The following article first appeared in the April 13, 1998 issue of The New American magazine. www.thenewamerican.com
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Heston, for the Record
by Robert W. Lee
On May 3rd of last year, actor Charlton Heston was elected to the board of directors of the National Rifle Association (NRA) during its national convention in Seattle. Two days later, the 76-member board voted to make Heston NRA first vice president over incumbent Neal Knox, a former NRA chief lobbyist who heads the Maryland-based Firearms Coalition. The Associated Press reported at the time, "Heston’s election ran against a long tradition of two, one-year terms for each of the top three officers, with the second vice president moving up to first vice president, and then to president." One Heston backer on the board told AP: "Certainly this is an appropriate time that we not adhere to that tradition. I think the Lord’s given us a prophet and we ought not to turn our backs on what the Lord has given." Heston is best known for his role as Moses in the 1956 Hollywood classic The Ten Commandments.
As first vice president, Heston is currently on track to become NRA president in June. However, recent revelations about Heston’s role in promoting President Lyndon Johnson’s 1968 gun control legislation, and his involvement in an anti-gun group formed at the time by fellow actor Tom Laughlin, have become potentially serious speed bumps on the popular Hollywood figure’s road to higher NRA office.
Help From Hollywood
The controversy erupted after the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library released documents confirming that Heston and a handful of colleagues worked closely with White House insiders to persuade the American public and Congress to support a bill to prohibit the interstate shipment of rifles, shotguns, and handgun ammunition, and to restrict out-of-state purchases of rifles and shotguns.
President Johnson had already signed into law the 1968 omnibus crime control bill, which included sundry curbs on handguns. One provision banned the interstate mail-order sale of handguns, but the President did not think that ban went far enough, and so he proposed new gun legislation targeting shotguns and rifles.
On June 10, 1968, the House Judiciary Committee scuttled the proposal. The next day, the President issued a brief statement expressing his "bitter disappointment" and declaring that "there is no excuse whatsoever for failure to act to prohibit the interstate mail-order sale of rifles." He urged the Judiciary Committee to "promptly reconsider this shocking blow to the safety of every citizen in this country."
On June 12th, Lawrence Levinson, deputy special counsel to the President, sent a memo to Heston at his home in Beverly Hills. Claiming that the interstate mail-order ban in the crime bill "is only a half-way measure" since it "covers only handguns — but fails to include shotguns and rifles," Levinson briefly outlined the President’s proposal to also place rifles under the gun control tent. That same day, Levinson explained in a memo to White House staffer Charles Maguire:
At the President’s suggestion, Jack Valenti [president of the Motion Picture Association of America and former special assistant to LBJ] has agreed to hold a luncheon in Los Angeles next Monday, June 17th, at noon (PDT), at which a number of famous movie actors — particularly those who play cowboys — will speak out in favor of the President’s gun control legislation.
For this luncheon, we need two pithy, one-page statements which will be read by two of the "cowboys" (probably Charlton Heston and John Wayne), supporting the President’s Gun Control Bill.
May I suggest that Hardesty do one and Harry Middleton do the other, with you to supply some polish.
There is no further reference to the luncheon in documents released to date. But on June 18th, Levinson sent a memo to the President outlining a far more important project:
Through Jack Valenti’s good work, five movie actors will appear on the Joey Bishop show at 11:30 tonight on Channel 7 to support strongly your gun control proposal. The actors involved are Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Hugh O’Brian, James Stewart, and Kirk Douglas.
They will read a very tough statement which we prepared here applauding your action in calling for strict gun control curbs.
A Telling Statement
Also on June 18th, Dick McKay of the Beverly Hills public relations firm Rogers, Cowan & Brenner, wrote to presidential assistant Joseph Califano about the project’s progress:
Enclosed are three copies of the final version of the statement released to the Associated Press and United Press International here in Los Angeles today. Hugh O’Brian asked me to send these to you.
Hugh and I met at his home last evening and I wrote a lead-in which I considered newsworthy but he felt that it was too professional and, depending upon what results are eventually achieved, he may have been right. Instead, the lead-in was something as simple and direct as "We, Kirk Douglas, James Stewart, Hugh O’Brian, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, wish to make the following statement...."
Charlton, Gregory, and Hugh personally planted this statement with the bureau chiefs at AP and UPI. They were greeted warmly and Hugh reports that, based on the reception and ensuing conversation, the results should be excellent. The AP also photographed the trio.
