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A proposal that would require that all new handguns be sold with a child safety lock device has been endorsed by President Clinton and is expected to be offered as an amendment to the Juvenile Justice Bill (S. 10) when the legislation is considered on the Senate floor. The full Senate is expected to take up the bill soon after Congress reconvenes after the August recess which ends September 1, 1997.

Unfortunately, the child safety lock proposal contains no minimum standards for the devices and also contains a very weak and ineffective warning provision. The proposed child safety lock bill would, in essence, allow the gun industry to set its own standards for child safety locks and yet still be able to claim that it meets a government safety standard. This would be very dangerous for America's children. The Violence Policy Center has identified several child safety locks currently on the market that are wholly inadequate to protect children from the hazard of unintentional firearm discharges. The devices are made of cheap plastic that easily shatters with the application of moderate force.

In order to be effective, a child safety lock proposal must establish minimum safety standards and be at least as rigorous as standards designed to protect children from other product-related hazards such as those that apply to aspirin packaging. Such minimum safety standards currently apply to manufacturers of virtually every other consumer product sold in America including automobiles, bicycles, toys, and toasters. The gun industry must not be allowed to remain the only industry exempt from minimum safety standards.

Consequently, the VPC, working with a coalition of consumer organizations and other gun control groups, has developed an alternative child safety lock proposal. We are seeking support for the improved proposal from members of the Senate and the Administration.

Organizations and activists concerned about protecting children from the hazard of unintentional firearm-related injury should support the strongest possible child safety lock legislation.

Available Resources:

Copies of the alternative trigger lock legislation are available from the VPC.

The ruling by the United States Supreme Court that 1993's Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act violates the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution foreshadows an inevitable debate in Congress over the value of the national five-day waiting period as well as the effectiveness of the proposed national "instant check" system.

The Court held that the law's requirement that local law enforcement officials make a "reasonable effort" to determine if potential handgun purchasers fall into a prohibited category was an impermissible burden imposed by the federal government on state and local entities, a so-called "unfunded mandate."

The decision, however, is merely the first salvo in the coming war over what form the Brady law will take in 1998. While the waiting period component of the law was left untouched by the Supreme Court's action, it will nevertheless "sunset" in 1998. The Brady law, as passed by Congress, requires states to implement "instant check" systems to replace the current five-day waiting period. "Instant check" would in theory allow gun dealers to immediately conduct a background check on a handgun buyer. Once the "instant check" system goes into effect, however, the five-day waiting period goes out of existence. The waiting period performs two irreplaceable functions: it allows for a "cooling off" period in cases where a handgun buy is made impulsively to perpetrate a crime of passion or to commit suicide; and it guarantees that law enforcement officials will have sufficient time to conduct a complete background check of a purchaser and to answer any criminal or mental health questions left unresolved by the "instant check."

Violence Policy Center Director of Federal Policy Kristen Rand states, "The Supreme Court's decision is sure to spark an intense battle over the future of Brady's waiting period and how background checks are performed. Now that the Supreme Court has voided the current system as the result of this gun lobby-backed lawsuit, Congress must step in and decide not only how to conduct background checks, but also how valuable the waiting period has been as the sun begins to set over the Brady Law."

In what was billed in the gun press as nothing less than a battle for the flinty soul of the organization, the National Rifle Association held its annual meeting this past May in Seattle, Washington. (Some in the city appeared to take a more bemused view of the NRA's arrival. One coffee kiosk a block from the convention center featured a sidewalk sign which read, "Chuck Says, `Guns Suck.. Welcome NRA.'") While every year the meeting and its attendant gun industry show attract from 15,000 to 25,000 NRA members and gun enthusiasts, this year's event was marked by a virtual pro-gun cage match pitting the self-described "winning team" of Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, NRA Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director Tanya Metaksa, and President Marion Hammer against the forces of First Vice President and self-appointed pro-gun conscience Neal Knox. Knox had launched his effort to remove LaPierre in the wake of the NRA's continued financial distress and allegations of fiscal mismanagement. Knox's goal was to have his faction win enough seats on the board and to make a strong enough showing at the annual meeting to force LaPierre's ouster. Typical of the charges levied against LaPierre were those of "Second Amendment Action." A flyer distributed at the meeting by the ad-hoc group urged attendees to ask LaPierre 15 questions, including: why had the NRA's cash reserves shrunk to $50 million while its obligations had grown to $160 million; what was the reason for the 1996 "fire sale" of NRA life memberships at discounted rates; what was the reason for a 700,000 membership drop--from 3.3 million to 2.6 million; and, what were the facts behind allegations of financial mismanagement surrounding the awarding of contracts and internal monetary decisions--including a loss of $187,000 at the NRA cafeteria!

