From: cdt@sw.stratus.com (C. D. Tavares)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: Re: CLINTON NEW TEXT: GUN CONTROL
Date: 21 Aug 92 19:44:18 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.

In article <92234.010157U45301@uicvm.uic.edu>, U45301@uicvm.uic.edu (Mary Jacobs) writes:
>                          CLINTON  GORE ON GUN CONTROL

> Support the Brady Bill
> 
> Sign the Brady Bill, which mandates a 5-day waiting period for handgun
> purchases 

It's good to know that I'm not the only one having some trouble parsing
parts of the Brady Bill.  However, I suppose it takes a true mental giant
of the stature of a presidential candidate to misread "seven" as "five."

	"(ii)(I) 7 days have elapsed from the date the transferee furnished the
	    statement, and the transferor has not received information from
	    the chief law enforcement officer that receipt or possession of
	    the handgun by the transferee would be in violation of Federal,
	    State, or local law; or

	    "(II) the transferor has received notice from the chief law
	    enforcement officer that the officer has no information
	    indicating that receipt or possession of the handgun by the
	    transferee would violate Federal, State, or local law;
...
   
    "(D) the law of the State --

	"(i) prohibits any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or
	licensed dealer from transferring a handgun to an individual who
	is not licensed under section 923, before at least 7 days have
	elapsed from the date the transferee proposes such transfer; or

Of course, a five OR seven day wait won't be any more effective than the
*15* day wait in place in California when the violence erupted in LA --
at least in denying guns to violent criminals.  (It was REAL effective at
denying them to law-abiding citizens in danger.)

> The large majority of gun owners are law-abiding citizens who use their guns in
> a responsible manner. Bill Clinton and Al Gore know that the Constitution
> guarantees an individuals basic right to keep and bear arms, and they will
> uphold that right.
> Ban semi-automatic assault weapons that have no legitimate hunting purpose and
> support the right of local law enforcement officials to ban such weapons
> when gangs move into their neighborhoods.

Ban politicians who think that the Second Amendment is about sporting goods.
It's about MILITIA arms.  This may scare you, but the Second Amendment is 
not about deer:  it's about PEOPLE -- foreign and domestic enemies of the 
American citizenry.   It's not only about political enemies, but self-defense 
against CRIMINAL enemies, like gangs and looters.

 "Arms  in  the  hands  of citizens [may] be used at  individual
 discretion...   in  private  self-defense..."  (John  Adams,  A
 Defense of the  Constitutions of the Government of the UAS, 471
 (1788))

The question Clinton and Gore have to ask themselves is, down deep, do you 
trust LAW-ABIDING ADULT AMERICAN PEOPLE with the same weapons you wouldn't 
hesitate to give to police or the National Guard?

 "Besides  the  advantage  of being armed, which  the  Americans
 possess  over  the people of almost every other  nation.    ...
 Notwithstanding the  military  establishments  in  the  several
 kingdoms of Europe,  which  are  carried  as  far as the public
 resources will bear, the  governments  are  afraid to trust the
 people  with  arms." (James Madison,  author  of  the  Bill  of
 Rights, in Federalist Paper No. 46. at 243-244)

The question is, do Clinton and Gore think the average American is 
responsible or irresponsible?  I won't vote for a politician who thinks 
I'm irresponsible.  Nor will I vote for one who TELLS me that he thinks
I'm responsible, but fully intends to run the government as if I am not.

> Limit access to multiple-round clips like the ones used in the tragic killings
> in Killeen, Texas.

Yes.  Work hard to control those once-or-twice-a-year mass murderers.
Make it necessary for them to shoot slowly and deliberately, and to
have to reload multiple times.  Like Hennard did in the tragic killings 
in Killee... oops.  I mean, uh, like Charles White did from that Texas 
tower, yeah, that's the ticket.  No, wait a minute, we don't want to
encourage that, either.  Uh, how about Dahmer?  Or Gacy?  DiSalvo?  
(Is it warm in here?)

> Get tough on crime
> 
> Create a National Police Corps and offer veterans and active military personnel
> a chance to become law enforcement officers at home.  This will add 100,000 new
> police officers to the streets.

Or, the government could simply legitimize, empower, and train the 
unorganized militia instead of trying to disarm it.  What a novel concept!

  "I ask,  sir,  what  is  the  militia?  It is the whole people,
 except for a  few  public officials." (George Mason, 3 Elliott,
 Debates at 425-426)

 "Are we  at  last  brought  to  such  humiliating  and debasing
 degradation, that we  cannot  be  trusted  with  arms  for  our
 defense?  Where is  the  difference  between having our arms in
 possession and under our direction,  and  having them under the
 management of Congress?  If our defense be the _real_ object of
 having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more
 propriety,  or  equal  safety  to  us, as in  our  own  hands?"
 (Patrick Henery)[8]

 "On every question of construction (of the constitution) let us
 carry  ourselves  back  to  the time when the Constitution  was
 adopted,  recollect  the  spirit manifested in the debates, and
 instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text,
 or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it
 was passed." (Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June
 12, 1823, The Complete Jefferson, p.322)

> Enact tougher sentences for criminals who use guns.

"Enact," my ass.  APPLY the penalties you've been "enacting" for 20 years.
Get personal drug users OUT of prison to make room for violent felons -- NOT
the reverse!

> Develop strong anti-gang initiatives, and empower public housing residents to
> get rid of drug dealers.

Without arming them, of course.  God forbid we put the gang members at
risk, or anything -- just the residents.

> SEND COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS INFORMATION TO THE
> CLINTON/GORE CAMPAIGN AT 75300.3115@COMPUSERVE.COM

{Readers:  I have.  I suggest you do, too.}
-- 

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Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns