Subject: NEAL KNOX: Online Report, 3/25/94
Message-ID: <199403290812.AAA04047@jobe.shell.portal.com>
From: chan@shell.portal.com (Jeff Chan)
Date: 29 Mar 94 08:11:58 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 603

>From: "Christopher W. Knox" <cknox@crl.com>
>Subject: FCO 3-28-94
>To: cknox@crl.com (Blind CC sent to the Firearms Coalition Online)
>Date: Tue, 29 Mar 1994 00:13:30 -0700 (MST)


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========================================================================

                             Online Report
                                 to the
                  F I R E A R M S   C O A L I T I O N
                   Box 6537, Silver Spring, MD 20916
========================================================================
March 25, 1994                                             Release  1.6
========================================================================

In this issue:

      * House and Senate have gone home.  Now's the time to talk to 'em. 

      * House and Senate action (from Shotgun News).

      * BATF wants to narrow "curios and relics" exemption.  

      * Schumer and Bradley introduce even more.

      * Hearings on "Brady II" -- the sequel is always worse.

      * HCI five year plan a hoax?  What difference does it make?

      * States challenge the Brady Law.

      * Knox backs NRA Nominating Committee candidates.

      * Notes on Waco.

      * State News -- Texas and Maryland.


A Note From Chris

If you're reading this, odds are that you're interested in the right to 
keep and bear arms.  But interest in the issue is one thing.  Making a 
difference is another.  

If you value your gun, whether it's the battered surplus M1 carbine your 
uncle brought back from Korea, the Model 870 you keep propped behind the 
bedroom door, the AR-15 Sporter you shoot in Service Rifle competition, 
or the museum-quality Colt Single Action you bought at the last 
Christie's auction, then you need to be more than interested.  Bills 
moving in Congress right now will affect _you_.  If you've never made a 
call to your elected servants in Washington, then now's the time to 
start.  If someone you know is "interested" in this issue and has never 
called or written a politician, now's the time to start.

We are right on the edge of a strategic win that will give us all a 
breather for the rest of the year and that could pay dividends in the 
coming elections, or a disastrous loss with corresponding losses in 
November.  

========================================================================

               House and Senate Break for Easter/Passover

     March 26 update -- The House and Senate have adjourned for the 
Passover/Easter holiday.  They will return April 12.

     The House Rules Committee wrangled for almost two days over what 
amendments would be in order on the crime bill, which Speaker said will 
have No. 1 priority when they return.  Rules committee reportedly will 
meet during the recess.

     The speaker remains opposed to any gun provisions being added to 
the crime bill.  Odds are that there will be a vote on a standalone 
version of the Senate-passed Feinstein Amendment, or a non-binding 
resolution to instruct House conferees to keep it off the eventual 
House-Senate Conference version of the crime bill.

     Handgun Control Inc. is trying to delay the vote until after a 
television network blitz which CBS is attempting to organize for the 
last week of April.


========================================================================

                        Action:  What You Need To Do

Your Congressman and Senators are likely to be home for the holidays 
this week.  Now is the time to pull out all the stops.  You need to 
write and call, and attempt to set up a personal meeting, either one-on-
one, or with a delegation of people from your club.  Many members of 
Congress have been led to believe that the Feinstein amendments would 
affect only a few guns.  That's false.  The named guns are only a 
fraction of the guns that will be affected.  Your representatives need 
to know the facts.

Tell your Congressman that:

(1) You insist on a record vote on the so-called "assault weapon" semi-
auto ban as an amendment to the crime bill.

(2) You oppose any crime bill that includes any gun ban.

Point out he would not eat a rotten fish no matter how much tartar sauce 
was on it.   

Congressmen have been told H.R. 3527 concerns few gun owners, but it 
would affect the one-third to one-half of 65 million Americans who 
presently own, or are likely to buy, a rifle or pistol with, or designed 
for, an over-10-round magazine ~ or an after-market magazine like the 
commonly seen Ramline mags which increase the capacity of the popular 
10-shot Ruger 10-22.

