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A White House plan to stop allowing the import of slightly modified assault weapons is only a first step toward closing gaping loopholes in the federal ban on these weapons.

On October 21, 1997, the White House stated that it would stop the issuance of new import permits while it reviewed the "sporting purposes" test under which foreign guns are imported. Many foreign assault weapons are being imported after undergoing cosmetic changes that supposedly "sporterize" them, making them eligible for import.

On November 15, 1997, the President issued a memorandum to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin ordering a 120-day review of how the "sporting purposes" test has been implemented and applied by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). The "sporting purposes" standard controls the importability of firearms into the U.S. The VPC was one recipient of a letter from ATF Director John Magaw seeking comment on the "sporting purposes" review. The VPC comments authored by Kristen Rand, VPC director of federal policy and Tom Diaz, VPC senior policy analyst, strongly urged ATF to use the "sporting purposes" review to clean up, tighten up, and more vigorously enforce the federal assault weapons ban.

Although cosmetic changes have been made to the "sporterized" weapons to make them eligible for importation, all can accept high-capacity ammunition magazines and commonly have "thumbhole" stocks that function as pistol grips. As a result, they retain the firepower of a standard assault weapon, can be reloaded easily, and fired from the hip.

"Sporterization" illustrates the problems inherent with the piecemeal approach to gun regulation in America. Foreign guns come under the "sporting purposes" test, domestic weapons do not. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms does have the power to plug the import loophole. Not only has ATF chosen not to, but the agency has actually aided the industry in circumventing the law. The solution to this problem lies in stripping away the gun industry's status as the last unregulated industry in America and applying to it the same comprehensive federal safety regulation that we apply to every other industry.

In 1990 the Violence Policy Center first revealed that ATF was allowing the importation of "sporterized" assault weapons. Foreign arms makers began "sporterizing" their weapons that year in reaction to the 1989 assault rifle import ban imposed by the Bush Administration following the 1989 assault weapon massacre in a Stockton, California schoolyard.

"Sporterization" lessons learned by foreign manufacturers have been applied by the U.S. gun industry to circumvent the 1994 federal assault weapons ban. U.S. companies that currently market "sporterized" assault weapons include Colt, which markets a "sporterized" version of its AR-15 assault rifle, and Intratec, which markets a "sporterized" version of its TEC-9 assault pistol dubbed the AB-10. (AB stands for "after-ban." The pistol also comes with a pre-ban 32-round magazine).

Working closely with Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Treasury Department and White House staff, the VPC, along with other gun control groups and peace activists, were successful in defeating an attempt by the National Rifle Association and gun importers to attach an amendment to a bill appropriating funds for the Department of the Treasury to allow the importation of 2.5 million surplus military M-1 rifles and M-1911 pistols. These weapons were originally provided to foreign governments as part of military assistance programs. Under current law it is illegal to import them. Although this effort was defeated on the House floor when that body considered the Treasury appropriations bill, the NRA resuscitated the amendment and attempted to attach it to the Commerce, Justice, State spending bill. This amendment was sponsored by Representative Alan Mollohan (D-WV).

The Violence Policy Center worked to educate the public and policymakers about the dangers of this proposal. The VPC analyzed firearms tracing data from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and found that 1,800 of these weapons had been traced to crime scenes nationwide in 1995 and 1996 alone.

Both the Washington Post and New York Times editorialized against the gun import amendment and used the tracing statistics provided by the VPC.

Thanks primarily to the leadership and dogged determination of Senator Lautenberg, pro-gun forces succeeded only in securing language in the committee's report. This language does not have the force of law but will require that a study of surplus military imports be conducted. It is fully expected that the gun lobby will again attempt to sneak through its surplus-military amendment during the next session of Congress.

