Still more on why Gore must be defeated at the polls in November:
5/05/00
The Gore Gun Agenda
Al's ultimate objective would be to abolish all firearms privacy.
By Dave Kopel, Independence Institute
What's in the future for the anti-gun agenda, should Al Gore be
elected President? Just drop by the website for Handgun Control, Inc.,
to find out.
There's only a short interval from the keyboards at HCI to the lips of
the President and Vice President. On the site, you'll find details about
comes next — but not what comes after that. Nor will you find any
details on what HCI Chair Sarah Brady says is her long-term
objective: a "needs-based licensing" system, in which gun ownership is
allowed only when the police determine that the would-be owner
"needs" the gun.
How does one get from the current Clinton/Gore/HCI program to the
needs-based licensing system? In other words, what would a Gore
administration push for, if it achieved the current items on the anti-gun
agenda?
Perhaps the best guide is the 1994 report of the White House Working
Group, a secret memo which was uncovered by U.S. News and World
Report. Here's the long-term strategy:
Complete Gun Licensing and Registration
First, the attack on the non-existent "gun show loophole" is only a
warm-up. The ultimate objective is to abolish all firearms privacy.
Every firearms transfer — including a Christmas gift from one's cousin
— would have to be routed through a federally-licensed dealer, and
recorded by the federal government.
A government license would also be needed to purchase ammunition.
All currently owned firearms would have to be registered with the
federal government, and non-registration would be a federal crime.
During the Democratic primaries, Bill Bradley called for national gun
registration, while Gore rejected Bradley's plan as politically unrealistic.
Gore was correct; for registration to be politically possible, it needs to
be built on an existing system of licensing. Salami tactics are the
essence of successful gun control.
The Clinton/Gore proposal for a national ID card for handgun
purchasers is a sensible "moderate" and "common-sense" step toward
the goal of total licensing and registration for all guns. Politically
speaking, it is best if the initial stages of gun licensing can be
implemented liberally (as rifle licensing was in Britain in the 1920s and
1930s) so that most people can get the license. Once licensing is in
place, the bureaucracy can take care of gradually tightening the
licensing process (without ever needing to ask the legislature to change
the law), so that hardly anyone qualifies for a license (as rifle licensing
currently is enforced in Britain).
Hunting Restrictions
While the White House licensing and registration system would apply
to all guns, especially strict rules would be imposed on owners of
handguns and for self-loading long guns (such as the Marlin Camp
Carbine or the Ruger .22 rifles). Appropriating a term of art from
Canadian gun law, the White House would designate all handguns and
all self-loading long guns as "restricted weapons." Owners of
"restricted weapons" could possess them only at home, at work, or at a
target range.
In other words, it would be a federal crime to go bird hunting with a
Remington 1100 shotgun. Handgun hunting, which is legal in every
state in the Union, would vanish.
President Clinton and Vice President Gore strenuously insist that none
of the laws which they have signed, and none of the regulations they
have created, have interfered with hunting. Although Clinton and Gore
are not correct in their claim, their "restricted weapons" agenda would
remove their pro-hunting mask, and take away the primary sporting
arms of millions of American hunters.
Bans on Defensive Gun Use and Possession
It would also be a federal crime to carry a handgun in public for
protection — even for people with state licenses authorizing them to
carry.
The White House memo also recommends consideration of a federal
law to outlaw "the carrying of firearms in...work sites." The White
House proposal would override current laws of many states, which
allow a person who runs a dry cleaning shop that stays open late to
choose to carry a concealed gun for protection. Or an accountant who
stays at work late during March and April, can choose whether to
keep a handgun in her desk, and carry it with her when she walks to
the parking lot late at night.
The White House Working Group praises the 1976 Bartley-Fox law in
Massachusetts. This law imposes a mandatory one year term in prison
for carrying a gun without a permit. In one notorious case, the law was
applied to a man who started carrying a gun after a co-worker
assaulted him, and repeatedly threatened to kill him. The co-worker did
attack later, and the victim successfully defended himself. The crime
victim was then sentenced to a mandatory one year in prison for
carrying a gun without a permit. This is the kind of law that the
Clinton/Gore administration wants to apply nationwide.
Banning More Guns
The Clinton/Gore memo states that domestic manufacture of guns
should be brought under the federal government's regulatory standards
for product designs. The White House memo predicts that such
regulation would outlaw "Many handguns now manufactured in the
United States for civilian use." With great applause from the White
House, a forerunner of the White House plan was recently imposed in
Massachusetts, by the administrative edict of the state Attorney
General. The result of the new standards was to ban the sale of all
handguns except the Smith & Wesson models.
