Russia backs U.S. gun-control advocates

Making a link between U.S. gun sales and "global instability," Moscow has lent its support to American gun-control advocates.

Russia supports restrictions on U.S. gun ownership, according to official sources, pointing out that after the events of Sept. 11 gun sales in the United States increased.

The blame for increased gun sales, according to Moscow and anti-gun activists, lies with gun manufacturers.

"American firearms manufacturers saw their chance at profiting from the tragedy of people scared of threats from international terrorists," Moscow declared. Asserting that "a nationwide campaign has been launched to advertise pistols and guns," Moscow referred to a recent press conference held to "draw attention to gun makers' marketing efforts." The event included participation by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., and Nan Aron, president of the Alliance for Justice.

The statements were reported by the Voice of Russia World Service, the official broadcasting service of the Russian government.

The broadcast referred to two instances of the criminal use of firearms in the U.S. – a shooting in Indiana and the arrest of an individual for illegal possession of weapons near the White House – and declared that the crimes were "facts testifying to the spread of small arms in the country."

Moscow also constructed a strained connection between terrorists and gun-sales campaigns following 9-11. After noting that the U.S. State Department has threatened to deport aliens connected with some 39 organizations suspected of assisting terrorist groups, the link was made to gun sales.

"There are still a large number of people in the United States who could use the gun-sales campaign for criminal purposes," Moscow reasoned, and then called for "certain measures inside the United States, which would obstruct the terrorist activity."

Observers note that, since using weapons for criminal purposes is – by definition – illegal, Moscow's reference to "certain measures inside the United States" translates into restrictions on gun ownership for U.S. citizens.

The sale of a "United We Stand" 9-millimeter pistol – patterned after those used by U.S. military personnel – by the U.S. division of the Italian arms maker Beretta irked both Moscow and participants in the anti-gun news conference.

Beretta's promise to pay a portion of the sale of each pistol to survivors and relatives of the Sept. 11 attacks was particularly irritating to the gun-control advocates.

Moscow cited remarks from firearms opponent Aron who condemned Beretta's contribution offer, stating that "we shouldn't seek to help the victims of one senseless tragedy by increasing the likelihood of more senseless tragedies."

Moscow added that "the spread of small arms causes concern in many countries," and referred to a recent conference in the Russian capital linking "global instability with the spread of small arms."

The anti-gun activists with whom Moscow found close agreement are strengthening their efforts and are attempting to make the anti-gun movement into a youth crusade.

Aron's group, the Alliance for Justice, has opened a new website, Gun Industry Watch, dedicated to monitoring the "gun industry and the National Rifle Association."

The new anti-gun group proclaims itself to be "a new student watchdog network" that will examine "the manufacturing, marketing and sale of guns." The group promises to "take direct action aimed at gun makers and the gun lobby," including "exposing and boycotting corporate partners and sponsors of the gun lobby."

Gun Industry Watch claims that it is the "fastest growing student network in the country."

Moscow's connection of U.S. gun sales to problems of "global stability" are not new. In late July, the U.N. Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons concluded its deliberations.

Due to substantial U.S. pressure, the conference refrained from issuing a global call for "regulation on the ownership of small arms."

Observers note that many of the nations at the conference have placed severe small arms restrictions on their populations, and many of these same governments – as well as the leaders of these governments themselves – are regularly accused of murder, fraud and intimidation of their defenseless citizens.

I recieved this forward this morning about the McCain-Feingold "Gun Show Loophole" bill.

----- Original Message -----Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2001 8:35 AMSubject: CLUE mail - McCain-Feingold Gun Bill Exposed
Sorry for the heavy load today, but this is a real eye-opener!
This bill is a quantum leap towards destroying the 2nd Amendment, disarming law-abiding Americans, and instituting a federal police state! Do EVERYTHING you can to expose it for what it is and defeat it!

"Those who beat their swords into plowshares, will plow for those who still have swords..."