In yet another indication of the pariah status of America's gun industry, representatives of the major pro-tort "reform" organizations are scrambling to distance themselves from the firearms industry. In a recent exchange of letters with the Violence Policy Center (VPC) in Legal Times, Victor Schwartz—a partner at the Washington law firm of Crowell and Moring and a lobbyist for business interests seeking federal laws restricting consumer product liability lawsuits—charged VPC Director of Federal Policy Kristen Rand of "‘shoot from the hip' McCarthyism" for pointing out that the gun industry is listed as a member of several business groups formed to advocate for tort restriction legislation. Apparently, in Mr. Schwartz's view, an alliance with the gun industry carries the same negative connotations as consorting with Communists did in the 1950s.

Pro-tort "reform" groups such as the Product Liability Coordinating Council (PLCC) and the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) have for years lobbied to restrict the rights of consumers in product liability litigation. And all the while the gun industry has been at their side advocating restrictions on lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers. Currently, these forces are pushing a bill (S. 648) that would establish an absolute cap of $250,000 on punitive damages in lawsuits against some major junk gun manufacturers, eliminate any liability for guns manufactured before 1979, and virtually eliminate civil liability for gun dealers who sell firearms in violation of state or federal law.

The VPC has been at the forefront of documenting the involvement and influence of the gun industry and the National Rifle Association (NRA) in the product liability debate and in the business coalitions that fund the tort restriction effort. The VPC works with a coalition of consumer, labor, and attorney organizations to expose the dangers that such legislation would pose to gun consumers and victims of firearms violence. In 1994, the VPC and Consumers Union, during Senate consideration of a tort restriction bill, first exposed the negative effects that federal product liability legislation would have on lawsuits against gun dealers who knowingly sell firearms to minors and criminals. The VPC and Consumers Union labeled the bill the "Gun Dealers' Protection Act," which helped to assure its defeat on the Senate floor.

Individual gun companies, including Sturm, Ruger & Co., Browning, and Colt, as well as gun industry trade groups such as the American Shooting Sports Council (ASSC), belong to a variety of tort "reform" lobby groups. However, representatives of the tort "reform" groups themselves, including the PLCC and ATRA, recognize the extreme negative connotations of being perceived as lobbyists for the gun industry. They consistently deny any involvement with gun industry representatives—despite overwhelming evidence that the firearms industry is intimately involved in the business coalitions pushing for tort "reform."

For example, Victor Schwartz, who in addition to representing the PLCC serves as general counsel to ATRA, took the time to address attendees at the American Shooting Sports Council's annual lobby day on Capitol Hill in 1995. Schwartz's briefing on pending federal tort "reform" legislation was presented to a gathering of assault weapon and junk gun manufacturers, gun dealers, and importers, and was well-covered in the pages of the New Gun Week. But in an August 8, 1997 letter to Legal Times, Schwartz strained to distance himself from the ASSC, claiming that ASSC's membership in ATRA was immaterial because Schwartz did not counsel ATRA on federal product liability legislation. Schwartz has repeatedly denied that he has even ever met any gun industry representatives. In a separate letter printed the same day, Patrick Rowland of the PLCC insisted, "We are under no direction by gun manufacturers or gun dealers in the development of our policy about federal product liability legislation."

Such dismissive treatment must be hard for the gun lobby to swallow since both the gun industry and the National Rifle Association have put substantial lobbying muscle into influencing and supporting federal product liability legislation since the beginning of the debate in Congress.

As far back as 1983, the issue of tort "reform" was important enough to the NRA for it to make the cover of the May issue of the organization's American Rifleman magazine. The headline warned, "Product Liability Law: How It Is Being Used Against You." The accompanying article described an NRA-sponsored conference on "current trends in product liability law and their impact on gun owners." Attending the conference was then-Senator Bob Kasten (R-WI) who was, at the time, "leading a reform effort in Congress to create a uniform federal code dealing with product liability law." Subsequently, one of Senator Kasten's most oft-repeated examples of a product treated unfairly by the liability system was a defectively designed Sturm, Ruger & Co. revolver that has killed or injured more than 600 people in unintentional discharges.

