Neal Knox Alert for December 23, 2002
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     In 1999, shortly after the Columbine murders, Sen. Frist voted against the initial Lautenberg gun show bill, first of a string of amendments to the so-called Juvenile Justice bill.  Then he voted for the NRA-supported Craig-Hatch amendment to make gun show background checks voluntary, which passed.

     Normally, that would have been the end of the gun amendments, but Sen. Lott (despite private objections from Sen. Larry Craig [R-Idaho]) had allowed the bill to go to the floor without restrictions on the number or kind of gun amendments -- the kind of thing the Majority Leader usually controls.

     But after complaints from Sen. John McCain and others that Craig-Hatch wasn't restrictive enough, Senators were able under the "open rule" to bring up two more gun show amendments -- including another from Sen. Frank Lautenberg.  Lott voted against both Lautenberg amendments but Frist voted for the second (making it a 50-50 tie, allowing Vice President Al Gore to cast the deciding vote -- which probably cost Gore the Presidency a year later).

     Sen. Frist also voted for some less-sweeping restrictions in the string of gun  bill amendments; Sen. Lott, whose voting record is better than Frist's, voted against most of them, but he had allowed those amendments to come to a vote.

     I first ran into Lott's reluctance to bring up positive gun bills while he was House Republican Whip, when his staff and I unsuccessfully urged him to push a floor amendment that would have helped gunowners, and could have passed easily.

     That reluctance was also evident when he didn't want Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) to offer his 1998 amendment to the Justice Department's appropriations bill to require the FBI to immediately destroy records of approved National Instant Check firearms purchase records.

     As Sen. Smith told me privately at the time, even NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre went to his office to ask Smith not to offer it -- supposedly because it was "too good to pass," but really because Senators simply didn't want to have to cast a controversial vote.

     Sen. Smith introduced it anyway, and the amendment passed overwhelmingly -- 69 votes!  There aren't many Sen. Smiths in the new Senate.  As I've said before, he will be sorely missed.

     Sen. Lott got in trouble at Sen. Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party because -- even more than most politicians -- he schmoozes and panders to his audience.

     Just as he said things to Thurmond that he really didn't mean, he told NRA members at the Annual Meeting Banquet in 1998 everything we wanted to hear -- even those of us who didn't believe him for a moment.

     I told friends at our banquet table that it was a "pander bear arms" speech, and the he surely wouldn't carry out his promises (and didn't).

     A few days later, a friend who represents a conservative organization wrote an article extensively quoting Lott's exorbitant promises to NRA members.  Right after the article appeared, Lott's press aide called him and fumed "You S.O.B.!"

     Clearly, like his statements at Strom's birthday party, those comments weren't intended to go outside the room.

     I will be delighted if Sen. Frist does more for gunowners than did Sen. Lott (who may be even more helpful as Senator from Mississippi than he was as Republican leader).

     But I'm dubious that Majority Leader Frist will do even as well.

     My candidate among the potential contenders would have been Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.), but a cardinal rule in this town is to not get involved in Congressional leadership elections -- which is why the Bush White House denied any involvement in the election (though reporters said "high-level" White House folks were zinging Lott and singing Frist's praises).

     Last week, the Michigan legislature sent Gov. John Engler a bill to allow licensed carriers to carry in most restaraunts that serve wine or alcohol (most of the better ones), to extend the license from three to five years and removed non-violent misdemeanors from those proscribed from getting the license.

     Gov. Engler is expected to sign it.

     Maryland Activist Bob Culver, noting that the Transportation Security Administration put out a regulation requiring airline baggage to be unlocked so it could be searched, pointed out to them that it conflicts with the requirement that firearms be reported and locked in baggage.

     TSA retreated, saying to follow the locked gun case rule.

     Michael Bellesiles, already forced to resign his tenured professorship at Emory University because of his fraudulent anti-gun "history book," Arming America, has now had the prestigious Columbia University Bancroft Prize withdrawn -- and been asked to give the $4,000 prize money back.

     Gun rights activist George Rogero has launched an effort to get the discredited book out of public libraries.  He tells of his success -- and provides details of why libraries should chuck it -- on New York's Orange County Shooters' web page www.ocshooters.com/Arming%20America/arming%20america.htm

     Great idea and good research.

     Ain't it sweet.  Another anti-gun bigwig -- George Soros, major financial contributor to a host of "gun control" organizations -- has been convicted of insider trading by France, and ordered to pay a $2.2 million Euro fine.

     I couldn't help but be reminded of Robert E. Brennan, the banking and stock wheeler-dealer whose fast helicopter was featured in his TV commercials and his "Death Clock" billboard illuminated Times Square.  He was convicted in federal court of bankruptcy fraud last year.

     And Ain't it a shame.  Canada's Liberal Government is in a peck of trouble, and getting blasted by even the anti-gun press, for secretly running up the cost of the nation's total gun registration program to a net $1 billion!

     That's what opponents figured it would cost when it was first proposed in 1995, but advocates said the net cost would be only $2 million.  Now the same economist who predicted the huge overrun then is saying the cost -- if registration is continued, and it may not -- will be another billion!

     But not to worry about costs, the Justice Minister says.  "We believe in gun control."  It's called religious faith.

     We spent much of the last two weeks trying to get all the recent events into our Hard Corps Report, and the report into the mail.  The mailing house we've used for 15 years went out of business without notice, which didn't help.  The new mailers are sending it to the Post Office today, but it won't be arriving until very late, sometime after Christmas.  I apologize.

     And to you and yours, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and have a great New Year!

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