In their various defenses, the "winning team" warned that Knox was an extremist who would destroy the organization from within. [Proving that all things are relative, the resumes of those warning of the "extremist" Knox included the author of the infamous "jack-booted government thugs" letter (LaPierre), a computer bulletin board systems operator who made bomb recipes available to the general public prior to the Oklahoma bombing (Metaksa), and a proponent of gun use by grade-school children (Hammer).] And while Knox's forces were vocal, they were outnumbered and outlasted by members loyal to LaPierre, Metaksa, and Hammer. LaPierre's floor managers were easily spotted in the convention hall wearing flourescent pink baseball caps, walkie talkies, and buttons that read "Guns, Wayne, and Freedom." Marion Hammer and Tanya Metaksa were also clad in "LaPierre pink." The tactics employed by supporters of both sides during the meeting were familiar to any gun control proponent who has ever testified amidst a sea of orange hats. They interrupted reports from the organization's officers, refused to stop speaking when ruled out of order, and continued to belabor points long after they had been settled. Marion Hammer soon took on the tired demeanor of a third-grade teacher dealing with a very large, unruly class and at times almost engendered sympathy.

Both Metaksa's and LaPierre's speeches were predictable. Metaksa belabored a tired and internally illogical metaphor about "a river called freedom" that appeared to be constantly sweeping away and almost drowning its pro-gun travelers. LaPierre attempted to look tough, pounded the rostrum (hitting it most of the time) and continued the tired water theme. This newly discovered river, he warned, was "rough and rapid. The undertows are vicious. And there are always those who want to drown you." Knox, he warned, wanted to drive the NRA off this beloved, if fickle, river, "steer it to the edge, beach it on a sandbar, and let it rot in the sun." A consistent, if incongruous theme throughout the afternoon was the "diversity" of the NRA. LaPierre told the monochromatic crowd: "There's no way to classify the crowd. You can't say it's mostly this income group or that income, or mostly this ethnic group or that political party, this religion or that race." Illustrating in painful detail that wishing doesn't make it so, most of the meeting attendees were the same familiar faces, fabrics, and sizes: large white men draped in flannel. After the speeches Knox's supporters were soon relegated to complaining about the NRA's support for a gun control bill in Pennsylvania, "grade inflation" of political candidates, and the perceived shortcomings of regional staff.

In reality, a pink stake had already been driven through Knox's heart even before the meeting began when ubiquitious NRA spokesperson and LaPierre supporter Charlton Heston agreed to stand for election at the meeting as the 76th member of the NRA board of directors as the result of a last minute re-interpretation of the bylaws by the NRA leadership.

With Heston elected, LaPierre's future was secured. The board voted to remove Knox from his position as first vice president and replace him with the actor. And while Knox may have lost this battle, it is certain that like the Terminator, he will be back.

For several years the VPC has been working to protect the rights of consumers who are killed or injured by defectively designed or manufactured firearms as well as the legal rights of victims of gun violence whose injuries are caused by the negligent or reckless acts of gun dealers. The rights of victims are seriously threatened by pending federal legislation that would substantially change the rules in product liability lawsuits. The legislation is being pushed by a coalition of business interests including the tobacco and firearms industries as well as by the National Rifle Association.