NRA and industry support of liability restrictions has remained constant through the years. In 1995, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre told Guns and Ammo, in response to a question about what the NRA was doing in the area of tort "reform," that the NRA was "part of the coalition that is pursuing legislation...." Although, according to LaPierre, "the industry is certainly carrying the brunt of the issue."

In fact, both the NRA and the American Shooting Sports Council feel so strongly about tort "reform" that they highlighted the issue in their 1996 election materials. Just prior to the 1996 presidential election, the NRA issued a resolution from its board of directors decrying President Clinton's performance on gun-related issues. The resolution condemned the President because he "vetoed Federal tort reform legislation which would have ended outrageous lawsuits designed specifically to bankrupt firearms manufacturers, distributors, and dealers, thus depriving peaceable Americans of legitimate commerce in firearms," and urged his ouster from office. A month earlier, the ASSC issued its ratings of congressional candidates based on six key pro-gun votes. One of those key votes was "support of federal product liability reform legislation...."

And Sturm, Ruger & Co. may be the most stalwart of the individual gun companies supporting federal tort "reform" legislation. The company regularly turns up on lists of organizations supporting product liability restrictions. In 1995, Ruger executive Stephen Sanetti sat on the board of directors of the Product Liability Advisory Council alongside executives from General Motors, Anheuser-Busch, and Boeing.

These are just a few examples of the significant role played by the gun lobby in the debate over federal product liability legislation. The VPC has compiled extensive evidence documenting the role of the gun industry and the NRA in the battle to limit consumer rights in product liability lawsuits. But it appears that no matter how much muscle the gun lobby puts behind federal tort "reform" legislation, its fellow travelers in the tort "reform" movement want nothing to do with them—at least in public.

Available Resources:

Lawyers, Guns and Money: The Impact of Tort Restrictions on Firearms Safety and Gun Control is an exhaustive study that analyzes last Congress' product liability "reform" bills. The study is available from the VPC for $10.00. Follow these links to view the study's Executive Summary and accompanying Press Release.

The VPC also has fact sheets detailing how pending tort "reform" proposals would undermine efforts to reduce firearms violence through litigation.

In its efforts to hook kids on guns, the National Rifle Association (NRA) is following a trail blazed by the tobacco industry according to a new Violence Policy Center (VPC) study conducted with the Global Survival Network. The 144-page study, Joe Camel with Feathers: How the NRA with Gun and Tobacco Industry Dollars Uses its Eddie Eagle Program to Market Guns to Kids, was released on Wednesday, November 19th at a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

The study takes a hard look at the NRA's Eddie Eagle "gun safety" program—which the organization has aggressively promoted as an alternative to gun safety measures such as child access prevention (CAP) laws (which require that adults store their firearms safely and inaccessible to children) and legislation mandating the use of trigger locks.

The study finds that the primary goal of the Eddie Eagle program is not to safeguard children, but to protect the financial and political interests of the NRA and the firearms industry. The program makes firearms more palatable to children and youth, helping to recruit them into America's gun culture. The Eddie Eagle program employs strategies similar to those used by the tobacco industry—from youth "educational" programs that are in fact marketing tools to appealing cartoon characters that put a friendly face on a hazardous product. While the tobacco industry denies that it is marketing to children, the NRA and the gun industry openly admit that they are.

The study documents for the first time gun industry funding of NRA activities. Tax-deductible money donated by manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and related products is funneled through the NRA's tax-exempt sister organization, The NRA Foundation. The VPC has uncovered at the very minimum hundreds of thousands of gun-industry dollars donated to The NRA Foundation. These funds are then transferred to the NRA in the form of "grants." The NRA then uses these "grants" to fund the Eddie Eagle program and other activities. Gun industry members who have contributed to the NRA in this way include Saturday Night Special or "junk gun" manufacturers, rifle and shotgun manufacturers, and manufacturers of ammunition and reloading equipment. A laudatory article distributed by The NRA Foundation as a promotional flyer concludes, "The Foundation is a mechanism by which the firearms industry can promote shooting sports education, cultivating the next generation of shooters. Translate that to future customers." VPC research also reveals that the tobacco industry has made contributions to The NRA Foundation.

