From: dennis@bluemoon.rn.com (Dennis Carney)
Subject: PROponent March 1992 -- Article "TURN 'EM IN"
Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[024])
Date: Mon, 06 Apr 92 00:58:32 EDT

The following article is from the March 1992 issue of the PROponent,
the monthly newsletter published by The Peoples Rights Organization
(PRO), a pro gun, pro constitutional rights group based in Columbus,
Ohio.

As a member of the PRO -- Electronic Information Committee,
I am posting this article for information only. Questions or
comments may be directed to:

PEOPLES RIGHTS ORGANIZATION
5 E. Long St., Suite 412
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 268-0122

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(Begin article "TURN 'EM IN" from March 1992 PROponent)

 
TURN 'EM IN....

     PRO Chairman, Ron Herman's phone was ringing off the hook and
large numbers of irate PRO members were ready to descend on the
lawn of Mayor Greg Lashutka with torches and pitchforks like so
many peasants surrounding Frankenstein castle.  The reason was the
press conference of the Mayor, police chief Jackson and Larry
Mixon, assistant superintendent of Columbus Public Schools.  They
were announcing a new campaign called "Stop the Tears" to encourage
the public to turn in people seen with weapons and to turn in their
own guns.
     As we see it the program has almost no merit, and is much like
the ACE program which the police admitted was strictly a public
relations gimmick.  Records of crime in the designated ACE
neighborhoods showed that some types of crime actually went up
during the ACE patrols.
     The "tears" program has two parts:  One is to ask the public
to call 911 to report persons seen with weapons "especially on
street corners."  The other is a hot line (645-GUNS) that residents
can call if they want to turn in their guns to police.  The police
will then supposedly see that they are destroyed.
     There certainly could be some merit to encouraging the public
to report illegal guns in the hands of those not legally able to
possess them such as minors or felons.  However, as with all these
big city programs, absolutely no effort was made to provide any
public education as to the difference between illegal and legal gun
owners.  Suppose someone had spotted the sawed-off shotgun (an
illegal firearm) which was owned by a minor (another illegality),
who loaned it to another minor who used it to stick-up a store and
shot the teenage clerk in the face (all felonies).  If that someone
had called the police, there is a chance that much if not all of
that tragedy could have been avoided.  Unfortunately, the thrust of
the Mayor's program is not spotting minors, felons, druggies and
mental fruitcakes with firearms, but rather seems to encourage your
neighbors to turn YOU in when they see you loading your firearms
into the trunk of your car to go hunting.
     The whole idea here is a constitutional squeeze play.  If you
carry a gun for protection and it is concealed, you could be
breaking the law.  However if you walk the streets carrying it
openly as a constitutional right, the thrust of the program is to
whip up the public into such an "evil gun" frenzy that this is also
illegal for it "disturbs the peace."  Your choice?  None, save the
one the city recommends: Call the hot line and turn them in to be
destroyed.
     And what about the turn-em-in program?  Right off the bat the
Police Chief admitted the program will do nothing about crime.  How
could it?  Not only will police be checking turned in guns to see
if they were stolen, but will also be registering those turning
them in so they can be questioned later if they were.  Terrific.
Registration not only for gun owners, but also for anyone who used
to own a gun as well.  How dumb would a criminal have to be to turn
in his stolen gun so police can check his background and at minimum
arrest him for receiving stolen property?
     Is there anyone who might use this program?  Well first of all
it would need to be somebody who was either so dumb or so rich that
they would give their guns away rather than selling them to some
dealer.  There are certain cases of divorced women who end up with
their ex-husband's guns and are scared of them.  There could be a
real fear for example that a teenaged son might have friends
inclined to steal a gun if they found it.  However, PRO's advice to
such a gun owner is quite different.  We say disarming yourself to
make yourself an easy victim will promote violence, not halt it.
We suggest that such a person take one of our upcoming firearms
safety classes to help overcome their fear of firearms, to learn
how they operate and how to handle them safely as well as to learn
how to properly store and lock them to keep them out of the wrong
hands.
     Well the city's program may obviously be a phoney, but the
political analysis is a little more subtle.  PRO has decided not to
waste our time and money protesting this nonsense.  We know this
sticks in the craw of many PRO members who hate to see this kind of
propaganda going on, but much like project ACE, we expect the data
this program generates to be its own best indictment.  We think
that a clear failure of this program will generate excellent
legislative testimony against the next gun control law our favorite
City Council gun-grabbers try to pass.  For this reason PRO will be
taking very careful notes on "Stop the Tears" for future
ammunition.  This approach while perhaps not as satisfying as a
political protest will also prevent us from being painted as
supporting violence for knocking this silly program.
     We also want to share with you our view of the political flow
here.  I have heard a lot of PRO members knocking chief Jackson's
support of this.  The Chief's support has been half-hearted at
best.  When your boss tells you to do something you may have to
play along, but I don't think the Chief likes it.  He has many
times stated his view that the Chief of Police should be a
policeman, not a politician, but that doesn't change the fact that
our Mayor is his boss.
     And what about Mayor Lashutka who PRO gave luke-warm support
in the last election?  Well we may have supported him because of
the blatant gun-grabbing actions of Ben Espy, but the fact that the
Mayor answers to the city movers and shakers is probably the worst
kept secret in this town.  Our analysis of this local gun turn-in
shows a very strange similarity to the New York City "See a Gun
Dial 911" program.  We suspect an East Coast connection here.  The
pattern suggests to us a flow from the East, down through local
anti-gun businessmen, down through the Mayor, down through the
Chief of Police and into the media.  Something new?  No.  Just the
same old story of the power-hungry  working through like-minded
local leaders and owned or controlled leadership to promote yet
another sales pitch to the public to get them to willingly hand
over still more rights and authority to a centralized power
structure.
 

(End article "TURN 'EM IN" from March 1992 PROponent)

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    dennis@bluemoon.rn.com
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