"The year gun control became a health-care issue." Any bets Hillary'd do it again?

"The year gun control became a health-care issue" Shooting Industry, Dec, 1993 by Jim Schneider

1993 will go down in the history books as the year gun control became a "health issue." Not that the anti-gunners haven't been trying to make it a health issue for a long time, but 1993 was the first time they had a strong supporter in the White House.

This strategy, simmering for months, came to a full boil with the introduction of the Clinton Administration's health care proposal in late September when President Clinton mentioned gun control in his address to the nation. Hillary Clinton -- the point man on health care -- has made her feelings clear on the subject as well.

On Sept. 28, she told Rep. Mel Reynolds (D, Ill.), who is sponsoring his own tax-the-guns bill, that she does indeed favor a tax on firearms but that first she would like to see various categories of firearms banned.

Two days later, she reaffirmed her desire to tax firearms under questioning in the Senate.

Then on Oct. 1, USA Today -- which has earned its reputation as one of the nation's leading advocates of gun control -- editorialized that, "It's only natural. It's utterly obvious. Gun control and health reform go hand in hand. Indeed, gun violence is a steady and powerful inflater of health costs.

"In 1985, the total medical costs of gun violence were more than $900 million. Three years later, the costs had risen to $1.2 billion. Low-ball figures for 1990 place the number at $1.4 billion. And costs surely are continuing to rise ...

"It's why Hillary Rodham Clinton, after opposing the idea, indicated ... that she supports a plan to more than double the 10 percent gun manufacturers' excise tax to help pay for health reform ..."

During the next 48 hours, those figures mushroomed, so that when Senator Bill Bradley (D, N.J.) appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation" program on Oct. 3, he was able to declare, "The fact of the matter is that the cost of guns should be measured by their impact on society, as well as the profit margin for the manufacturer and the profit margin for the dealer.

"There is a cost, and that cost is in health care. The President highlighted it the other night.

"$4 billion in health care costs every year in this country because of violence from guns. If you take lost productivity over a lifetime, it's $14 billion annually in revenues.

"My view is that the gun manufacturers have to bear some of the costs in the health care system. We can offset that by having a tax on handgun purchases and assault weapon purchases and the purchase of ammunition. I believe that's absolutely critical."

Whichever figures you accept -- those of USA Today or Senator Bradley -- the fact is that gun violence is responsible for a fraction of 1 percent of the total amount spent on medical care in this country (an estimated $752 billion in 1991). Of course, following this logic, shouldn't there be a hefty health tax on automobiles? Far more medical costs arise from car accidents than the misuse of firearms.

I had this in an E-Mail for several months.

Adjust your tin-foil hat.

The day JFK Jr.’s body was pulled out of the Atlantic was the same day he was to announce his run for the senate seat hildabeast wanted.

See this? FBI report...given by Gore to....

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE RECOVERY OF PIPER SARATOGA AIRCRAFT OF JOHN F. KENNEDY, Jr.

1. No declassificatin until 7/22/2029.

2. This is in deference to the wishes of a senior member of the Kennedy family.

3. Also in deference to the order of the national government and in respect to certain foreign intelligence agencies having reciprocal agreements with the U.S.

4. POTUS order and national security findings attached.

5. The recovered aircraft shows evidence of an explosive device having been glued or affixed within the tail luggage compartment.

6. Device was apparently actuated by a barometric trigger. Radio signals not ruled out.

7. Tail of aircraft was dismembered from the plane making it front heavy.

8. Study of radar shows the plane fell in excess of 6,000 feet per minute up to radar cutoff.

9. Satellite images supplied by the National Reconnaissance Office record an outbursting flash from the aircraft just prior to it going into perpendicular descent.

10. Tail structure was dismembered just prior to descent.

11. Recovery of a piece of luggage from beyond the flight path of the aircraft correlates with it being hurtled out of the tail luggage compartment at outburst.

12. Preliminary examination of the aircraft shows residue of an explosive device the Laboratory identifies as being the type used by certain foreign intelligence agencies. Refer to POTUS order and findings.

13. Study of Air Traffic Control and other radio signals shows no Mayday report from the aircraft, explained by rapidity of descent.

14. Investigation and examination has been strictly compartmentalized.

15. A short, perfunctory examination of the recovered bodies was completed. Examination revealed that Carolyn Bessette Kennedy was in third trimester pregnant, the fetus a boy. The four bodies were transferred to a senior member of the Kennedy family. The Bureau was not informed whether the bodies were actually cremated. Indirect advisories report that the bodies may have been shipped in untagged containers to foreign destinations. Reliable assets are to submit reports.

Somebody thought it important at the time, so I reposted it.

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