VPC Executive Director Josh Sugarmann, one of the study's authors, states, "The NRA has always protested that it receives no money from the gun industry. We've put that lie to rest. We've followed the money trail—and it leads from the gun industry to Eddie Eagle. Just as Joe Camel helped hook a generation on tobacco, the NRA and the gun industry hope to use Eddie Eagle to hook a new generation on guns."

Other key findings of the study include:

• NRA staff describe the Eddie Eagle program as the "clean-up committee" to help burnish the NRA's public image after gun control battles.

• The NRA uses Eddie Eagle as a lobbying tool in its efforts to derail the passage of child access prevention (CAP) and mandatory trigger lock laws.

• In its attempts to use the credibility of other organizations to promote the Eddie Eagle program, the NRA has misrepresented awards granted to the program by the National Safety Council, which has issued a series of sharp rebukes to the NRA. The NRA has also erroneously claimed endorsement by D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and the Black United Fund, Inc.

• Rather than recognizing the inherent danger firearms in the home pose to children, and the often irresponsible firearms storage behavior of adults, the Eddie Eagle program places the onus of safety and responsibility on the children themselves.

• Public health researchers have found that "gun safety" programs like Eddie Eagle are ineffective in preventing unintentional death and injury from firearms. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that "[b]ecause even the most well-behaved children are curious by nature and will eagerly explore their environment, the safest thing is to not keep a gun at home."

Available Resources:

Joe Camel with Feathers: How the NRA with Gun and Tobacco Industry Dollars Uses its Eddie Eagle Program to Market Guns to Kids is available from the VPC for $20.00. For information on ordering this study please return to the publications page.

Follow this link to view other Joe Camel with Feathers materials.

More than 940 Texans holding concealed handgun licenses under the state's "shall-issue" concealed handgun law have been arrested since January 1996 according to License to Kill, a new 23-page study released this month by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). The Texas "shall-issue" law was passed by the legislature in 1995. Licenses issued under the law became effective in January 1996.

The study cites Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) information showing that from January 1, 1996 to October 9, 1997 Texas concealed handgun license holders were arrested for 946 crimes. Of these, 263 were felony arrests, including: six charges of murder or attempted murder involving at least four deaths; two charges of kidnapping; 18 charges of sexual assault; 66 charges of assault, including 48 cases of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; and, 42 weapon-related charges. Six-hundred eighty-three were misdemeanor arrests, including: 194 weapon-related charges and 215 instances of driving while intoxicated. "Texas concealed handgun license holders don't stop crimes, but all too many of them commit them," states VPC Health Policy Analyst and study author Susan Glick, MHS.

The study also reveals that in the first six months of 1997 (the most recent complete data set available), the weapon-related arrest rate among Texas concealed handgun license holders was more than twice as high as that of the general population of Texas aged 21 years and older. Commenting on this statistic, Glick states, "The plain fact is that most Texans have more sense than to run around with a gun stuffed in their pants. But those who do carry concealed get into trouble involving weapons more often than other Texans." In addition, family violence was involved in 42 of the arrests of Texas concealed handgun license holders, including: one arrest for murder; one arrest for attempted murder; and, seven arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. "This shows once again the direct link between guns and domestic violence," says Glick.

The DPS offers few details surrounding the arrests of license holders. But the VPC has been able to identify the circumstances of a limited number of the arrests reported, including one arrest for aggravated kidnapping and three of the arrests for murder or attempted murder. For example—

Aggravated Kidnapping—Seguin, Texas. On April 28, 1997 concealed handgun license holder Diane James was arrested by Seguin, Texas police in the aggravated kidnapping of a young woman in her 30s. James and her husband allegedly assaulted the woman with a stun gun and pulled her into their van. The woman was taken to their home where she was kept naked and in chains and told that she was going to be "trained" as a sex slave. The woman escaped the next morning and ran to a neighbor's home. David James—armed with an AR-15 assault rifle—followed the woman. When the police arrived at the scene a shootout ensued in which David James was killed. Diane James was convicted of aggravated kidnapping on November 21, 1997 and was sentenced to 15 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Penitentiary.

Attempted Murder—Midlothian, Texas. On July 9, 1997 the Midlothian Police Department arrested concealed handgun license holder Stephen Ray Harrelson for attempted murder. Harrelson allegedly entered his estranged wife's home and forced her into a back room. There, he allegedly stuck a pistol to her head. The woman's children were able to alert police by calling 911. A struggle broke out and Harrelson left. A police pursuit of Harrelson—who still had his pistol—ensued. According to police, when he was located Harrelson threatened to kill himself. He eventually laid down his weapon and surrendered. Harrelson was released on bond and is awaiting trial.

Trying to head off growing pressure to close loopholes in the 1994 federal assault weapons ban, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the gun industry have changed their tune on these deadly military style guns, a December 1997 report by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) reveals.

The report, "That Was Then, This is Now: The NRA and the Gun Industry Talk About Assault Weapons—From Both Sides of Their Mouths," documents how the NRA and the gun industry have gone from enthusiastically praising the merits of civilian semi-automatic "assault weapons" in the 1980s to denying that such things even exist in the 1990s.

VPC Senior Policy Analyst and study author Tom Diaz states, "The issue is hot again because pressure has built to close loopholes in the 1994 assault weapons ban. Afraid of next year in Congress, the propaganda mill of the NRA and the gun industry has been working overtime, cranking out myths about civilian assault guns. This report destroys those myths—with words from the NRA's own publications and the gun press."

"Throughout the 1980s, the NRA, the firearms industry, and the gun press talked enthusiastically about ‘assault rifles' and ‘assault pistols' and openly acknowledged the guns' differences from traditional sporting weapons," according to the report, which is based on extensive research into gun publications, including the NRA's American Rifleman magazine.

But, the study found, "This changed in 1989 when legislative efforts to restrict assault weapons began in the wake of Patrick Purdy's Stockton, California schoolyard massacre." Purdy, armed with a semi-automatic AK-47 assault rifle, killed five schoolchildren and wounded 29 others, including a schoolteacher.

"The NRA's gun experts and others of their ilk loved assault weapons for what they are—deadly knock-offs of military killing machines," notes Diaz, "but they changed their tune when the American public demanded a ban on these guns."

The report cites examples of how pro-gun experts "who had proudly pointed to the guns' military heritage and applications...reversed themselves and began portraying these weapons of war as misunderstood ugly ducklings."

The report lists four myths that the NRA and the gun industry are currently circulating—such as "gun experts say there is no such thing as a civilian assault weapon"—and quotes early gun press articles that flatly contradict these myths.

"Assault weapons constitute a specific class of firearm incorporating design characteristics intended to enhance their utility as killing machines," the report concludes, "Nothing about the weapons has changed, only the politics."

Available Resources:

Follow this link to view That Was Then, This is Now: The NRA and the Gun Industry Talk About Assault Weapons—From Both Sides of Their Mouths.

National Rifle Association of America
Incorporated 1871
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

January 15, 1998

Mr. Leroy Pyle
1313 N. Ritchie Court, #2108
Chicago, IL 60610

Dear Mr. Pyle:

The logo "I'M THE NRA" is a trademark of the National Rifle Association of America and is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

This office has received notification that there has been unauthorized use of this trademark on your web page, PaulRevere@ PaulRevere.org. It is requested that you as the web site owner and Treasurer of "The Committee For an HONEST NRA" immediately cease and desist the further use of the Association's trademark in any form whatsoever.