McKay then described the steps intended to deceive the public about behind-the-scenes orchestration of the enterprise: "These three stars felt that it might be detrimental for their purposes to have a press agent along with them so I merely set up all the details, which they followed through on their own. I think that their reasoning may be correct that their whole plan may get better treatment if there is, apparently, not a public relations man involved. Naturally, from a professional point of view there are very few instances where I would agree with such thinking."
On June 20, 1968, Califano wrote in a memo to President Johnson:
I thought you might be interested in the attached statement which Hugh O’Brian read on the Joey Bishop Show last Tuesday. This was a statement subscribed to by Kirk Douglas, James Stewart, Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston and has been widely circulated throughout the country.
The statement "subscribed to" by Charlton Heston and his associates included the following:
• "Our gun control laws are so lax that anyone can buy a weapon."
• "We share the conviction that stronger gun control legislation is mandatory in this tragic situation."
• "The Congress has recently given us some protection against pistols in the wrong hands. But that’s not enough … not nearly enough. The carnage will not stop until there is effective control over the sale of rifles and shotguns."
• "For many long months, the President of the United States has asked the Congress to pass a such a law … but the Congress will not listen unless you, the voter, speak out.... Unless the people of this country rise up and demand that the Congress give us a strong and effective gun control law."
After summarizing the President’s proposed legislation, and citing the House and Senate bill numbers, the statement declared: "We urge you, as a responsible, sensible, and concerned citizen, to write or wire your senator and congressman immediately and demand they support these bills."
Gun Control Diehard
The effort had the intended impact. On July 14th the House approved the measure by a vote of 305 to 118. On September 18th, the Senate followed suit by a tally of 70 to 17. As described by the 1969 World Book Encyclopedia Yearbook, "On October 22 [1968], the first major gun control law in 30 years was enacted. It was the strongest gun control legislation in the nation’s history." As finally approved, the legislation:
• Outlawed the mail-order sales of all rifles, shotguns, and ammunition, except between licensed dealers, manufacturers, and gun collectors.
• Banned the sale of rifles, shotguns, and handguns to persons under 21 years of age.
• Banned direct sales of guns to out-of-state residents unless the state involved specifically authorized its citizens to buy guns in adjoining states.
In a related development that year, actor Tom Laughlin (best known for his later roles in "Billy Jack" movies) formed an anti-gun movement called "Ten Thousand Americans for Reasonable Gun Control." Initially, it attracted the support of many movie and television personalities, but most subsequently deserted the group. The NRA’s American Rifleman magazine for October 1968 quoted Laughlin as stating: "They were all hepped up for 2 weeks. The commitment couldn’t last any longer than that. It’s frightening to me."
But not everyone jumped ship. As reported by the American Rifleman, "Laughlin cited as diehards who stuck with his anti-gun movement a ‘little more than a handful’" — including Charlton Heston.
Going Mainstream
Heston has expressed a desire to move the NRA into the political "mainstream." He has downplayed the significance of the Brady waiting-period law, claiming not only that it is "cosmetic" and "meaningless," but that "I don’t care if they keep the Brady Act forever." During a May 9, 1997 interview on San Francisco radio station KGO, Heston, who had just been elected NRA first vice president the previous day, was asked if he would try to get "the right-wing folks off the [NRA] board and out of the picture." He replied, "That’s certainly the intention, and I think it’s highly doable."
On March 6th of this year, the NRA issued a press release defending Heston and labeling as "a few minor dissidents" those who have expressed concern about his support of LBJ’s gun control agenda and involvement in the Laughlin group. Such critics, the NRA claimed, "have attempted to smear and impugn" his integrity. The bulk of the release consisted of 11 commendable gun-related quotations excerpted from Heston speeches and media appearances during 1997. However, the Johnson Library documents were not mentioned, and the vexing questions they raise went unanswered. The release concluded: "In response to those self-serving dissidents who have criticized him, Mr. Heston said simply, ‘I stand by my record.’ We, too, stand on that record along with nearly three million NRA members committed to preserving our Second Amendment freedoms."
Dismissing as "self-serving dissidents" those who are justifiably concerned about the reliability of Heston’s pro-gun commitment, while ignoring the important questions raised by the crucial role he played in the passage of anti-gun legislation which the NRA vigorously opposed, is likely to fuel rather than dissipate the controversy. Gun advocates, including more than just "a few minor dissidents" within the NRA itself, are anxious to know the extent to which Heston’s position today differs, deep down and not just rhetorically, from that which he espoused earlier. Beyond that, there is the question of whether or not a "mainstream" NRA purged of its "right-wing" element can effectively keep gun-control zealots at bay.