The 19 named so-called "assault weapons" in the bill are merely openers.  
The list includes the Colt AR-15, but not the  Colt Sporter.  But in a 
letter to Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), BATF admits that the generic 
description fits at least 26 more "currently advertised" models 
including the Sporter and Springfield M1A.  However, Peter Kokalis, in a 
Jan. 14, 1994 Gun Week article lists 184 models whose owners are 
directly affected.

If you own a banned model, either one of those 19 listed models or the 
165-plus not named, you would have a 90-day amnesty period in which to 
register it with a gun dealer and obtain a copy of the Form 4473, which 
would have to be kept with the gun forever, with all subsequent owners 
noted.  

If you sold the gun, you would have to obtain a Form 4473 from the new 
buyer, and forever keep it.  If you failed to exactly comply, you would 
be subject to a $1,000 fine and six months in prison ~ and you would be 
forever prohibited from possessing any firearm.

The named models -- 10 percent of the guns that would be affected -- 
include the Intratec TEC-22, TEC-9, TEC-DC9; AK-47S from several makers; 
Uzi and Galil; Beretta AR-70; SWD M10, M11, M11/9 and M12; Colt AR-15; 
FN/FAL, FN/FLR, FNC; and Steyr AUG.   Also banned are lookalikes of any 
caliber.

More  importantly, since ten times as many guns are affected by the 
generic descriptions, the bill would ban:

- -- Semi-auto pistols which have a detachable magazine and two or more 
features such as a barrel shroud, threaded muzzle, or magazine other 
than in the grip, or which weigh over 50 ounces unloaded;  

- -- Semi-auto rifles with a detachable magazine and two or more features 
such as a folding or telescoping stock, protruding pistol grip, bayonet 
mount, flash suppressor, grenade launcher attachment, or threaded barrel 
muzzle;   -- Semi-auto shotguns with at least two of the following 
features: a fixed magazine over five rounds, an ability to accept a 
detachable magazine or drum, with a pistol grip extending below the 
action, or with a folding or telescoping stock.

This legislation is only the leading edge of Handgun Control Inc.'s 
massive "gun control" package, which include registration and licensing 
of handguns, bans on over-six-round magazines, ban firearms sales at gun 
shows, require a "firearms arsenal" Federal permit to possess more than 
20 guns or 1,000 rounds of ammo, increase excise taxes on handguns to 30 
percent and 50 percent on handgun ammo, and much more.  

If we don't beat the Feinstein Amendment, we already know what the next 
fights will be.

========================================================================

                       Gun Bills Moving
                          By NEAL KNOX
                     (Shotgun News column)
     WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 20) -- There's going to be action on
both sides of the Hill in the coming week -- and it's likely to
be just as hot and heavy through April or May.  If we start
losing, it's going to be happening all year.

     This Wednesday Sen. Paul Simon's Senate Constitution
Subcommittee is holding the first of two sets of hearings on
Howard Metzenbaum and Handgun Control Inc.'s registration,
licensing and everything else bill.   

     Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders is the lead-off witness,
followed by a string of ban-all-guns physicians and crime
victims.  

     I didn't even ask to testify, for it's better to respond in
kind:  Dr. Ed Suter and other medical professionals who oppose
attacks on firearms instead of criminals, and victims of
criminals who insist that they have the right to be armed for
self-defense -- like Dr. Suzanna Gratia who could only watch in
horror as her parents were among 20 defenseless people killed in
Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Tex. 

     On the same day the House will take up their version of the
crime bill which, as it came out of Judiciary Committee last
week, has no firearms provisions.

     We're attempting to keep it that way by forcing a vote on
Rep. Charles Schumer's version of the Senate-passed Feinstein ban
on so-called "assault weapons" -- so we can defeat it.

     Schumer -- and Sarah Brady -- don't want to vote right now
for they're not sure they can win.  So Sarah and Schumer are
trying to delay the vote until a coordinated network television
blitz in late April, unless they can add it to the final crime
bill without a separate House vote.

     Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) told the New York Times last week
that he would insist on including the Senate-passed Feinstein ban
in the House-Senate Crime Conference Committee, of which he will
be co-chairman.

     Although the House Judiciary Chairman (who will be co-chair
of the conference) is opposed to the gun ban, he may be 
outnumbered.  

     If the Feinstein ban becomes part of the conference
committee compromise, the House -- and Senate -- would have only
one up-or-down vote on the entire package.  So the only House
vote on the semi-auto ban would be fuzzed by the rest of the
package -- including provisions for more cops, more prisons and
"three strikes you're out."

     The ranking minority member on the critical House Rules
Committee, Rep. Jimmy Quillen (R-Tenn.), is attempting to be sure
there is a clean vote on the semi-auto ban -- so it can be
defeated.

     Thankfully, Mr. Quillen is one of those stalwarts who
insists that no matter what good things are in the crime bill, if
any gun ban gets hung on it, the entire bill must be killed. 

     The Senate-passed bill bans future production of all
magazines over ten rounds, requires over-ten-round mags to be
treated as firearms, and lists 19 models that could no longer be
made.  But as BATF has admitted, the bill's generic definition
would prohibit manufacture of 26 additional "currently
advertised" guns.  

     The bill's generic definition puts at least 184 makes and
models into a "restricted" class whose owners could keep them
only if they registered the guns with a dealer within a 90-day
amnesty period.  If so registered, and the required procedure
were exactly followed, the affected guns could be subsequently
transferred.

     Trouble is:  Anyone possessing or transferring one of the
184 models without having registered it, then following the
exacting procedures, would be subject to a $1,000 fine, six
months in jail, and permanent loss of the right to own any
firearm. 

     If the Feinstein/Schumer ban passes, "we will see the
beginning of a landslide which the NRA thugs will not be able to
stop," to quote a supposed Handgun Control Inc. document which
has been broadly circulated since early January.

     Whether that purported HCI document is genuine makes no
difference, for the bulk of their "confidential plan" is already
being pushed in Congress and the states.

========================================================================

     BATF Seeks End of Curios and Relics Exemption

     One of the nastiest provisions of H.R. 3925/S. 1878, Charles 
Schumer's massive followup to the Brady Act, is the $300, three-
year "arsenal license" required of anyone with more than 20 
firearms or 1,000 rounds of ammo, or primers.  _IF_ the local 
police give permission for the license, BATF could inspect your 
home without warrant three times per year.

     When I told the advanced collectors about it at the annual
Baltimore Gun Show last weekend, some told me it didn't affect them
because their guns were made before 1898, and aren't considered
"firearms."  Firearms prior to that year are classified as "curios
 and relics" under the 1968 Gun Control Act.

     The BATF apparently intends to try to change that, judging by
a March 7 article in the Topeka Capital-Journal.  A BATF agent
complained that black powder firearms aren't covered by the Gun
Control Act of 1968.  Some of you younger folks are unaware that
the earlier bills tried to include all firearms, all cartridge
firearms after 1870, or all modern replicas.

========================================================================

                Schumer-Bradley Bill Unveiled

     On Monday, Crime Subcommittee Chairman Charles Schumer of New
York and New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley will announce a new bill
requiring handgun licenses issued by the states after a thorough
background check and basic firearms instruction.

     It would require registration of all handgun transfers,
including private transfers; limit licensed buyers to one handgun
purchase per month; etc., etc.

     Schumer has said the bill will eliminate the restrictions on
BATF imposed by NRA as part of McClure-Volkmer.

     The bill sounds like the handgun section of the
Schumer/Metzenbaum bill, H.R. 3925/S. 1878/S. 1882 except that it
provides for the license for handgun dealers to be boosted to
$3,000 per year -- instead of "only" $1,000.


========================================================================

                    First Hearings on "Brady II"

Sens. Howard Metzenbaum and Paul Simon held the first hearings 
March 23 on Brady II -- Handgun Control Inc.'s registration, 
licensing, banning and limiting bill.  