Continued use of the said trademark will constitute a knowing and fraudulent violation of our trademark under circumstances in which it is likely to cause confusion in the minds of the public. This office has no concern with your message, and certainly does not want to, in any way, impinge upon your free expression. However, in order for the Association to protect its rights to the continued use of the "I'M THE NRA" trademark, it is imperative that I address any and all unauthorized uses of the symbol.

It is expected that you will provide an affirmative response with your agreement to discontinue the use of NRA's trademark in any way.

Sincerely,

Edward J. Land, Jr.

NRA Secretary

EJL/ssw

Letter from NRA Secretary Edward Land to NRA Board Member Leroy Pyle requesting that he "cease and desist" from using the "I'm the NRA" logo on his website, The Paul Revere Network, January 1998.

Studies indicate that 1,225 Americans were killed in unintentional shootings in 1995, and that the presence of a gun in the home makes it nearly three times more likely that you or someone you care about will be murdered by a family member or intimate partner. Send clippings to: "The Unfortunately Armed Citizen," 1350 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 825, Washington, DC 20036.

Slaying Memorial Visitor Fatally Shot - Washington Post 10/17/97

ALBUQUERQUE - Norma Barrios, 33, was shot to death as she sat near a memorial to homicide victims. Police said the gunman apparently was firing a pistol at a stray dog and could not see Barrios because the bench and memorial were obscured by a large bush.

Bullet Kills Two Kids; Cousin Charged - Miami Herald 11/23/97

Christopher McCrossin, 17, was baby-sitting his four cousins, who were the children of his aunt, April Rodgers. He apparently found Rodgers' boyfriend's High Point 9mm semiautomatic pistol in a closet, said Sgt. Brad Smith of the Marion County Sheriff's Department.

"He pulled the slide back and when he released it, the gun discharged," Smith said.

The bullet passed through the head of Jessie Dwayne Rodgers, 10, and lodged in the brain of his sister, Amanda Rodgers, 6.

"There are any number of scenarios. The weapon could have malfunctioned, the ammunition could have malfunctioned or he may have had his finger on the trigger when the slide returned."

Christopher McCrossin had completed a NRA hunter safety course within the past year, Spinks said. Both victims had been in the Eddie Eagle program in their elementary school.

Each month the Violence Policy Center receives mail from participants on both sides of the gun issue.

You can contact the VPC by sending your correspondence to Violence Policy Center, 1350 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 825, Washington, DC, 20036. Or you can e-mail us at news@vpc.org.

Unfortunately, because of the Center's limited staff size we are unable to respond individually to each inquiry.

All mail is reprinted as received by the Violence Policy Center.

From: "Silver Hawk" (echota@sprintmail.com)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1997

THE ECHOTA FREE PRESS

TURKEY OF THE YEAR AWARD

In keeping with our time honored tradition of presenting Thanksgiving turkeys to our insane European invaders, The Echota Free Press proudly offers our "Turkey of The Year Award".

To the "VIOLENCE POLICY CENTER FOR THEIR ATTACK ON EDDIE EAGLE".

The Free Press has unanimously selected "The Violence Policy Center" for their decision that NRA's Eddie Eagle must be terminated. It would appear, that teaching children about gun safety is counter productive to their goals. After all, every gun accident prevented is one less for them to use in their campaigns.

Are they willing to scarifice their children's safety to ward off the EVIL GUN GOD? And they think we are the savage culture!

[Editor's Note: The VPC has cleared a space in our trophy case for the coveted Turkey of the Year Award, but have yet to actually receive it from the Echota Free Press]

From: Randy Beeks (Randy03@rexnet.net)

I think you're views are all one-sided. I think this is a communist attempt to disarm America. Face it, folks, without guns, you would still be a subject of the king of england. Nevertheless, the fact is that I have the God given responsibility to protect my family, and I can't do that with a hairbrush. This is not the wild west, it's worse!!!!

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