturday Fusaro blasted him for "supporting gun control" which he defined as "anything that increases government power." The most damning thing I had previously read about GOA's new course was a "Trip Report" by Northern Californian gun rights activist Peter Nesbitt concerning his attendance at a GOA Advanced Legislative Project Management April 29. Retired Senator H.L. "Bill" Richardson, who founded GOA and Gun Owners of California, keynoted the seminar, with Fusaro as the principal instructor. Nesbitt said they were told: "Instead of mobilizing our people in electing and assisting 'pro-gun' politicians, we should be busy inflicting Political Pain. By becoming too involved with the politician, becoming his friend, or accepting appointments to his various committees and panels, we lose our effectiveness as a grassroots activist. .... He then controls US, instead of us controlling HIM." Nesbitt concluded: "The main theme in this course is exercising our POWER against the politician through CONFRONTATIONAL techniques. "The techniques taught in this seminar indicate that we should be able to get ANY elected official to vote our way irregardless [sic] of who put him in office. .... "Much of the course content is very controversial, as it goes against the grain of what we as gun-owners, have been taught over the last few years." No kidding! This theology of "Only" Confrontational Politics is a prescription for disaster. Certainly we should "punish our foes," and I have delighted in dis-electing many anti-gunners; but it is equally critical to "support our friends." Support of non-incumbent pro-gunners was the sole reason Sen. Bill Richardson originally set up Gun Owners of California in 1975; I was a member of his board of directors. Bill probably would never have been elected if some gun activists in his district -- particularly Jim Watkins and Tom Wentz -- had taken the position that GOA/GOC now prescribes. They formed the San Gabriel Valley Gun Lobby and worked hard to elect him and three other hopefuls who did sterling work for gun owners. (One of them was U.S. Rep. Carlos Moorhead who is retiring this year after an exemplary career.) After Bill was re-elected enough times to become Senate Majority Leader, Watkins and Wentz felt that he began playing Republican politics so hard he sometimes forgot to dance with those gunowners "what brung him." Though they never treated him as an enemy -- Fusaro's prescription for politicians who backslide -- they quit working for him. And when Bill realized he had lost his base of support, he retired. Saturday Fusaro described GOA as the "junkyard dogs" of the gun movement; but their tactics are causing them to be treated more like skunks. CONTINUED IN PART 2 ************************************************** --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 * Origin: Hudson Valley BBS (1:2624/808.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 275 GUNS Ref: DAL00015 Date: 06/16/96 From: JOHN PERZ Time: 10:00am \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: Neal Knox Report - Item 3, Part 2 CONTINUED FROM PART 1 ************************************************* Example: In 1992, local activists and GOA were significant factors in electing Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) while NRA supported a pro-gun Democrat with a proven voting record in the state legislature. Rep. Bartlett Congressmen was the prime sponsor for GOA's legislation guaranteeing the right to self-defense with a firearm. And he sponsored the successful amendment to the "anti- terrorism bill" requiring a commission to investigate Federal law enforcement, including Waco and Ruby Ridge. But on Friday, to quell an attack from his opponent, Rep. Bartlett said he was returning $6,700 in campaign contributions from GOA because Executive Director Larry Pratt (whom I know not to be a racist) would not publicly renounce white supremacist groups. Will GOA now turn against Rep. Bartlett? I hope not. Rep. Bartlett is not our enemy; nor is Newt Gingrich. ======================================================================== Copyright 1996 by Neal Knox Associates P.O. Box 6537 Rockville, MD 20916. Reproduction and non-commercial distribution of this bulletin by any means is encouraged so long as this statement is retained. ======================================================================== To receive the Online Firearms Coalition Bulletin send email to listproc@mainstream.com containing in the message body: subscribe fco TOPIC: 275 GUNS Ref: DAL00016 Date: 06/16/96 From: JOHN PERZ Time: 02:45pm \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: Food for thought . . . Caught this in the 1996 Guns & Ammo HANDGUNS Annual. Article titled: OUT OF THE BOX, ONTO THE RANGE What to do after you buy your gun by Gerald Brennan. BEGIN QUOTE *********************************************************** . . . An acquaintance of mine in a law-enforcement reserve unit nearly killed a man once because of poor training techniques that he practiced on his own most zealously. He would be at the range at least once a week, amd his drill consisted of whipping his gun from the holster, snicking off the safety and firing. No one was more impressed than he was with his lightning-smooth draw and impressive accuracy at combat distances. Recently, he was obliged for the first time to quickly unholster his weapon in the line of duty. He snicked off the safety and had a flash of terrible confusion as his muscle memory told him to pull the trigger though the situation didn't warrant this action. His old "fast draw, safety off and shoot" method is now combined with a new drill that eliminates the reflex shot and places him at the ready. He has added to his practice sessions a third drill that incorporates the go/no go decision at the point of target acquisition. END QUOTE ************************************************************ --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 * Origin: Hudson Valley BBS (1:2624/808.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 275 GUNS Ref: DAL00017 Date: 06/14/96 From: AL MCCLAIN Time: 11:47am \/To: GUY PUTNAM (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: NRA GP>properly. There's no reason NRA can't support the Constitution Party, or GP>create a party from the ranks of gun owners. Its not an impossible goal, GP>especially with the stakes so high. The Constitution Party is now defunct. Bill Cooper devoted a good portion of his shortwave radio talk show (5065 Khz, 11 pm central time) last night (6/13) to Aaron Russo and the Constutution Party. Have you ever listened to Bill? I bet you have. ;) Regards, AL * SLMR 2.1a * Hitler thought private gun ownership was a problem, too. - JetMail v1.148 - Unregistered QWK Mail Door for Spitfire --- Alexi/Mail 2.02 (#10000) * Origin: -= N I G H T L I N E =- Home Of GameNet '95 (1:115/815) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 275 GUNS Ref: DAL00018 Date: 06/16/96 From: JOHN PERZ Time: 07:27pm \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: LSAS Crossposted from the Internet Firearms & Politics Mailing List BEGIN QUOTE *********************************************************** 9th Circuit Court Trashes 2d Amendment In a decision that annihilates the 2d Amendment, the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in _Hickman v. Block_ that a "plain reading" of the Second Amendment reveals that the true intent of the Amendment was only to protect a right of the states to maintain militias and not to protect an individual right. The Lawyers' Second Amendment Society (LSAS) views the decision as a very bad and very significant one that needs to be appealed, and is now attempting to raise the $50,000 needed to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, it is attempting to get a rehearing en banc, by the full 9th Circuit Court to review the opinion that was issued by a 3 judge panel. LSAS noted that the opinion was fraught with factual errors that reveal the poor scholarship of the judges who wrote it. For example, LSAS pointed out footnote 10 of the opinion, where the court stated "the Second Amendment is not incorporated into the Bill of Rights." !!! (The first 10 amendments *ARE* the Bill of Rights). Furthermore, in its discussion of the _US v. Miller_ case, LSAS noted that "the Court in Hickman did not carefully read _Miller_ because it erroneously stated Miller had been convicted at trial, rather than acquitted, and that Miller, rather than the U.S., was the appellant." LSAS feels the time is ripe for a Second Amendment case to be brought before the Supreme Court, which has been dodging the issue for many years. It feels that Hickman is the case. In it's latest newsletter, LSAS argued: We actually have little to lose by appealing. As it is, Congress, the courts, and most legislatures are already proceeding on the assumption that the Second Amendment protects only a "state's right." This is why we have some 20,000 gun control laws nationwide, including the Brady law and the "assault weapon" ban. If we lose, then we are merely back where we started; namely, in the political arena where such national groups as the NRA have proven so effective. . . . On the other hand, if we win the benefits are myriad. In a nutshell, a win would cut off