Neal Knox Update
July 15, 2002
.

     The opposition's arguments have ranged from easily refuted to ridiculous.

     And while the press has been emphasizing the difficulty of getting the measure through the Senate -- thanks to opposition of Transportation Committee Chair Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) and Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) -- they've been mighty quiet about the fact that Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) signed on to Bob Smith's bill. 

     She said at a press conference that it was the first time she and Bob had ever agreed on anything to do with guns. 

     One reason I'm cautiously optimistic about the bill's chances in the Senate is that nearly all members of Congress fly a couple of trips per week and know that airline security is a joke. Boxer's co-sponsorship will make it socially acceptable for the far left to get on board.

     As Scripps-Howard columnist Deroy Murdock pointed out in an excellent piece on National Review Online Monday, the Bush Administration is to the left of Barbara Boxer -- and that should give the President pause.

     I can't imagine W. vetoing an armed pilot bill.  The White House is already putting air between the President and Tom Ridge, Norm Mineta and John Magaw.  The morning after the bill passed I called the White House asking where the President stood.  They had no comment, just referring me to the Department of Transportation.

     A 13-year-old boy was killed by a shot in the eye Sunday at a Matt Eastman gun show at Norcross, Ga.  Police have declined to release any details. [See the newspaper piece]

     Considering all the precautions, including safety ties on hammers, it's hard to imagine how it happened.  I've been at shows when guns fired -- both times with guns known to have been unloaded.  At one, nearly a box of shotgun shells were found slipped into chambers by some homicidal maniac trying to make a political statement.  Thankfully, no one was hurt.     Such incidents are why we now see all those rules at gun shows.

     I'm afraid we'll be hearing much more about this tragedy.

     Yesterday, the North Carolina Senate approved a House-passed bill prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers for actions by criminals.  They first eliminated a requirement for gun show operators to have a $500 permit and requiring them to conduct NICS background checks for private sellers.

     The two provisions had been paired -- reportedly with the blessing of NRA, which has made elimination of frivolous gun industry suits its "top priority" -- but the gun show provision had also been rejected by the House after intense lobbying by Grass Roots North Carolina.

     Anti-gun newspapers -- the same ones who railed about House passage of the armed pilots bills -- are screaming that the wrong half of the bill was rejected.

     Also yesterday, France's Interior Minister said "gun control laws" will be strengthened and gun sales will be "more strictly controlled" after an assassination attempt on President Jacques Chirac during the Bastille Day parade.

     The gun, which was fired once without hurting anyone, was a .22 rimfire rifle.

     And across the world, the Australian Justice Minister said last night that the national government will impose "standardized" punishment for "gun trafficking" -- defined as possessing an unregistered firearm.  Various states provide for punishment "as little" as two years, or as much as 14 years.

     State Police Ministers "will be under pressure" from the National Coalition for Gun Control at this week's meeting to ban now-rare semi-automatics handguns the same as "assault weapons," defined as any repeating rifle or shotgun.

     The NCGB says there's a danger such guns will be among the 4,000 stolen each year.  The Aussies shouldn't be allowed to have money, for that too may be stolen.

     The Massachusetts news media is apoplectic over House passage of a bill allowing lifting the lifetime ban for felons and persons who had committed "violent misdemeanors."   It would allow for relief from state liabilities -- though not the Federal restriction on gun ownership -- more than seven years after completion of a sentence or payment of a fine.

     The draconian 1998 Massachusetts statute -- like the 1968 Federal Gun Control Act and amendments -- has prohibited firearms possession for life for anyone ever convicted, pled guilty or fined for a felony or certain misdemeanors.

     The House passed the bill by a wide margin, with members citing the unfairness of law enforcement officers losing their jobs and hunters losing their licenses because of violations long before. 

     Opponents claim "Opposition is growing" in the Senate.

     I suspect we're going to see more such bills in states and in Congress, particularly trying to provide restoration of voting and other civil liberties after a reasonable waiting period.  We need to make certain that *all* civil liberties are treated fairly and equally.

     U.S. Catholic Bishops have come out in favor of the McCain- Lieberman gun show bill, according to the Catholic Reporter.

     A spokesman said the position is "consistent with the bishops' position on handguns" dating back to the 1970's.

     Yes, it is.  But as various publications have remarked, the sexual scandals involving both priests and bishops, have diminished the bishops' influence on social issues "such as gun control."

     British farmer Tony Martin, sentenced to life in prison for killing a burglar who was ransacking his house -- subsequently reduced to five years -- is now being sued by the career criminal whom he wounded.

     Brendon Fearon, who has a long criminal record, was awarded a 5,000 pound government grant to pursue his legal claim that he suffered great pain and "is unable to work" due to his wounds.

     A charitable group said it will support a countersuit by Martin against Fearon.

     Nelson Lund, a law professor at George Washington University, has written a most-excellent "Primer on the Constitutional Right to Bear Arms," which is online at