     The supposed focus was the emotional and financial cost of
gunshot wounds to children.

     Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders led off, followed by the
American Pediatric Association and Marian Wright Edelman of the
Children's Defense Fund.  Those three witnesses took over two 
hours of the three-hour hearing.

     Two anti-gun medical doctors were allowed to be challenged by
two pro-gun rights physicians -- Dr. Edgar Suter and Tim Wheeler. 
For no good reason the HCI President was allowed on the panel.

     Dr. Suzanna Gratia, whose parents were murdered in the Luby's
Cafeteria massacre in Texas, was allowed to testify only after a
knock-down, drag-out argument behind closed doors.   

     She had Sen. Simon squirming when she blamed legislators for
denying her the means to defend herself.

     It was unfair, but they were smart to make her go last -- 
when no other Senators were there to be influenced by her 
testimony.

========================================================================

               HCI's "Secret Plan:" A Hoax?  So What?

     Everybody in the country seems to have gotten a copy of a supposed 
secret Handgun Control Inc. 5-year plan.  I don't know if its a hoax or 
not, but the first guys that showed it to me in early January claim that 
it's real.

     One version has a distribution list that includes the former HCI 
President and the former chairman, who is dead.  So I wonder.

     But as ILA Director Tanya Metaksa told me, it doesn't make any 
difference, for the claimed plan is precisely what they've introduced in 
Congress or various states, or are publicly talking about doing.

========================================================================

                     The Brady Law Challenge
                          By NEAL KNOX
                      (Shotgun News column)
     WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 10) -- In the week after the Brady
Act went into effect, requiring local police chiefs and sheriffs
in 34 states to perform records checks on handgun buyers, NRA-
aided lawsuits by sheriffs in four states have challenged the law
on Tenth Amendment grounds.  

     And Arizona Gov. Fife Symington, who is bringing a similar
suit against the national government in the U.S. Supreme Court,
had received 54 protests of the suit by this afternoon -- and 280
telephone calls and letters supporting the challenge.   (Attorney
General Grant Woods, who must bring the case, can't be too happy
about it for he is quite "soft" on gun rights, particularly for
someone who runs statewide in Arizona.)

     The thrust of the lawsuits is that the Constitution does not
delegate the power to the national government to order local
police to perform Federal services, and that the Tenth Amendment
reserves all undelegated powers to the people and the states.

     Last year the Supreme Court ruled, in New York v. U.S., that
"The Federal Government may not compel the States to enact or
administer a federal regulatory program."  That is precisely what
the Brady Act does require.

     During House Crime Subcommittee hearings last fall Rep.
Steve Schiff (R-N.M.) argued that the national government should
pay the local agencies to perform the record checks, give them an
option as to whether to perform them, or else have the FBI do
them.

     Chairman Charles Schumer sniffed that the FBI had more
important things to do.  Rep. Schiff shot back that so did New
Mexico's police and sheriffs -- as decided by the state
legislature when they rejected such a law.

     Because few local agencies are equipped, or have the
manpower to perform this chore, many city and county councils and
governing boards have authorized their law enforcement agencies
to charge a fee for doing the search.  

     But there is nothing in the Brady Act to require dealers to
pay it, for dealers are not required to obtain any positive
response from police; they simply cannot deliver the gun if
police give a negative report.  And if police prevent a transfer
without cause, their agencies may be sued (though the individual
officers cannot be).

     The challenges to Brady were filed by Forrest County, Miss.,
Sheriff Billy McGee; Ravalli County, Mont., Sheriff Jay Printz;
Iberia Parish, La., Sheriff Romero; and Val Verde County, Texas,
Sheriff J.R. Koog.  NRA-ILA and the Firearms Civil Rights Legal
Defense Fund is providing financial assistance in all except
Sheriff Romero's case, where they provided legal assistance.
     
      Graham County, Arizona, Sheriff Richard Mack brought the
first of the suits the day the bill went into effect.  In an
interesting twist, Sheriff Mack, through his attorney David T.
Hardy, also charged Congress with violation of the 13th Amendment
- -- which prohibited slavery.  

