-----Original Message-----
From: Weldon Clark <whclark@worldnet.att.net>
To: whclark@att.net <whclark@att.net>
Date: Sunday, January 07, 2001 5:53 PM
Subject: Letter to Legislators
>I have sent a similar letter to my legislators.
>I suggest you do the same. The letters
>Went to my state senator, state legislator,
>all state legislators in my county, to my
>county councilman, my congressman
>and to both US senators.
>Weldon Clark
>
>Senator Jan 6, 2001
>
>
>Dear ,
>
>I want you to know the facts before the anti-gun politicians start in
>Congress. On Dec. 27 a man walked into the internet consultant firm in
>Massachusetts where he worked and killed seven fellow employees. It
>happened in Massachusetts. The state's extremely restrictive gun
>laws, which were supposed to stop this kind of horror, and of course
>didn't.
>
>There is a frequent thread through these mass murders that the press
>and the medical community has declined to pursue. Many or most of
>these mass killers were taking psychotropic drugs, as was this man.
>
>So was Patrick Purdey and Joseph Wesbecker and Kip Kinkel and
>many other school killers. We don't know how many because the
>families and their doctors aren't talking, and these aren't the kind of
>drugs that are checked for during autopsies.
>
>We've had people with mental problems for centuries, shotguns for
>centuries, semi-automatic high-powered, high-capacity rifles and pistols
>for just about a century. But we haven't had psychiatric drugs, and
>we've had few of the mass murders that have horrified the nation in
>recent years. It is true that most people seem to be helped by these
>drugs, but it's a fact that all these drugs have five to 15 percent adverse
>side effects, including an increase in violence. To find a solution to any
>problem, look for the variable that is new or has changed. Even this
>individual is responsible for taking his own medication promptly and not
>either under dosing or over dosing. No amount of drug induced stupor
>can excuse an individual's responsibility for killing another human
>being.
>
>Virtually every firearm in Massachusetts must now (by law) be
>registered, the most noticeable effect of that law to date being that the
>state's law enforcement agents are now months or even years behind
>in processing all those hampers full of registrations and requests for
>registration, to the point where they started whimpering more than a
>year ago that without federal help and manpower (which would be
>unconstitutional, as though that stops anyone, any more) they may
>simply never get caught up.
>
>There are two other results of such feel-good laws. They do take cops
>off the streets to handle all the paperwork. Workers at Edgewater
>Technology McDermott's ill-fated workplace dialed 911. Wakefield isn't
>way up in the Berkshires. It's in the densely populated silicon suburbs
>of Boston. Yet it took cops so long to respond that Mr. McDermott had
>finished killing everyone he was after, and was calmly sitting in the
>reception area waiting to be arrested, when police finally finished
>donning all their fancy SWAT gear and stormed in. The second result of
>Massachusetts "gun control" is that McDermott was virtually assured
>none of his law-abiding victims would be armed in their own self-
>defense.
>
>Very truly yours,
>
>
>Weldon H. Clark Jr. home 878-0407
>100 Heathwood Drive work 878-6331 ext 4334
>Liberty, SC 29657 whclark@worldnet.att.net
>
>
>From the media I was able to get the following:
>
>Massachusetts Gun Laws Called Strict
>By DAVID STOUT WASHINGTON, Dec. 27
>
>If the man accused of killing seven people near Boston on Tuesday got
>his guns in Massachusetts, he was able to skirt some of the strictest
>regulations in the country, people familiar with the state's laws said
>today.
>
>Investigators said today that the suspect, Michael McDermott, did not
>have a permit for any of the four weapons he took to work. Without the
>permits, he was breaking Massachusetts law just by having the
>weapons.
>
>The state requires a permit, formally known as a "firearm identification
>card," for purchase of virtually every kind of firearm, whether for
>personal protection or hunting. An additional permit, which may specify
>restrictions, is needed to carry a concealed weapon.
>
>Identification cards are issued by the local police and may take up to 30
>days to obtain while an applicant's background is checked. Even if a
>background check turns up no convictions for serious crimes, the police
>have considerable discretion on whether to issue cards. A serious crime
>would make it all but impossible for an applicant to get a card.
>Violations of the Massachusetts laws carry fines of several thousand
>dollars and up to 10 years in prison.
>
>This man wasn't mad about guns - he was just mad
>By Toby Harnden The Daily Telegraph
>
>Massachusetts, the most safely Democratic state of the 50 in the Union,
>is something close to gun control heaven. An FBI instant background
>check has to be carried out on anyone buying a gun and there is a
>seven-day waiting period for handguns. There are strict licensing
>requirements with mandatory jail sentences for breaking them and no
>one under 21 can buy a gun. McDermott, it seems, had no license for
>any gun.
>
>Gun ownership in America is both enshrined in the constitution and one
>of its citizens' most cherished rights of freedom. Al Gore found this
>out to his cost in the election when his gun control rhetoric was
>one of the factors that cost him the presidency.
>
>Investigators Seize Bomb Materials
>By MARK PRATT, MALDEN, Mass. (AP)
>
>Last week, McDermott had an angry outburst over the tax dispute,
>according to an employee who spoke on condition of anonymity. Police
>said an employee told them McDermott's paycheck would have been
>reduced to as little as $250. The company did not return a call for
>information on his regular pay or how often he received paychecks.
>McDermott, an eight-year Navy veteran, was divorced with no children.
