From: dbetz@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Drew Betz)
Subject: ABA Policy on Gun Control
Keywords: ABA, gun-grabbers 
Organization: SigSauer Fan Club 
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 19:14:04 GMT

This was taken from the Bullet-N'-Board, (703) 971-4491.

                                Combat Arms
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                   American Bar Association--Anti Gun   

The following is an article from the April, 1990 issue of ABA Journal. Read
it and weep!


Richard Bash
-Your SysOp-

            <>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>

                      Chauvin Criticizes Drug Policy
           ABA president calls for ban on semi-automatic weapons


ABA president L. Stanley Chauvin Jr., who is working to get the Association
involved in the national war on drugs, is taking issue with President Bush's
drug-control strategy.

At a press conference at the ABA Midyear meeting, Chauvin called for greater
emphasis on drug education and treatment and the development of a national
gun-control policy.

Chauvin said the Bush proposal to spend 70 percent of the drug budget on
interdiction and law enforcement--the "supply side" of the drug war--is
misplaced. Interdiction will not solve the problem of drugs that are
manufactred within this country's borders, Chauvin asserted.

"People with $500 for chemical equipment and a little bit of knowledge can
develop new drugs as fast as we stamp out old ones," he said. "It's clear to
me that simply stopping the flow of cocaine into this country will not
eliminate our drug problem."

Recalling his recent visit to a facility for cocain babies, Chauvin concluded
that more drug-rehabilitation clinics are needed.  "Some of [the infants']
mothers wanted to say `no' to drugs, but they weren't able to obtain
treatment because there wasn't any available," he said.  "What will eliminate
the drug problem?  First and foremost, reducing demand.  And a principal way
to reduce demand is through education."

Chauvin also disagreed with Bush's call for legislation to allow the use of
evidence gathered by police officers who act in good faith.  He cited a
recent report by a special committee of the ABA Section of Criminal Justice
that found the major problem confronting the criminal-justice system is a
lack of adquate resource, not defendants' use of constitutional provisions.

Turning to the issue of gun control, Chauvin said that too often criminal
gangs are "better armed than law-enforcement officials."

"If the adminstration is really concerned about the firepower of drug dealers
and dope gangs," he said, "then it ought to get serious about developing a
national gun-control policy, particularly one that would reduce or eliminate
the manufacture, sale and distribution of semi-automatic assualt weapons."

Chavin expanded on his call for a domestic ban on assault rifles at a
luncheon two days later sponsored by the Fellows of the American Bar
Foundation and the National Conference of Bar Presidents. "These
people-killing wepons are easier to buy some places than to get a driver's
license," he complained.

An assault gun is 20 times more likely to be used in crime than a
conventional firearm, and two-thirds of assault guns traced to crime are
produced domestically, according to Chauvin.

Banning these weapons would be constitutional, he claimed. The courts
uniformly have held that the Second Amendment relates only to statutes that
would interfere with the arming of a state militia, he said.

On another matter, Chauvin announced that the ABA and the American
Association of Retired Persons will launch a joint public-awareness campaing
to inform the elderly about their legal rights.

The joint campain, "Do Yourself Justice--Know Your Rights," will focus on
seven areas:

     *    Medicare appeal rights.
     *    Planning for incapacity and guardianship.
     *    Rights of nursing-home residents.
     *    Age discrimination.
     *    Minimum standards for Medicare supplemental insurance.
     *    Rights governing advance funeral arrangements.
     *    Financial assistance to low income-level Americans for telephone
          service.

                           --Debra Cassens Moss