Last Congress, so-called "tort reform" was passed by both Houses of Congress but President Clinton courageously vetoed the bill. In his veto statement, the President cited his concern that the legislation would have "let off the hook" gun dealers who knowingly sell guns to felons or minors who then use those weapons to kill or injure innocent people.

The legislation also would have shielded gun manufacturers from punitive damages and eliminated manufacturer liability for older guns. The gun industry is undeserving of such protection. Firearm makers and sellers are the last unregulated industry manufacturing a consumer product in America. The tort system today operates as the only "regulation" of the firearms industry.

Unfortunately, the White House is now seeking a compromise with business interests and has convened an inter-agency task force to draft compromise "tort reform" legislation. Whatever protections are offered to product manufacturers should not apply to the gun industry. The White House needs to hear from organizations and individuals concerned about gun violence that guns must be exempted from any product liability legislation.

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' 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.

Anti-domestic violence advocacy organizations and women's groups are continuing to fight efforts to repeal the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, which was signed into law last year. The law makes it illegal for anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence or child abuse to possess or purchase a firearm. The latest volley in the repeal effort occurred on Monday, July 14th, 1997, when Gun Owners of America hosted a seminar luncheon and press conference in cooperation with the office of Representative Helen Chenoweth (R-ID). Representative Chenoweth is the sponsor of H.R. 1009, a bill to repeal the law. Event speakers included: Texas State House Representative Dr. Suzanna Gracia-Hupp, Women Against Gun Control President Janalee Tobias, and SWARM (Safety for Women and Responsible Motherhood) President Rebecca John Wyatt.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is continuing to cement its image as a wife beater's best friend as the result of a recent promotional tour by NRA Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director Tanya Metaksa to promote her new book Safe, Not Sorry. Metaksa's book recommends arming battered women rather than disarming violent offenders. Domestic violence advocacy organizations and women's groups took to bookstores from New York to Houston to let the press and public hear the views of real experts on domestic violence prevention and to expose the NRA's efforts to repeal the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban. Metaksa ended her promotional tour in Washington, D.C. at the Independent Women's Forum (IWF), a conservative think tank funded by the Olin Foundation. As revealed by the Violence Policy Center, the Olin Foundation has strong financial links to the Olin Corporation, which owns Winchester Ammunition (the largest producer of ammo in the U.S. and the manufacturer of the infamous "Black Talon" bullet). The Olin Foundation also funded pro-gun researcher John Lott's now-discredited research on lax concealed weapons laws. Metaksa commented at the IWF event that she had faced protesters at every stop on her tour.

Available Resources:

Follow this link to the Firearms and Domestic Violence Fact Sheet.

Follow this link to the Lott CCW Study Has Funding Links to the Gun Industry Fact Sheet.

Anti-government writings in Soldier of Fortune magazine regarding the federal government's 1993 assault on the Branch Davidian compound at Waco presented during the sentencing portion of the Timothy McVeigh trial were only a small sample of the language of war offered by America's gun lobby to its "freedom fighters" prior to the 1995 Oklahoma bombing.

In the period leading up to the bombing, violent, written attacks on the federal government were led by the National Rifle Association (NRA), which announced in its magazines that "The Final War Has Begun." Soldier of Fortune publisher Robert K. Brown also serves on the NRA board of directors. McVeigh himself is a former NRA member. Attacks made on the federal government by the NRA in this "war" included:

• In his 1994 book Guns, Crime, and Freedom, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre compared the final FBI assault on the Branch Davidian compound to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, stating, "What occurred is reminiscent of the stand-off at the Warsaw ghetto. The Jews, whose religious views were unpopular with the Nazis, were trapped inside the ghetto and had ten handguns. When the Nazi soldiers tried to take the Jews from the ghetto, shooting started, the soldiers fell back, and the siege began. In the end, the Nazis burned down the ghetto to end the tiring siege."

• An April 1995 American Rifleman article referred to federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents as "armed terrorists" who are "harassing, intimidating and hurting honest citizens" with "the brute force of unchecked, renegade federal power." The article added, "The terror often comes at the hands of BATF agents clad in ninja black, but the terror doesn't stop there." Previously in direct mail, Wayne LaPierre had referred to federal agents as "jack-booted government thugs."