5/05/00
The Gore Gun Agenda
Al's ultimate objective would be to abolish all firearms privacy.
By Dave Kopel, Independence Institute
What's in the future for the anti-gun agenda, should Al Gore be
elected President? Just drop by the website for Handgun Control, Inc.,
to find out.
There's only a short interval from the keyboards at HCI to the lips of
the President and Vice President. On the site, you'll find details about
comes next — but not what comes after that. Nor will you find any
details on what HCI Chair Sarah Brady says is her long-term
objective: a "needs-based licensing" system, in which gun ownership is
allowed only when the police determine that the would-be owner
"needs" the gun.
How does one get from the current Clinton/Gore/HCI program to the
needs-based licensing system? In other words, what would a Gore
administration push for, if it achieved the current items on the anti-gun
agenda?
Perhaps the best guide is the 1994 report of the White House Working
Group, a secret memo which was uncovered by U.S. News and World
Report. Here's the long-term strategy:
Complete Gun Licensing and Registration
First, the attack on the non-existent "gun show loophole" is only a
warm-up. The ultimate objective is to abolish all firearms privacy.
Every firearms transfer — including a Christmas gift from one's cousin
— would have to be routed through a federally-licensed dealer, and
recorded by the federal government.
A government license would also be needed to purchase ammunition.
All currently owned firearms would have to be registered with the
federal government, and non-registration would be a federal crime.
During the Democratic primaries, Bill Bradley called for national gun
registration, while Gore rejected Bradley's plan as politically unrealistic.
Gore was correct; for registration to be politically possible, it needs to
be built on an existing system of licensing. Salami tactics are the
essence of successful gun control.
The Clinton/Gore proposal for a national ID card for handgun
purchasers is a sensible "moderate" and "common-sense" step toward
the goal of total licensing and registration for all guns. Politically
speaking, it is best if the initial stages of gun licensing can be
implemented liberally (as rifle licensing was in Britain in the 1920s and
1930s) so that most people can get the license. Once licensing is in
place, the bureaucracy can take care of gradually tightening the
licensing process (without ever needing to ask the legislature to change
the law), so that hardly anyone qualifies for a license (as rifle licensing
currently is enforced in Britain).
Hunting Restrictions
While the White House licensing and registration system would apply
to all guns, especially strict rules would be imposed on owners of
handguns and for self-loading long guns (such as the Marlin Camp
Carbine or the Ruger .22 rifles). Appropriating a term of art from
Canadian gun law, the White House would designate all handguns and
all self-loading long guns as "restricted weapons." Owners of
"restricted weapons" could possess them only at home, at work, or at a
target range.
In other words, it would be a federal crime to go bird hunting with a
Remington 1100 shotgun. Handgun hunting, which is legal in every
state in the Union, would vanish.
President Clinton and Vice President Gore strenuously insist that none
of the laws which they have signed, and none of the regulations they
have created, have interfered with hunting. Although Clinton and Gore
are not correct in their claim, their "restricted weapons" agenda would
remove their pro-hunting mask, and take away the primary sporting
arms of millions of American hunters.
Bans on Defensive Gun Use and Possession
It would also be a federal crime to carry a handgun in public for
protection — even for people with state licenses authorizing them to
carry.
The White House memo also recommends consideration of a federal
law to outlaw "the carrying of firearms in...work sites." The White
House proposal would override current laws of many states, which
allow a person who runs a dry cleaning shop that stays open late to
choose to carry a concealed gun for protection. Or an accountant who
stays at work late during March and April, can choose whether to
keep a handgun in her desk, and carry it with her when she walks to
the parking lot late at night.
The White House Working Group praises the 1976 Bartley-Fox law in
Massachusetts. This law imposes a mandatory one year term in prison
for carrying a gun without a permit. In one notorious case, the law was
applied to a man who started carrying a gun after a co-worker
assaulted him, and repeatedly threatened to kill him. The co-worker did
attack later, and the victim successfully defended himself. The crime
victim was then sentenced to a mandatory one year in prison for
carrying a gun without a permit. This is the kind of law that the
Clinton/Gore administration wants to apply nationwide.
Banning More Guns
The Clinton/Gore memo states that domestic manufacture of guns
should be brought under the federal government's regulatory standards
for product designs. The White House memo predicts that such
regulation would outlaw "Many handguns now manufactured in the
United States for civilian use." With great applause from the White
House, a forerunner of the White House plan was recently imposed in
Massachusetts, by the administrative edict of the state Attorney
General. The result of the new standards was to ban the sale of all
handguns except the Smith & Wesson models.