gun control at the knees. . . . ********************************************************************** The LSAS is soliciting donations for this effort of $5.00 per person. Send checks payable to "The LSAS Trust Fund" to 18034 Ventura Blvd., #329, Encino, CA 91316. ********************************************************************** LSAS email alerts can be obtained by writing LSAS3@aol.com. Peaceable Texans for Firearm Rights 1300 Guadalupe, Ste. 202, Austin, TX 78701 512-476-2299, fax 476-4974 http://www.io.com/~velte/pt.htm END QUOTE ************************************************************** I'm not sure I agree with their idea that NOW is the time to take Second Ammendment case to the Supreme Court. If we can dump Clinton this fall, we should be able to replace a couple of more liberal Supreme Court judges over the next four years with ones more likely to render a proper decision. If we go there now and LOSE, future Supreme Courts will probably be reluctant to reverse such a decision. Patience, people, patience. Regards John --- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 * Origin: Hudson Valley BBS (1:2624/808.0) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 275 GUNS Ref: DAL00019 Date: 06/16/96 From: JOHN ERLAND Time: 02:18am \/To: EARNEST PADGETTE (Read 3 times) Subj: Customer Shoots in Miami Earnest Padgette wrote to John Erland: EP> (clip) JE>> This citizen did everything BY THE BOOK! He did not use lethal JE>> force until the situation called for it. The Metro-Dade police JE>> officer who the TV station interviewed commended this citizen for JE>> his actions! JE>> John Mayson JE>> -- ^^^^^^ JE>> John Mayson | Palm Bay, Florida | jmayson@nyx.net ^^^^^^ EP> John, are you a member of the Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol EP> Club? I was one of the founding members back in the early EP> 80's. No, I am not John Mayson. I merely forwarded his message for the group's information. JE ... (C)Copyright 1996 John Erland/SJR Communications, all rights reserved --- * Origin: Nothing's Ordinary - Absolute Elsewhere (1:203/8055.12) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 275 GUNS Ref: DAL00020 Date: 06/16/96 From: GARY WESTFALL Time: 08:22am \/To: MICHAEL GILLIAM (Read 3 times) Subj: cats -=> Quoting Michael Gilliam to All <=- MG> Given the previous writer's expressed attitude and location of MG> discussion, and given your tagline, I'd say it's pretty clear why cats MG> are being shot. Unnecessary cruelty to animals is a felony, and I do MG> not hesitate to bring that to the attention of anyone who is willing MG> to kill cats just because they don't like cats. Mind my own business MG> my butt. In Oregon it is legal to shoot dogs that are running loose and threatening livestock, let alone people. Feral cats can also be problems. ... "The joy of seeing new places, new people!" G. Khan ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 --- Platinum Xpress/Wildcat! v1.2f * Origin: Williams Comp Svcs:BBS Doors! (503) 631-8439 @wcssoft.com (1:105/278) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 275 GUNS Ref: DAL00021 Date: 06/16/96 From: VICTOR WILSON Time: 03:50pm \/To: MICHAEL GILLIAM (Read 3 times) Subj: guns and how they go MG>PN(> From your experience with the cb's would you say they would make an MG>PN(> acceptable cat gun in a suburban environment? MG>What are you doing shooting cats? If I saw you I'd have you hooked up MG>with a felony charge ASAP. You don't like cats, spray 'em with a hose, MG>but don't shoot 'em. Hey, there are some super powerful high-volume MG>water pistols out there now, try one of those. I cannot resist putting my 2 worth in. Fortunately I'm not in a suburban environment so I'm not limited to CB's or any other .22s for that matter, though one box of CCI Stingers I had accounted for 49 head shot cats. Feral cats serve no useful purpose that I've ever heard of and are pretty routinely eliminated by bird hunters/lovers around here. A cat is a domestic animal and ought to be kept restrained, collared and have preventive rabies shots just as our dogs are and should be. If I were unfortunate enough to live in a suburban neighbor hood I would live trap the damn things and turn them over to the cops and they likely would shoot them in turn. And I think you'd have Mr. Nixon hooked up with a misdemeanor charge, not a felony. My advice would be to neuter your cats and keep them home where they belong and there probably wouldn't be any trouble with them! --- SLMR 2.1a NRA Endowment Member..Sumner,IA vmwilson@combatarms.com --- GOMail v2.0 [94-0419] * Origin: Combat Arms BBS - Portland, OR - (503) 221-1777 (1:105/68)