© Copyright 1994-2000 American Opinion Publishing Incorporated
------------------
Stop The New World Order!
www.jbs.org
www.conservativeusa.org
---------------------------------------------
Heston, for the Record
by Robert W. Lee
On May 3rd of last year, actor Charlton Heston was elected to the board of directors of the National Rifle Association (NRA) during its national convention in Seattle. Two days later, the 76-member board voted to make Heston NRA first vice president over incumbent Neal Knox, a former NRA chief lobbyist who heads the Maryland-based Firearms Coalition. The Associated Press reported at the time, "Heston’s election ran against a long tradition of two, one-year terms for each of the top three officers, with the second vice president moving up to first vice president, and then to president." One Heston backer on the board told AP: "Certainly this is an appropriate time that we not adhere to that tradition. I think the Lord’s given us a prophet and we ought not to turn our backs on what the Lord has given." Heston is best known for his role as Moses in the 1956 Hollywood classic The Ten Commandments.
As first vice president, Heston is currently on track to become NRA president in June. However, recent revelations about Heston’s role in promoting President Lyndon Johnson’s 1968 gun control legislation, and his involvement in an anti-gun group formed at the time by fellow actor Tom Laughlin, have become potentially serious speed bumps on the popular Hollywood figure’s road to higher NRA office.
Help From Hollywood
The controversy erupted after the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library released documents confirming that Heston and a handful of colleagues worked closely with White House insiders to persuade the American public and Congress to support a bill to prohibit the interstate shipment of rifles, shotguns, and handgun ammunition, and to restrict out-of-state purchases of rifles and shotguns.
President Johnson had already signed into law the 1968 omnibus crime control bill, which included sundry curbs on handguns. One provision banned the interstate mail-order sale of handguns, but the President did not think that ban went far enough, and so he proposed new gun legislation targeting shotguns and rifles.
On June 10, 1968, the House Judiciary Committee scuttled the proposal. The next day, the President issued a brief statement expressing his "bitter disappointment" and declaring that "there is no excuse whatsoever for failure to act to prohibit the interstate mail-order sale of rifles." He urged the Judiciary Committee to "promptly reconsider this shocking blow to the safety of every citizen in this country."
On June 12th, Lawrence Levinson, deputy special counsel to the President, sent a memo to Heston at his home in Beverly Hills. Claiming that the interstate mail-order ban in the crime bill "is only a half-way measure" since it "covers only handguns — but fails to include shotguns and rifles," Levinson briefly outlined the President’s proposal to also place rifles under the gun control tent. That same day, Levinson explained in a memo to White House staffer Charles Maguire:
At the President’s suggestion, Jack Valenti [president of the Motion Picture Association of America and former special assistant to LBJ] has agreed to hold a luncheon in Los Angeles next Monday, June 17th, at noon (PDT), at which a number of famous movie actors — particularly those who play cowboys — will speak out in favor of the President’s gun control legislation.
For this luncheon, we need two pithy, one-page statements which will be read by two of the "cowboys" (probably Charlton Heston and John Wayne), supporting the President’s Gun Control Bill.
May I suggest that Hardesty do one and Harry Middleton do the other, with you to supply some polish.
There is no further reference to the luncheon in documents released to date. But on June 18th, Levinson sent a memo to the President outlining a far more important project:
Through Jack Valenti’s good work, five movie actors will appear on the Joey Bishop show at 11:30 tonight on Channel 7 to support strongly your gun control proposal. The actors involved are Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Hugh O’Brian, James Stewart, and Kirk Douglas.
They will read a very tough statement which we prepared here applauding your action in calling for strict gun control curbs.
A Telling Statement
Also on June 18th, Dick McKay of the Beverly Hills public relations firm Rogers, Cowan & Brenner, wrote to presidential assistant Joseph Califano about the project’s progress:
Enclosed are three copies of the final version of the statement released to the Associated Press and United Press International here in Los Angeles today. Hugh O’Brian asked me to send these to you.
Hugh and I met at his home last evening and I wrote a lead-in which I considered newsworthy but he felt that it was too professional and, depending upon what results are eventually achieved, he may have been right. Instead, the lead-in was something as simple and direct as "We, Kirk Douglas, James Stewart, Hugh O’Brian, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, wish to make the following statement...."
Charlton, Gregory, and Hugh personally planted this statement with the bureau chiefs at AP and UPI. They were greeted warmly and Hugh reports that, based on the reception and ensuing conversation, the results should be excellent. The AP also photographed the trio.
McKay then described the steps intended to deceive the public about behind-the-scenes orchestration of the enterprise: "These three stars felt that it might be detrimental for their purposes to have a press agent along with them so I merely set up all the details, which they followed through on their own. I think that their reasoning may be correct that their whole plan may get better treatment if there is, apparently, not a public relations man involved. Naturally, from a professional point of view there are very few instances where I would agree with such thinking."