     Sheriff Mack contends that the Brady Act forces him into
involuntary servitude -- because the Feds don't pay him, yet
Congress forces him to do their bidding under threat of criminal
prosecution.

     The reason for multiple suits is to bring the challenge in
different Federal court circuits, for the Supreme Court is more
likely to consider an issue when appellate courts have
conflicting opinions.  However, since the U.S. Supreme Court is
the "court of original jurisdiction" in disputes between states
and the national government, we could see a relatively quick
decision on whether the Brady Act is constitutional.


========================================================================

        Knox Endorses NRA Nominating Committee Selections 

     Several have asked me who I'm supporting for the NRA Board. 
I'm supporting myself and any 24 others of the 27 nominating
committee recommendations listed on page 64 of the American
Rifleman.
     

========================================================================

                        The Waco Tragedy
     The Federal government was slapped -- though not as hard as
I pray those responsible for the raid and its conclusion will
be -- when a San Antonio jury acquitted all the Branch Davidian
defendants of murder and conspiracy to murder (though six were
convicted of voluntary manslaughter).  

     Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Johnston of Waco cried.

     He had reason to.  It was Johnston who had prepared the
search warrant -- insisting that it be delivered with a commando-
style raid.  Without murder convictions for the Davidians his
career and perhaps his total wealth were at stake.

     U.S. District Judge Walter Smith Jr. quashed weapons
convictions against seven of the defendants.  Unfortunately,
yesterday Judge Smith reversed himself, reinstating those
convictions.

     Be careful when you argue "Enforce the gun laws on the
books."  Remember Waco and Randy Weaver. 

========================================================================

                       State News

[Several of you have asked me about expanding this section, usually with
an eye toward including a word about their local pet project or problem.
Very tricky, these gunnies -- they'll take advantage of any media they
can get their hands on.  I'll include items of national significance,
say news of a House or Senate election, but I don't do this full time 
and I have to sleep once in a while.  

There is a way to get, and post, good information that ages quickly.  
It's the rkba-alert mailing list.  To subscribe, send mail to:

       listproc@Mainstream.com

In the body of the mail, put the following:

       subscribe rkba-alert <your name>

That's your real name, not necessarily in brackets.  Used correctly, 
this list can be a great tool in the good fight.  It is reserved for 
time-sensitive messages that have a direct bearing on the civil right to 
self defense.  It is _NOT_ a chat line.  The list is currently 
unmoderated, anyone can post to it, but users have generally shown 
admirable judgment and self control.  But then, I'd expect that.

Thanks to Craig Peterson who is bringing this project together.  

- --cwk]

Texas
     Rep. Craig Washington of Texas -- who has led the Congressional 
Black Caucus effort to substitute harsh gun laws for tough laws against 
criminals -- was defeated in a primary.   We knew that Washington could 
be defeated, but figured that anything that gun owners, particularly 
NRA, did overtly would do him more good than harm in his central Houston 
district.

Maryland
     The Maryland Senate yesterday passed a much watered-down ban on so-
called assault weapons.  It now goes to the House, where the vote will 
be close.

     When the vote was taken, a Maryland gun owner silently unfurled an 
upside down American flag in the Senate gallery.  He was removed by 
order of Senate President Mike Miller, arrested, and hauled down to 
state police headquarters personally by State Police Col. Lawrence 
Tolliver.

	Although things in Maryland are now better than they first 
appeared, I am ready to pack my bags.  I would like to work with a 
Northern  Virginia architect or draftsman, should you know one who's on 
the  right side of the gun issue.
 

========================================================================

                               -##- 

To subscribe to the Firearms Coalition Online Report send email to 
cknox@crl.com with "subscribe" as the subject line.

========================================================================

Copyright 1994 by Neal Knox Associates
                  P.O. Box 6537
                  Rockville, MD  20916.  

Reproduction and distribution of this bulletin by any means is 
encouraged so long as this statement is retained.  

======================================================================== 

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