Handgun Control: Killings Cited by NRA Official Demonstrate the Dishonesty of Their Own Agenda
U.S.Newswire, 3/16/2000 17:17
To: National Desk
Contact: Nancy Hwa of Handgun Control 202-289-5785
Web site: http://www.handguncontrol.org
WASHINGTON, March 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The National Rifle Association
has done it again. Last night, on ABC's World News Tonight, NRA Executive
Vice President Wayne LaPierre once again released the safety on his mouth
and shot himself in the foot. During an interview, LaPierre accused President
Clinton of having ''blood on his hands'' for failing to arrest Benjamin Nathaniel
Smith, a white supremacist who had been denied a gun from a gun store last
year. Smith later went on a shooting spree throughout the Midwest, targetting
ethnic and religious minorities, killing two and injuring nine others before he
killed himself.
Smith initially tried to buy a gun from a licensed dealer in Peoria Heights, Ill.
However, the sale was denied because a background check turned up a
restraining order against him. It is against the law for prohibited purchasers to
buy guns from licensed dealers but what LaPierre failed to say was that, in
Illinois, the state conducts the background checks, not the federal
government, so it was impossible for federal authorities to know Smith was
attempting to buy a gun, nor would it have been their responsibility to arrest
him.
''I didn't think it was possible for the NRA to sink any lower,'' said Michael D.
Barnes, president of Handgun Control, ''but Mr. LaPierre's remarks are only
the most recent and most offensive in a string of unwarranted attacks on the
President. The dishonesty shown by the NRA grows daily as they get more
desperate.''
LaPierre also failed to tell us how Smith was able to finally get a gun and carry
out his shooting spree: via a private sale from a gun trafficker. Not only that,
but the man from whom Smith purchased his gun, Donald Feissinger, sold
guns by taking advantage of the NRA-sponsored loopholes in our laws to sell
guns on the black market.
Over a two-year period, Donald Feissinger bought 65 cheap handguns from
one gun store in Pekin, Ill. Because gun stores must report sales of two or
more guns at one time to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF),
he purchased each gun one at a time, returning to the same store week after
week. He would then sell them by classified ad for nearly twice the price he
paid for them.
By the time Smith purchased two guns and was carrying out his killing spree,
Feissinger was already under investigation by the ATF, but only because the
Bureau happened to conduct the one yearly random inspection allowed by
law of the gun store where Feissinger purchased his guns. Authorities noticed
multiple receipts from Feissinger over a relatively short period of time and
launched an investigation. Oddly, the gun store never thought to question
these sales, even though Feissinger would buy similar types of cheap
handguns week after week, each time signing the required form swearing the
gun was for his personal use.
The Smith killings demonstrate the speciousness of the NRA's rhetoric and, if
nothing else, illustrate the hollowness of their arguments against any
reasonable gun laws.
-- The NRA vehemently fights any and all attempts to limit gun sales to one
handgun per person per month, despite the fact that such a measure has
been proven to reduce illegal gun trafficking in Maryland and Virginia. A
one-handgun-per-month law would have severely hampered Feissinger's
gun-selling activity.
-- The NRA opposes regulating private firearms sales. Currently, in most
states, a person can buy a gun from a private individual without having to
undergo a background check, and the seller does not have to report the sale
or maintain any records of his sales. This not only enables prohibited
purchasers to buy guns, but also makes tracing crime guns and detecting and
catching gun traffickers very difficult.
-- Thanks to the NRA, the ATF is not only underfunded and understaffed, it is
also prohibited from making more than one random inspection of gun dealers
per year. This limitation was imposed by the 1986 ''Gun Owners' Protection
Act,'' NRA-sponsored legislation that also created the ''gun show loophole''
and other weaknesses in our laws.
-- The NRA fights any efforts to reform the gun industry. The gun store that
sold guns to Donald Feissinger must have realized that his purchasing habits
were suspicious. The store had every right not to sell him so many guns and it
had a clear obligation to report his suspicious activity to authorities.
Furthermore, the Smith case illustrates the importance of background checks
as well as the need for local law enforcement involvement. In many states,
temporary restraining orders are not available to the federal National Instant
Check System (NICS) background check system, but Illinois' state-based
background check does detect such orders.
''It's ludicrous that the NRA would use the Smith shootings to try to deflect
attention away from the real issue: too many Americans dying from gunfire
and the need to strengthen our gun laws to prevent those deaths,'' said
Barnes. ''If these NRA-sanctioned loopholes had not existed, if the gun store
which sold that gun trafficker his guns had been more concerned about public
safety than making a quick buck, perhaps Smith would have not been able to
carry out his murderous plan. The NRA owes an apology to the President for
once again wrongly accusing him of being indifferent to our safety, to the
victims and their families in the Smith case for exploiting their tragedy for its
own ends, and to the American people for foisting its extremist agenda on this
great country.''
------
Handgun Control, chaired by Sarah Brady, was founded in 1974 by Dr. Mark
Borinsky and N.T. ''Pete'' Shields, two victims of gun violence. Based in
Washington, D.C., HCI works with law enforcement, public health, religious,
and community groups across the country to strengthen and protect federal,
state and local gun control laws, but does not seek to ban all guns.
HCI has more than 400,000 members nationwide, making it the nation's
largest citizens' gun control lobbying organization. More information about HCI
and its sister organization, the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, can be
found on our Web site at http://www.handguncontrol.org.
U.S.Newswire, 3/16/2000 17:17
To: National Desk
Contact: Nancy Hwa of Handgun Control 202-289-5785
Web site: http://www.handguncontrol.org
WASHINGTON, March 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The National Rifle Association
has done it again. Last night, on ABC's World News Tonight, NRA Executive
Vice President Wayne LaPierre once again released the safety on his mouth
and shot himself in the foot. During an interview, LaPierre accused President
Clinton of having ''blood on his hands'' for failing to arrest Benjamin Nathaniel
Smith, a white supremacist who had been denied a gun from a gun store last
year. Smith later went on a shooting spree throughout the Midwest, targetting
ethnic and religious minorities, killing two and injuring nine others before he
killed himself.
Smith initially tried to buy a gun from a licensed dealer in Peoria Heights, Ill.
However, the sale was denied because a background check turned up a
restraining order against him. It is against the law for prohibited purchasers to
buy guns from licensed dealers but what LaPierre failed to say was that, in
Illinois, the state conducts the background checks, not the federal
government, so it was impossible for federal authorities to know Smith was
attempting to buy a gun, nor would it have been their responsibility to arrest
him.
''I didn't think it was possible for the NRA to sink any lower,'' said Michael D.
Barnes, president of Handgun Control, ''but Mr. LaPierre's remarks are only
the most recent and most offensive in a string of unwarranted attacks on the
President. The dishonesty shown by the NRA grows daily as they get more
desperate.''
LaPierre also failed to tell us how Smith was able to finally get a gun and carry
out his shooting spree: via a private sale from a gun trafficker. Not only that,
but the man from whom Smith purchased his gun, Donald Feissinger, sold
guns by taking advantage of the NRA-sponsored loopholes in our laws to sell
guns on the black market.
Over a two-year period, Donald Feissinger bought 65 cheap handguns from
one gun store in Pekin, Ill. Because gun stores must report sales of two or
more guns at one time to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF),
he purchased each gun one at a time, returning to the same store week after
week. He would then sell them by classified ad for nearly twice the price he
paid for them.
By the time Smith purchased two guns and was carrying out his killing spree,
Feissinger was already under investigation by the ATF, but only because the
Bureau happened to conduct the one yearly random inspection allowed by
law of the gun store where Feissinger purchased his guns. Authorities noticed
multiple receipts from Feissinger over a relatively short period of time and
launched an investigation. Oddly, the gun store never thought to question
these sales, even though Feissinger would buy similar types of cheap
handguns week after week, each time signing the required form swearing the
gun was for his personal use.
The Smith killings demonstrate the speciousness of the NRA's rhetoric and, if
nothing else, illustrate the hollowness of their arguments against any
reasonable gun laws.
-- The NRA vehemently fights any and all attempts to limit gun sales to one
handgun per person per month, despite the fact that such a measure has
been proven to reduce illegal gun trafficking in Maryland and Virginia. A
one-handgun-per-month law would have severely hampered Feissinger's
gun-selling activity.
-- The NRA opposes regulating private firearms sales. Currently, in most
states, a person can buy a gun from a private individual without having to
undergo a background check, and the seller does not have to report the sale
or maintain any records of his sales. This not only enables prohibited
purchasers to buy guns, but also makes tracing crime guns and detecting and
catching gun traffickers very difficult.
-- Thanks to the NRA, the ATF is not only underfunded and understaffed, it is
also prohibited from making more than one random inspection of gun dealers
per year. This limitation was imposed by the 1986 ''Gun Owners' Protection
Act,'' NRA-sponsored legislation that also created the ''gun show loophole''
and other weaknesses in our laws.
-- The NRA fights any efforts to reform the gun industry. The gun store that
sold guns to Donald Feissinger must have realized that his purchasing habits
were suspicious. The store had every right not to sell him so many guns and it
had a clear obligation to report his suspicious activity to authorities.
Furthermore, the Smith case illustrates the importance of background checks
as well as the need for local law enforcement involvement. In many states,
temporary restraining orders are not available to the federal National Instant
Check System (NICS) background check system, but Illinois' state-based
background check does detect such orders.
''It's ludicrous that the NRA would use the Smith shootings to try to deflect
attention away from the real issue: too many Americans dying from gunfire
and the need to strengthen our gun laws to prevent those deaths,'' said
Barnes. ''If these NRA-sanctioned loopholes had not existed, if the gun store
which sold that gun trafficker his guns had been more concerned about public
safety than making a quick buck, perhaps Smith would have not been able to
carry out his murderous plan. The NRA owes an apology to the President for
once again wrongly accusing him of being indifferent to our safety, to the
victims and their families in the Smith case for exploiting their tragedy for its
own ends, and to the American people for foisting its extremist agenda on this
great country.''
------
Handgun Control, chaired by Sarah Brady, was founded in 1974 by Dr. Mark
Borinsky and N.T. ''Pete'' Shields, two victims of gun violence. Based in
Washington, D.C., HCI works with law enforcement, public health, religious,
and community groups across the country to strengthen and protect federal,
state and local gun control laws, but does not seek to ban all guns.
HCI has more than 400,000 members nationwide, making it the nation's
largest citizens' gun control lobbying organization. More information about HCI
and its sister organization, the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, can be
found on our Web site at http://www.handguncontrol.org.