>
>
>
>
>
From: Weldon Clark <whclark@worldnet.att.net>
To: whclark@att.net <whclark@att.net>
Date: Sunday, January 07, 2001 5:53 PM
Subject: Letter to Legislators
>I have sent a similar letter to my legislators.
>I suggest you do the same. The letters
>Went to my state senator, state legislator,
>all state legislators in my county, to my
>county councilman, my congressman
>and to both US senators.
>Weldon Clark
>
>Senator Jan 6, 2001
>
>
>Dear ,
>
>I want you to know the facts before the anti-gun politicians start in
>Congress. On Dec. 27 a man walked into the internet consultant firm in
>Massachusetts where he worked and killed seven fellow employees. It
>happened in Massachusetts. The state's extremely restrictive gun
>laws, which were supposed to stop this kind of horror, and of course
>didn't.
>
>There is a frequent thread through these mass murders that the press
>and the medical community has declined to pursue. Many or most of
>these mass killers were taking psychotropic drugs, as was this man.
>
>So was Patrick Purdey and Joseph Wesbecker and Kip Kinkel and
>many other school killers. We don't know how many because the
>families and their doctors aren't talking, and these aren't the kind of
>drugs that are checked for during autopsies.
>
>We've had people with mental problems for centuries, shotguns for
>centuries, semi-automatic high-powered, high-capacity rifles and pistols
>for just about a century. But we haven't had psychiatric drugs, and
>we've had few of the mass murders that have horrified the nation in
>recent years. It is true that most people seem to be helped by these
>drugs, but it's a fact that all these drugs have five to 15 percent adverse
>side effects, including an increase in violence. To find a solution to any
>problem, look for the variable that is new or has changed. Even this
>individual is responsible for taking his own medication promptly and not
>either under dosing or over dosing. No amount of drug induced stupor
>can excuse an individual's responsibility for killing another human
>being.
>
>Virtually every firearm in Massachusetts must now (by law) be
>registered, the most noticeable effect of that law to date being that the
>state's law enforcement agents are now months or even years behind
>in processing all those hampers full of registrations and requests for
>registration, to the point where they started whimpering more than a
>year ago that without federal help and manpower (which would be
>unconstitutional, as though that stops anyone, any more) they may
>simply never get caught up.
>
>There are two other results of such feel-good laws. They do take cops
>off the streets to handle all the paperwork. Workers at Edgewater
>Technology McDermott's ill-fated workplace dialed 911. Wakefield isn't
>way up in the Berkshires. It's in the densely populated silicon suburbs
>of Boston. Yet it took cops so long to respond that Mr. McDermott had
>finished killing everyone he was after, and was calmly sitting in the
>reception area waiting to be arrested, when police finally finished
>donning all their fancy SWAT gear and stormed in. The second result of
>Massachusetts "gun control" is that McDermott was virtually assured
>none of his law-abiding victims would be armed in their own self-
>defense.
>
>Very truly yours,
>
>
>Weldon H. Clark Jr. home 878-0407
>100 Heathwood Drive work 878-6331 ext 4334
>Liberty, SC 29657 whclark@worldnet.att.net
>
>
>From the media I was able to get the following:
>
>Massachusetts Gun Laws Called Strict
>By DAVID STOUT WASHINGTON, Dec. 27
>
>If the man accused of killing seven people near Boston on Tuesday got
>his guns in Massachusetts, he was able to skirt some of the strictest
>regulations in the country, people familiar with the state's laws said
>today.
>
>Investigators said today that the suspect, Michael McDermott, did not
>have a permit for any of the four weapons he took to work. Without the
>permits, he was breaking Massachusetts law just by having the
>weapons.
>
>The state requires a permit, formally known as a "firearm identification
>card," for purchase of virtually every kind of firearm, whether for
>personal protection or hunting. An additional permit, which may specify
>restrictions, is needed to carry a concealed weapon.
>
>Identification cards are issued by the local police and may take up to 30
>days to obtain while an applicant's background is checked. Even if a
>background check turns up no convictions for serious crimes, the police
>have considerable discretion on whether to issue cards. A serious crime
>would make it all but impossible for an applicant to get a card.
>Violations of the Massachusetts laws carry fines of several thousand
>dollars and up to 10 years in prison.
>
>This man wasn't mad about guns - he was just mad
>By Toby Harnden The Daily Telegraph
>
>Massachusetts, the most safely Democratic state of the 50 in the Union,
>is something close to gun control heaven. An FBI instant background
>check has to be carried out on anyone buying a gun and there is a
>seven-day waiting period for handguns. There are strict licensing
>requirements with mandatory jail sentences for breaking them and no
>one under 21 can buy a gun. McDermott, it seems, had no license for
>any gun.
>
>Gun ownership in America is both enshrined in the constitution and one
>of its citizens' most cherished rights of freedom. Al Gore found this
>out to his cost in the election when his gun control rhetoric was
>one of the factors that cost him the presidency.
>
>Investigators Seize Bomb Materials
>By MARK PRATT, MALDEN, Mass. (AP)
>
>Last week, McDermott had an angry outburst over the tax dispute,
>according to an employee who spoke on condition of anonymity. Police
>said an employee told them McDermott's paycheck would have been
>reduced to as little as $250. The company did not return a call for
>information on his regular pay or how often he received paychecks.
>McDermott, an eight-year Navy veteran, was divorced with no children.
>
>
>
>
>