Gun Control Strategy: Terrorism, Children and 'Scary Looking' Guns
By Christine Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
September 30, 2002

Phoenix (CNSNews.com) - Gun rights activists have noticed a change in tactics on the part of their opponents since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Groups such as the Brady Campaign and the Violence Policy Center are invoking the threat of terrorism, the potential harm to children, and the image of big, fierce-looking guns to sell their gun-control agenda.

Since the 9/11 attacks, the other side has been "making a pathetic, opportunistic attempt to put their failed agenda on the back of this national tragedy," National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre told several hundred gun rights activists gathered in Phoenix, Ariz., on Sept. 28 to strategize on gun policy.

A former Clinton administration Justice Department official, Eric Holder, has even "tried to conjure up the image of Osama bin Laden walking around American gun shows," LaPierre reported. And the Brady Campaign has said that terrorists in are exploiting lax firearms laws in the U.S. to stockpile weapons, according to LaPierre.

Some congressional Democrats are on board with the new strategy, says LaPierre, including Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the ranking member on the judiciary committee, and Senate Democrats Charles (Chuck) Schumer (N.Y.), Ted Kennedy (Mass.) and Dianne Feinstein (Calif.).

"Gun control as crime control has pretty much been debunked," said Sporting Arms & Ammunition Manufacturers Institute spokesman Jack Adkins, explaining part of the reason for the switch in gun control tactics.

In addition to invoking the threat of terrorism, Adkins said, "Opponents of firearms ownership have now hit on gun control as a so-called safety or child protection issue, re-framing the issue from one of crime to one of 'we need more gun control for the sake of the children.'"

Adkins pointed to recent bills with titles such as the Childproof Handgun Act of 2001, the Child and Safety Act of 2001, the Gun Safety Lock Act, the Child Gun Safety and Gun Access Prevention Act, and the Children's Firearm Access Prevention Act.

"These bills all deal ... in federal mandates requiring that all new firearms be equipped with integrated locking devices, or they grant Consumer Product Safety Commission powers to ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms), or they open the door for gun owners to be held liable when an unauthorized person gains access to an unsecured firearm and subsequently injures someone," Adkins explained.

"No matter how they package it, the ultimate goal is the same: to obstruct, impede, inhibit and eventually prohibit the manufacturing, sale and private ownership of firearms in America," Adkins declared.

In addition to using children as a sales tool, the gun control lobby is also trying to win over public opinion by targeting big, fierce-looking guns, says John Burtt, chairman of the Fifty Caliber Shooters Policy Institute.

The Violence Policy Center "set their sites on the .50 caliber because it's big and scary looking and easy to demonize," said Burtt. "Never mind that the gun has never been used in terrorist activity. Never mind ... that law abiding Americans have been using the .50 caliber for competition and hunting purposes for two decades."

Some worry that other gun owners won't feel a need to rally behind the cause of .50 caliber owners. But Burtt believes it's crucial that they do.

"Our members are...a niche group in the gun community overall, but our fight is on the front lines of gun rights," Burtt told conference attendees.

"The Violence Policy Center effort to ban .50 calibers is just part of the broader effort to go after all of our guns," Burtt warned.

The VPC scored a victory in Los Angeles recently by getting a county council ordinance to ban the .50 caliber BMG. Now the author of that ordinance is running a race he's likely to win for a seat in the state legislature.

In Congress, bills introduced by Feinstein and Illinois Democrat Rep. Rod R. Blagojevich would impose additional restrictions on .50 caliber rifles, treating them like machine guns.

According to Wayne LaPierre, Feinstein has said that "'the only people that would fight for .50 caliber rifles are doomsday cultists, cooks and criminals."

"If they accomplish their agenda to ban the .50 caliber, next timeit will be the 338 or the 30-06 [rifles]," Burtt predicted.

But there are also pro-gun bills pending in Congress, gun rights activists say. The Arming Pilots Against Terrorism Act may pass before Congress adjourns in October. Less likely to pass this session is the Protection of Lawful Commerce and Arms Act (S 2268 and HR 2037).

The second set of bills, which are controversial among constitutional scholars, would have the federal government preempt state tort law by prohibiting frivolous lawsuits filed against gun manufacturers by several municipalities across the country.

The lawsuits have alleged that gun manufacturers should be held legally liable for gun violence perpetrated by criminals.

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Gun Rights Activists See 2002 Election As Critical
By Christine Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
September 30, 2002

Phoenix (CNSNews.com) - Gun rights activists say the outcome of the 2002 mid-term election will be critical in determining the fate of a handful of important gun bills pending in Congress.

Issues that hang in the balance include arming airline pilots; not placing undue regulations on private or gun show sales; preempting municipal lawsuits against gun manufacturers; repealing the Clinton-era ban on certain semi-automatic guns; and preventing efforts to ban .50-caliber rifles.

"We have to stay on the offense," National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre told several hundred gun rights activists gathered in Phoenix, Ariz., for a gun rights policy conference.

"These elections are going to be critical," said LaPierre. "We've got to win and beat the anti-gunners and elect the good guys."

Gun issues aren't driving this year's election as much as terrorism, homeland security and the economy are, said Alan M. Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, which co-hosted the Phoenix conference. But gun issues can be the determining factor in many close races if pro-gun forces turn out on Election Day, he believes.

"In a close election, an issue like guns is two to four percent of the electorate," said Gottlieb. "In a race that can be won or lost by two points, we can be the difference."

"If we can get control of the U.S. Senate as well as the House, the assault ban bites the dust [and] basically we're back to pre-Clinton on a federal level" because the Brady bill is just the background check part, said Gottlieb.

Gottlieb is closely watching 15 Senate races in Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. Democrats now control the Senate by just one seat.

Republican wins in those states won't guarantee a pro-gun voting record in every case, Gottlieb acknowledged; but it would put pro-gun forces in control of the Senate and most committee chairmanships.

One problem facing gun rights advocates, however, is that candidates aren't talking about gun issues. Larry Pratt, executive director of the Gun Owners of America, believes that both Republicans and Democrats view gun issues as a political liability.

Sen. Charles E. (Chuck) Schumer (D-N.Y.) is talking about gun issues, but he's mislabeling himself as pro-Second Amendment, according to Firearms Coalition chairman Neal Knox.

"We've got a bunch of 'make-nice Dems' like Chuck Schumer that are saying 'Oh, I believe in the Second Amendment,' [but] don't let them for one moment define what being for the Second Amendment means," said Knox.

Too many pro-gunners want to believe such claims, said Knox, but "it really doesn't mean a thing when they say it because they have a little...footnote that says, 'This is how I interpret it.'

Put them to the wall on how they feel about concealed carry laws at the federal and state level, Knox urged; and demand that candidates reveal how they will vote on extending the 1994 "assault weapons" and magazine bans, which are likely to come before the 108th Congress.