Nov. 16 Neal Knox Update -- There was so much excitement -- and glee -- among conservative
 Republicans over House Democrats'election of "San Francisco Liberal" Nancy Pelosi as Majority Leader that an insistent voice kept reminding me:  "Be careful what you pray for."

     Rep. Pelosi is a "San Francisco Liberal" in fact and in every sense of the phrase, one whose ideology precisely matches a district which divided its 2000 vote between Al Gore and Ralph Nader, coughing up a mere 15 percent for George W. Bush.

     She is also a shrewd politician, the daughter of a Baltimore ward boss and mayor whose only known ideology was to be certain he won elections.

     And she's shrewd enough to know that transplanted Texas Rep. Martin Frost was right when he said her leftist theology would make the Democrat party a permanent minority.  Which is why she had diligently worked for "pro-gun, pro-abortion moderates" in the latest election, picking up enough appreciative chits to cause Frost to quickly withdraw his bid against her.

     That's why this canny politician is so dangerous to gunowners.

     Democrats elected a sprinkling of so-called "moderates" to leadership posts, but every last one of them has a well-deserved solid "F" rating from NRA.

     I don't expect much of the "reasonable gun control" blather we've been hearing in recent years.  Ms. Pelosi, like her close personal friends and frequent dinner-mates Chuck Schumer and fellow San Franciscan Dianne Feinstein, will be going for our throats.

     "Red meat" gun control -- registration, licensing and bans -- will fire up the Democrat's core constituency, both opening their pocketbooks and getting them to the polls in droves.  That's what Democrats lacked in the Nov. 5 election, which triggered the Dems abrupt left turn.

     If ever there was a time to test the theory that "worse is better" -- with which I usually agree -- this will be it.

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     The House Republican leadership election held no surprises, but ooched slightly more confrontational (already assured with Pelosi as Leader) with the promotion of Houston pest exterminator/canny politician Tom Delay to Majority Leader, replacing retiring, more laid back Dick Armey.

     He's mostly surrounded by other pro-gunners with the notable exception of Debbie Pryce (R-Ohio), who NRA gave a too-kind "C."

     In the newly elected House ranks we have some proven pro-gun state activists, including New Jersey State Rep. Scott Garrett (who replaces anti-gun Republican Marge Roukema, who refused to endorse him); Iowa Republican State Senator Steve King; and former Colorado State Sen. Marilyn Musgrave -- who once publicly tangled with NRA for being "too pro-gun."

     (NRA had threatened to lower her grade because she introduced a Vermont-style amendment while NRA was supporting a restrictive shall-issue issue bill; she later co-sponsored a near-restrictionless shall-issue licensing bill -- a far cry from the discretionary bill that finally passed.)

     According to Gun Owners of America, Lee Fletcher, who is in the Dec. 7 Louisiana 5th District runoff, has a record as a pro-gun activist.

     Fletcher may be benefitted by the massive Republican effort to turn out their voters for Suzy Terrell, who faces anti-gun Sen. Mary Landrieu -- daughter of virulently anti-gun former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu.

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     It's too early to tell what the elections did for gunowners in the state legislatures, but it should be significant.  For the first time in 50 years Republicans will control most state legislative seats.  They took control of state senates in Arizona, Colorado and Wisconsin, and won the House in Missouri and Texas.

     Democrats took control of the Illinois Senate and statehouse, with anti-gun Rep. Rod Blagovjevich moving into the governor's mansion -- which is bad news for Illini gunowners.

     I just had a half-hour chat with Texas Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, who is excited about prospects for further reforms in the state's still-too-restrictive carry licensing law.  She is a close friend and political ally of both the incipient Speaker and Lt. Governor (who sets the Senate agenda).

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     The U.S. House passed another version of the Homeland Security bill in this first week of the "lame duck" session.

     The bill is a mixed blessing.  It includes allowing airline pilots to be armed, but with many questions about how quickly they'll be trained, how they'll carry their guns, and much more -- all to be decided by an agency that doesn't like the program.

     But the bill -- a bureaucratic reshuffling of agencies that will take years to sort out -- includes the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness program, which would be authorized to collect virtually every type of available public and private data in what the Pentagon has described as one "centralized grand database."

     The supposed purpose is to detect terrorists by studying their bank accounts, credit card purchases, travel arrangements and much more.

     But conservative New York Times columnist William Safire called it a "computerized dossier on your private life from commercial sources, (plus) every piece of information that government has about you þ passport application, driver's license and bridge toll records, judicial and divorce records, complaints from nosy neighbors to the FBI, your lifetime paper trail plus the latest hidden camera surveillance."

     Gun ownership records and licenses are certain to be included.

     Primary author of the provision is Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D- Ct.).

     Outgoing Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) is lobbying the Senate to remove this and other provisions which he calls threats to civil liberties.  "It's outrageous, it really is outrageous," Bob told one reporter.

     (By the way, I heard soon after he lost his primary election -- as result of being redistricted against another incumbent --that Bob will continue to be active in the gun movement, but not working for NRA.)

     The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week.

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     A Palm Beach, Fla., jury found the maker of a gun used by a student to kill a teacher liable for $1.2 million this week. Industry lawyers predicted the decision will be overturned.

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     The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's argument that the government's national data on guns need not be turned over to lawyers for the city of Chicago, which is suing the gun industry.

     Chicago lawyers and anti-gun activists say that the government's tracking of guns used in crimes, merely traced, or purchased in a multiple sale, should be available to the public, just like crime records.

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     Speaking of the New York Times, this week the "Greatest Newspaper" editorially back-tracked from their call for immediately implementing a "ballistic fingerprinting" law -- acknowledging that forensic experts are pointing out serious flaws.  Most unusual.

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     And this morning's New York Times reports that BATF has come out in "strong opposition" to a proposal from the firearms importers' association asking the State Department to allow importation of World War II era rifles and handguns which had been sold to allies.

     According to the Times, John P. Malone, assistant director for firearms and explosives, "warned that the change would prevent (BATF) from stopping the criminal use of 'particularly dangerous' old guns:  pistols that are readily concealed and carbines and Garand rifles, which can be easily converted into automatic

weapons."

     "Moreover, the letter warned, the carbine and Garand can fire bullets capable of piercing the soft body armor worn by policeofficers."

     So can almost every center fire rifle ever made.

     Assistant Director Malone needs to be fired, retired or transferred to counting bottles of beer -- or cigarette butts.

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    I'm glad to report that Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Tex.) was re-elected.