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Press Release	Extremism

ADL Reaffirms Support for Gun Control Initiatives During National Policymaking Session in Philadelphia New York, New York, June 8, 1999 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has reaffirmed support for gun control initiatives "designed to make it more difficult for extremists as well as children to acquire and use guns and other dangerous weapons in this country." At a meeting last week of the National Executive Committee, ADL’s top policymaking body, in Philadelphia, members adopted a resolution in support of efforts to expand the regulation of firearms and other weapons. ADL’s support for gun control measures at the state and federal level goes back to 1967. "While we have always supported legislation that attempts to address the problems of extremism and gun violence in our society, the recent school shootings in Littleton, Colo. and Conyers, Ga. have focused public attention on another troubling dimension of the problem – the ease with which young people are able to obtain guns in this country," said Howard P. Berkowitz, ADL National Chairman, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Strong gun laws are the only way we can act immediately and decisively to hopefully prevent another tragedy from happening in our schools." In reaffirming support for gun control initiatives, ADL urged Congress to support legislation proposed by President Clinton to further restrict gun sales. The legislation would require safety locks, background checks at gun shows, and a ban of high-capacity ammunition clips. The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.

REFORM MOVEMENT DEMANDS AN END TO THE NRA’S HOLOCAUST REFERENCES

Contact: Jeff Mandell, (202) 387-2800

WASHINGTON March 27, 2000 — Rabbi Gerald Serotta, respected activist and Scholar in Residence at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, joined Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and two survivors of the Holocaust in denouncing material on the National Rifle Association webpage that compares American restrictions on guns to the systematic disarmament of Jews prior to the Nazi Holocaust.

This is only the latest outrage in a stream of condemnable NRA rhetoric. In a letter to the NRA last week, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, spoke out against their accusations that President Clinton condones gun violence to achieve political aims. Today, Rabbi Serotta called on the NRA to remove references to the Holocaust from its website and to discontinue its disruptive rhetoric, instead seeking proactive ways to make our society safer from gun violence.