GUN-SHOW BILL IS NOT WHAT THEY SAY LOTS OF NEW MATERIAL UP AT:
www.gunlaws.com

Re: S. 890, The McCain-Lieberman Bill: "Gun Show Loophole Closing and Gun Law Enforcement Act of 2001."

by Alan Korwin, Author Gun Laws of America

Mass media publicity on the newly proposed gun-show bill is grossly inaccurate. The bill has almost nothing to do with what you've probably heard so far.The so-called "gun-show loophole" headlines are a minor detail and basically obscure what the bill really does. I've just finished studying the eight pages of legalese. Here is it what it calls for:

1. Unprecedented federal control over gun shows nationwide -- perfectly legal gun shows become strictly outlawed without prior federal approval, licensing and registration of each show;

2. Centralized federal licensing and registration of every gun-show promoter in the nation;

3. Centralized federal registration of every vendor -- including non-gun vendors -- at any gun show in the country. In order for me to sell my BOOKS at a gun show I'll have to pre-register and prove who I am, or face arrest; a private individual looking to sell a single gun would be treated as a vendor under this law and must be registered even if the gun isn't sold;

4. Centralized federal registration of EVERY PERSON who attends a gun show in America, whether or not they make purchases of anything at all -- you won't be allowed in without registering;

5. Centralized collection of "any other information" on gun-show attendees, as determined solely by the Secretary of the Treasury;

6. Imprisonment for attending a gun show and failing to give up any information required by regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury;

7. Imprisonment of any gun-show promoter who fails to register a single vendor;

8. Imprisonment of gun-show promoters who cannot prove they notified every person attending a gun show of the new rules, and obtained from attendees any information the Secretary of the Treasury mandates by regulation;

9. Centralized collection of "any other information" the Secretary of the Treasury decides, by regulation, is necessary on vendors, attendees, and the gun show itself;

10. Submission by gun-show promoters of vendor registration logs a) 30 days before any gun show, and b) additional submission of updated vendor registration logs 72 hours before any gun show, and c) additional submission of vendor registration logs within five days of the close of any gun show, under penalty of arrest and imprisonment for non-compliance;

11. Identification of vendors only by use of federally approved photo ID that may include use of a social security number, electronically encoded data, or "biometric identifiers" such as fingerprint, voice print, retina scan, iris scan, or similar (as defined under 18 USC 1028(d)(2));

12. Creation of a new license (in addition to a gun-show-promoter license), similar to FFLs, for individuals who want access to the NICS national background check system for facilitating gun-show sales for private citizens;

13. Regulations to be issued by the Secretary of the Treasury on the procedures, data collections, methods and implementation of the entire process to federally control gun shows, in addition to the requirements made by the proposed statute; such regulations will not be known, drafted or even suggested, until after the McCain- Lieberman law is enacted;

14. The proposed bill also puts pressure on state governments to make at least 95% of their law enforcement records for the past 30 years openly available to the federal government; and-- makes unlimited funds available for the states to comply with these federal goals;

-- requires annual federal review of states' compliance;

-- increases penalties (up to ten years imprisonment) for record- keeping violations;

-- grants states permission to make even more restrictive requirements without being out of compliance with these new federal laws (and by implication, puts states that resist these rules in federal trouble);

-- provides hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars for more law enforcement under numerous programs including project Exile and others; -- hires 200 more Federal BATF Agents;

-- provides $10 million to the National Institute for Justice to give out for research on "technologies that limit the use of a gun to the owner"; and -- provides for annual reports (in great detail) by the Attorney General to Congress on whether the Brady law is working;

15. Enlargement of the federal bureaucracy and appropriation from taxpayers of "such funds as are necessary" to license, register and monitor an estimated ten million non-criminals who attend the thousands of gun shows held annually in America; and

16. Oh yes, I almost forgot about the so-called "loophole" part the media is so excited about -- the McCain-Lieberman bill will make an honest private citizen a criminal for transferring a gun to another honest private citizen, without first registering the transfer with, and getting permission from, the federal government (represented by the FBI at its data complex in Clarksburg, West Virginia).

Transfer or possession of a firearm to or by a criminal (a "federally prohibited possessor") is completely unaffected by the McCain- Lieberman "loophole" bill, so I guess it's accurate to characterize it as a loophole bill.

To sum up: Perfectly legal gun sales -- with no victims or criminal activity of any kind -- are outlawed at gun shows by the McCain- Lieberman bill, unless the sale is pre-registered with the federal government; real crimes are totally unaffected; and your friends in the federal government take over full control of gun shows -- which have been previously free of government infringement for more than 200 years.

Please write your local news outlet and politely request a correction. Permission to circulate or use any or all of this report is granted, provided my credit and contact information is included. Alan Korwin, Author Gun Laws of America, Bloomfield Press, 4718 E. Cactus #440 . Phoenix, AZ 85032 .

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