Gun Shows and Gun Control: McCain Is at It Again!

NewsMax ^ | 5./21/2002 | Miguel A. Faria Jr., M.D.

[Joe Brower]

Gun Shows and Gun Control: McCain Is at It Again!
Miguel A. Faria Jr., M.D.
Tuesday, May 21, 2002

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is at it again, preaching draconian gun control. He has now paired himself with "the conscience" of the Senate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., and joined forces with the national anti-gun group Americans for Gun Safety (AGS), a lobbying group that has been shown to have neither members, gun safety programs, nor credibility.

Sen. McCain and his anti-Second Amendment crowd are not going after "closing loopholes," as they claimed last year, but after shutting down all gun shows.

Using a pincer strategy that would make the Italian Marxist theoretician Antonio Gramsci proud, AGS is launching a nationwide million-dollar ad campaign to help influence public opinion in support of the new gun control bill from below, while Sens. McCain and Lieberman threaten to shut down gun shows from above, via legislation.

As David Kopel of the Independence Institute has written:

"Despite all the disinformation spread by the gun control lobby, a gun show is really nothing more than people wishing to sell one or more firearms to others who wish to purchase (or simply to gaze upon) the merchandise. Most of the sellers are federally licensed dealers displaying their wares to prospective buyers outside their normal place of business.

"Anyone engaged in the business of selling firearms is required to be licensed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (18 U. S. Code, Sect. 923(a)). According to federal law, dealer sales must be accompanied by an instant background check, regardless of the premises where the transaction takes place. Federal law does not allow any exceptions. If you are engaged in the business of selling firearms, then you have to fill out the federal paperwork, and then call the FBI to get permission for every sale. There is no gun show "loophole" which changes the rules." (1)

The gun-grabbing senators are now threatening to insert their bill (S.890), banning private sales at gun shows unless all gun buyers undergo background checks, as an amendment to other bills, according to Gun Owners of America (GOA).

AGS has already claimed there was a link between terrorism and gun shows. No such link was ever demonstrated. It was all immersed in deception used to exploit the 9-11 tragedy. Americans paid no heed to this nonsense and instead rushed to buy firearms for self and family protection.

Gun owners should be concerned. As GOA declared in a press release: "Even more ominous, the McCain bill would threaten the very existence of gun shows. S. 890 would impose a five-year jail sentence on any gun show organizer if a single attendee of the show were not notified of his obligations under the Brady law. Obviously, if this bill were passed, an organization would be foolish to even sponsor a gun show." (2)

Most disingenuously and as part of this pincer strategy of simultaneous pressure from above and below, AGS is also sponsoring misleading ads supporting the McCain-Lieberman bill and falsely alleging that "convicted felons are buying guns at gun shows" and that "220,000 officers represented by NAPO [National Association of Police Organizations] call on Congress to pass the McCain-Lieberman bill."

AGS does not show in the ad that the 220,000 cops were not polled by the leadership of NAPO, and that the National Association of Chiefs of Police (NACOP), which does poll its members every year, has found in its polls that police overwhelmingly support the individual right to keep and bear arms. Moreover, GOA points out that "in its 1999 survey, the NACOP poll showed that a majority of police do not think that gun shows are a 'major source for sales of illegal firearms to criminals.' " (3)

And they are correct. A 1997 National Institute of Justice study showed that fewer than 2 percent of criminals obtain their illegally possessed firearms from gun shows. Similarly, in the latest NACOP survey, 93 percent of police stated that any law-abiding citizen "should be able to purchase a firearm for sport or self-defense." (4)

If Sens. McCain and Lieberman have their way, gun shows will be shut down, gun shows that for law-abiding citizens are as American as Mom and apple pie; and many of these same Americans will become criminals overnight and be sent to jail because of another misguided gun control law. These gun-grabbing senators must not get their way.

Americans must look through this smoke screen of deception and let their legislators know that they must protect their Second Amendment right, the right that secures all others!

Miguel A. Faria Jr., M.D., is Editor-in-Chief of the Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) and author of "Cuba in Revolution – Escape From a Lost Paradise" (2002; www.haciendapub.com), that reveals the lessons of gun control in Cuba.

References

1. Kopel, D., Gallant, P., and Eisen, J., "Defending Gun Shows – Your Freedom's at Stake," National Review Online, March 15, 2001.

2. Sen. McCain Threatening to Bring Up Gun Control – But good news on another, gun-related front. Gun Owners of America, E-Mail/FAX Alert, May 14, 2002, 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151, http://www.gunowners.org.

3. Sen. McCain Threatening to Bring Up Gun Control – But good news on another, gun-related front. Gun Owners of America, E-Mail/FAX Alert, May 14, 2002, 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151, http://www.gunowners.org.

4. http://www.aphf.org/survey.html

[Joe Brower]

The usual suspects...

[Joe Brower]

[dd5339]

As much as I hate to say it, I wish the North Vietnamese had kept mcCain!

Please keep in mind that my family flies the POW flag when were not flying Marine colors and my wife wears a POW bracelet.

mcCain has got to go!

Semper Fi!

[roylene]

When is Arizona going to get rid of McCain?

[Paul Ross]

Unfortunately, based on my own informal ad hoc survey when I was in Phoenix and Tuscon the last two weeks, and from relative's general assessment...there is no chance. The AZ newspapers fall over themselves to cover for him, and the people don't really have a sense of how far to the left McCrazed has slid, they just think he is their lovable little 'maverick' and 'independent-minded' war-hero. He is still loved, and there is no getting rid of him unless the cancer finally does the job.