• In the June 1994 American Rifleman, the NRA warned of an alleged gun control "Master Plan" that employed the "the fascist language of Stalin, Hitler, Castro and Saddam Hussein."

• In January 1994 NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre warned, "We have repeatedly warned this assault was coming, and the time of reckoning is here. If you or your children want to own a gun as free American citizens in the years ahead, then prepare to stand and fight with us now."

• In an October 1993 American Rifleman attack on the Federal Bureau of Investigation which featured goose-stepping military personnel, the NRA asked, "What's the first step to a police state?" In the ad Wayne LaPierre urged readers to "Take back your government and save your guns" and warned that the FBI's "extremist leadership is determined to become a political anti-gun police force. That's a line they cannot cross. The FBI cannot be deployed to terrorize honest gun owners...."

Available Resources:

Follow this link to view the press release Oklahoma Bombing Inevitable Result Of Growing Extremism Of American Gun Lobby (04/21/95).

A new analysis of unpublished Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data of female homicide victims in Texas released by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) reveals that women in Texas are most often killed by people they know, usually an intimate, in a non-felony situation. The VPC analysis reviewed all 352 cases of female homicide in Texas for 1995 using unpublished data from the FBI's Supplemental Homicide Report. In cases where the relationship between victim and offender could be determined, nearly nine out of 10 female victims were killed by an attacker they knew. In only 11 percent of cases where the attacker was identified were the victims killed by strangers. Nearly all of the female homicides were not felony-related (75 percent). Female victims were most often killed by their husbands (29 percent). Husbands used guns to kill their wives in seven out of every 10 homicides (70 percent).

Sue Glick, VPC health policy analyst states, "Women are most often murdered by people they know armed with guns. Recognizing the documented role firearms play in escalating domestic violence to homicide, these numbers are just the latest proof that guns and domestic violence are a deadly mix for women." Research on domestic violence has consistently revealed that a gun in the home is a key contributor to the escalation of nonfatal spouse abuse to homicide. A 1992 study in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) revealed that domestic assaults involving firearms are 12 times more likely to result in death than domestic assaults involving knives, physical force, or any other means.

Key findings of the new VPC analysis are:

• Almost all females were killed by someone they knew. In cases where the attacker was identified (247 of 352 cases), 89 percent involved victims who knew their attacker (221 of 247 cases). Victims were most often killed by their husbands (71 of 247 cases or 29 percent), who most often used guns (50 of 71 cases or 70 percent). In only 11 percent of cases where the attacker was identified (26 of 247 cases), were the victims killed by strangers.

• Female homicides were rarely felony-related. In cases where circumstances of the homicide could be determined (247 of 352 cases), 75 percent (186 of 247 cases) were not felony-related (the killing did not occur in conjunction with the commission of another crime such as robbery or rape). Of the 186 homicide cases that were not felony-related, nearly two thirds (119 of 186 cases or 64 percent) involved arguments that escalated to murder.

• Most females were murdered with guns. Of the victims killed with weapons that could be identified (353 of 376 victims), more than half (189 of 353 victims or 54 percent) were killed with guns. Female victims of firearms homicide were most often killed with handguns (132 of 189 females or 70 percent). Like overall homicide, in cases where the attacker could be identified (133 of 177 cases), most firearms-related homicide against females occurred among people who knew each other (119 of 133 cases or 89 percent). Female victims of firearm homicides were most often killed by their husbands (50 of 133 cases or 38 percent). Almost all cases where circumstances of the firearm-related homicide could be determined (132 of 177 cases), were not felony-related (117 of 132 cases or 89 percent).

• Most female intimates were shot and killed in arguments. In 1995 there were 115 females identified as related to their assailants as wives, ex-wives, common-law wives, and girlfriends murdered in Texas. Most of these women were shot and killed (75 of 115 victims or 65 percent). Of the women who were killed with guns (75 victims), 55 victims (73 percent) were killed with handguns. In cases in which the circumstances of the firearm homicides could be determined, nearly 80 percent of wives, ex-wives, common-law wives, and girlfriends who were shot and killed died in arguments that escalated to murder (52 of 67 victims or 78 percent).

The possession, private possession of AK-47s is entirely inappropriate.

NRA First Vice President Charlton Heston, explaining his view of assault weapons. "Morning Drive Time," KGO-AM San Francisco, May 6, 1997.

He's Moses to our people. I'm serious.

National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, on recently elected NRA First Vice President Charlton Heston. "Heston Elected Vice President of NRA," Reuters on-line, May 6, 1997.

The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that there is no individual right to own a firearm. The Second Amendment was designed to allow states to defend themselves against a possible tyrannical national government. Now that the federal government has stealth bombers and nuclear weapons, it is hard to imagine what people would need to keep in the garage to serve that purpose.

Former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork on the proper interpretation of the Second Amendment. Slouching Towards Gomorrah, Robert H. Bork, p. 166.

The truth is--and this pains me--we haven't been winning on Capitol Hill. Is the Brady Bill a win? Armor-piercing bullet ban a win? Military-look semi-auto ban a win? Is a ban on gun ownership for people convicted of minor domestic violence misdemeanors a win? If that's winning, what do we call losing? Now last year in Dallas we cheered when Wayne said, ‘We're gonna clean Bill Clinton's clock.' The fact is that Bill Clinton has cleaned our clock. Look at what happened last fall: 97 to two, the Senate of the United States voted for that domestic violence gun ban. Tragedy.

Former NRA First Vice President and current Board Member Neal Knox on recent NRA legislative "successes." 1997 NRA Annual Meeting, May 6, 1997.

Each month the Violence Policy Center receives mail from participants on both sides of the gun issue. This month's mail comes in response to the VPC's repeated attempts to remove ourselves from the Curios and Relics FFL e-mail list.

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: TDWJ36A@prodigy.com (MR RONALD C BLOOM II)

What is the "Violence Policy Center" are you spying on us???

From: 70764.1135@CompuServe.COM (John Rich)

Whatsamatta? Couldn't find anything useful here to help you demonize guns and get them all banned? Tsk tsk.

That latest piece of work of yours; "Lawyers, Guns & Money", is just packed full of your usual crap. Why is it you never actually mentioned how many fatalities there are from accidental discharges due to a gun "being bumped or dropped"? You imply that there are 40,000! Absolute bullshit. The real number is so tiny that if you admitted it, no-one would pay any attention to your report. So you have to resort to misleading your readers to get them on your side. How cheap.

I suppose this latest Supreme Court ruling on Brady has you a bit upset too. Tsk tsk.

Try sticking around a while. You need to learn a few things.

John Rich 70764.1135@compuserve.com
Houston, Texas

And finally, the Voice of Reason...

From: Paul.Pelfrey@scottsco.com (Pelfrey, Paul)

‘Nancy and John' (John_Nancy_and_Sandy@CompuServe.COM) wrote:

>Why were you on this list in the first place? There aren't any criminals
>on this list. Only law abiding citizens some who enforce the law and all
>who obey it.
>Perhaps you should look under Prisons .com for the kind of information you
>want.
>
>John from MD

John... You need to chill out dude... The message from VPC was polite, concise, and to the point. Perhaps they subscribed, found nothing but polite, intelligent conversations about a legitimate hobby. I don't recall any discussions on this list that could be construed as anything but (mebbe off topic alot, but not anything that isn't legitimate.) Perhaps they might have said "Hey, we are here to see what you are about", but I wasn't required to announce my presence here either. you and I may not like the policy leanings of VPC but being rude, defensive or hostile does nothing to further our aims.

If you have noticed, even groups that are hostile in appearance to RKBA have recently done things that are out of character IE BATF reporting that there is no such thing as Cop Killer Bullets and that no legislation is needed (released to the chagrin of Chuck Schumer and the Clintonistas).

Just relax John... smile... drink a cold brewski, and lets talk guns...

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