On June 20, 1968, Califano wrote in a memo to President Johnson:
I thought you might be interested in the attached statement which Hugh O’Brian read on the Joey Bishop Show last Tuesday. This was a statement subscribed to by Kirk Douglas, James Stewart, Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston and has been widely circulated throughout the country.
The statement "subscribed to" by Charlton Heston and his associates included the following:
• "Our gun control laws are so lax that anyone can buy a weapon."
• "We share the conviction that stronger gun control legislation is mandatory in this tragic situation."
• "The Congress has recently given us some protection against pistols in the wrong hands. But that’s not enough … not nearly enough. The carnage will not stop until there is effective control over the sale of rifles and shotguns."
• "For many long months, the President of the United States has asked the Congress to pass a such a law … but the Congress will not listen unless you, the voter, speak out.... Unless the people of this country rise up and demand that the Congress give us a strong and effective gun control law."
After summarizing the President’s proposed legislation, and citing the House and Senate bill numbers, the statement declared: "We urge you, as a responsible, sensible, and concerned citizen, to write or wire your senator and congressman immediately and demand they support these bills."
Gun Control Diehard
The effort had the intended impact. On July 14th the House approved the measure by a vote of 305 to 118. On September 18th, the Senate followed suit by a tally of 70 to 17. As described by the 1969 World Book Encyclopedia Yearbook, "On October 22 [1968], the first major gun control law in 30 years was enacted. It was the strongest gun control legislation in the nation’s history." As finally approved, the legislation:
• Outlawed the mail-order sales of all rifles, shotguns, and ammunition, except between licensed dealers, manufacturers, and gun collectors.
• Banned the sale of rifles, shotguns, and handguns to persons under 21 years of age.
• Banned direct sales of guns to out-of-state residents unless the state involved specifically authorized its citizens to buy guns in adjoining states.
In a related development that year, actor Tom Laughlin (best known for his later roles in "Billy Jack" movies) formed an anti-gun movement called "Ten Thousand Americans for Reasonable Gun Control." Initially, it attracted the support of many movie and television personalities, but most subsequently deserted the group. The NRA’s American Rifleman magazine for October 1968 quoted Laughlin as stating: "They were all hepped up for 2 weeks. The commitment couldn’t last any longer than that. It’s frightening to me."
But not everyone jumped ship. As reported by the American Rifleman, "Laughlin cited as diehards who stuck with his anti-gun movement a ‘little more than a handful’" — including Charlton Heston.
Going Mainstream
Heston has expressed a desire to move the NRA into the political "mainstream." He has downplayed the significance of the Brady waiting-period law, claiming not only that it is "cosmetic" and "meaningless," but that "I don’t care if they keep the Brady Act forever." During a May 9, 1997 interview on San Francisco radio station KGO, Heston, who had just been elected NRA first vice president the previous day, was asked if he would try to get "the right-wing folks off the [NRA] board and out of the picture." He replied, "That’s certainly the intention, and I think it’s highly doable."
On March 6th of this year, the NRA issued a press release defending Heston and labeling as "a few minor dissidents" those who have expressed concern about his support of LBJ’s gun control agenda and involvement in the Laughlin group. Such critics, the NRA claimed, "have attempted to smear and impugn" his integrity. The bulk of the release consisted of 11 commendable gun-related quotations excerpted from Heston speeches and media appearances during 1997. However, the Johnson Library documents were not mentioned, and the vexing questions they raise went unanswered. The release concluded: "In response to those self-serving dissidents who have criticized him, Mr. Heston said simply, ‘I stand by my record.’ We, too, stand on that record along with nearly three million NRA members committed to preserving our Second Amendment freedoms."
Dismissing as "self-serving dissidents" those who are justifiably concerned about the reliability of Heston’s pro-gun commitment, while ignoring the important questions raised by the crucial role he played in the passage of anti-gun legislation which the NRA vigorously opposed, is likely to fuel rather than dissipate the controversy. Gun advocates, including more than just "a few minor dissidents" within the NRA itself, are anxious to know the extent to which Heston’s position today differs, deep down and not just rhetorically, from that which he espoused earlier. Beyond that, there is the question of whether or not a "mainstream" NRA purged of its "right-wing" element can effectively keep gun-control zealots at bay.
© Copyright 1994-2000 American Opinion Publishing Incorporated
------------------
Stop The New World Order!
www.jbs.org
www.conservativeusa.org