[coloradan]

After the First Amendment-destroying Campaign Finance Reform, McCain goes for the Second Amendment-destroying Gun Show Loophole bill. Next up will be the Leave No Soldier Out In The Rain act, that will specify how soldiers are to be quartered in houses, and then the Unbind The Hands Of Law Enforcement Officers act, allowing them to search, eavesdrop, and seize property at will, if it would save just one child's life. Then, there will be only six remaining articles in the Bill of Rights for him to go after in the next legislative session, after his resounding re-election. Sigh.

[aomagrat]

[dittomom]

Unfortunately, that may be about the size of it. There are some rumblings again, now that McCain has joined with Lieberman to propose an investigation of what the White House knew about 9/11. A local talk show host is ranting now that McCain and the Dems should go ahead and investigate the White House all it wants - it will backfire because the President is so popular. McCain is loving all this controversy - will he run for Pres, will he switch parties, etc., etc. It keeps him in the spotlight. But Arizonans (like so many Americans) love their celebrities. And in Arizona, McCain is a celebrity.

[from occupied ga]

As much as I hate to say it, I wish the North Vietnamese had kept mcCain!

In a sense they did keep him.. They've kept his mind and his loyalty anyway. He is just another socialist shill. True communism absolutely demands that the proletariat be disarmed. "from each according to his ability" is not particularly popular with those who have the ability.

Or to look at another way if a person came to you just as you were paid and put a gun to your head, and said I'm robbing you, but because I'm compassionate, I'll only take 50% of what you make. Further. I'm going to come back every time you're paid and do it again, it wouldn't be too long before this thief got shot. However when government does the same thing, we're supposed to somehow accept what is armed robbery in an individual is morally justified by a group. Sorry. what is theft by an individual is still theft by a group. Most politicians are well aware of this and are doing their best to disarm us so that if the great American unwashed ever pulls its collective head out of its collective anal orifice and decides to treat the government the way it deserves to be treated, there won't be any guns to shoot the politicians, bureaucrats and JBTs.

Scumbag Kongressman Waxman (D, PRK) was worried about .50 cal rifles because they could possible shoot through a limousine. Yep Henry baby. That's what the Second Amendment is all about.

[Louburger]

Yep, McCain is not middle of the road. He's run off onto the left shoulder.

[ladtx]

How can the people who elect McCain also elect J.D. Haworth? Obviously Haworth is from a more sensible part of the state.

[lowbridge]

AGS is launching a nationwide million-dollar ad campaign

With no members, where did they get this money?

[facedown]

AGS is launching a nationwide million-dollar ad campaign

With no members, where did they get this money?

AGS, founded in July 2000 by Andrew McKelvey, CEO of TMP Worldwide, has been labeled the "dominant force" for gun safety by The Washington Post. AGS has been widely covered by the media, including The New York Times, Fortune, Newsweek, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, National Public Radio, FOX News and the National Journal, among others.

A sort of George Soros wannabe.

[2nd_Amendment_Defender]

The 2nd Amendment is already half torched. The other half will soon be burnt up with laws, save the children garbage, and background checks.

[Joe Brower]

Yup. Andrew McKelvey. Remember that name, kids -- there will be a test later. This is the very same neo-Marxist who McStain was sucking up to a year ago, saying, "Hey, if a guy with a billion dollars wants to put that money towards financing a cause, that's OK with me." Of course, that was because the bugger was funding McStain's one-man civilian disarmament campaign. For us "little people" who speak through the NRA, well, do the words "Campaign Finance Reform" ring any bells?

[flamefront]

where did they get this money?

Let's see. Suppose the ChiComs have an interest (they used to give money away a lot)? Or might some other well known enemy of the U.S.?

Just sitting here waiting for the "inevitable terrorist WMD attack."

[lowbridge]

Thanks for the info.

AGS, founded in July 2000 by Andrew McKelvey, CEO of TMP Worldwide, has been labeled the "dominant force" for gun safety by The Washington Post.

So he's the "dominant force" for "gun safety", according to the W-Post?

Yes, let's forget the part the NRA played in educating millions of people about actual gun safety.

I wonder when Andrew's next gun safety class is.

[facedown]

Yup. Andrew McKelvey. Remember that name, kids -- there will be a test later. This is the very same neo-Marxist who McStain was sucking up to a year ago, saying, "Hey, if a guy with a billion dollars wants to put that money towards financing a cause, that's OK with me." Of course, that was because the bugger was funding McStain's one-man civilian disarmament campaign. For us "little people" who speak through the NRA, well, do the words "Campaign Finance Reform" ring any bells?

For a real gagger read this from last summer.

[facedown]

Yes, let's forget the part the NRA played in educating millions of people about actual gun safety.

Eddie Eagle is verboten in all of the schools around here!

[Redcloak]

That's because Andrew McKelvey, of Monster.com, has loads of cash to spend on pet projects. However, as this Washington Post story reports, McKelvey may be doing more harm than good for the gun-control movement. If that's the case, mo' power to him! From the story...

Last summer, Andrew McKelvey decided he knew how to break the impasse that has dogged the gun control debate: Acknowledge Americans' right to own guns, but say that these rights come with responsibilities.

If he had been an ordinary gadfly, McKelvey might have gone unnoticed. But as the owner of Monster.com, the job search Web site, the billionaire New York businessman used his wealth to position himself at the center of the gun control movement -- and to emerge as its dominant force.

The ascension of his advocacy group, Americans for Gun Safety, has altered the national debate over guns. At a moment when the steam has seemingly gone out of congressional efforts to enact tougher gun control laws, McKelvey's supporters hail him as a potential savior who can attract a broader constituency to their cause.

Many longtime advocates of tougher gun control laws, however, charge that his endorsement of gun ownership is dooming the gun control movement by watering down its message.

The movement's purists are chewing on him as hard as the NRA is, if not harder!