http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_bresnahan/20000208_xex_congressman_.shtml

Congressman gives away free guns

Campaign to draw attention to Second Amendment website

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By David M. Bresnahan ) 2000 WorldNetDaily.com

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- While Republican lawmakers flesh out their positions on President Clinton's aggressive new gun control proposals, one congressman is dealing with the issue by giving away free guns. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, spent part of this past weekend giving away two handguns in a free drawing at the "Crossroads of the West" gun show in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was his way of letting people know about his new website, eConservativeCoalition.com, which, Cannon says, "is dedicated to supporting your gun rights."

Actively calling out to the 15,000 attendees at the gun show as they passed by his booth, Cannon asked, "Would you like to enter our free drawing? We're giving away a couple of guns. Win a PPK."

As passersby filled out the entry form, Cannon gave them a copy of the Second Amendment on a business card, along with his website's address. Rep. Chris Cannon, R - Utah, gave away two handguns at a recent gun show to draw attention to his new web site.

According to Cannon's website, the Second Amendment was added to the Constitution to provide important protections for every citizen. These include protection from foreign and domestic threats, as well as to provide for the right to self-protection, protection of family, and to protect private property.

Clinton announced plans for sweeping new gun regulations in his State of the Union address. Plans include requiring a photo ID license for all handgun owners. He also announced plans to have the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms begin a major investigation of gun dealers, and a federal grant for "smart gun" technology.

The problem, said Cannon, is that Clinton is going after guns, not criminals.

"You know what he's doing? He really got stung by the NRA and their campaign to crack down on illegal gun owners. He won't do that. He won't go after the guys who are doing the crimes," said Cannon in an interview with WorldNetDaily.

Cannon's website, designed both to educate and rally support on the Second Amendment, says that "by forming a wide variety of strategic relationships, we work to provide both a local and national infrastructure through which groups and gun advocates, and those who are interested in maintaining their personal freedom, can better communicate and coordinate their efforts."

The president's new plan to investigate gun dealers is the "most comprehensive overview ever of the firearms industry." He said a recent study points to 1.2 percent of all gun dealers being responsible for 57 percent of all gun crime traces by the BATF. Janalee Tobias, president of Women Against Gun Control, was busy signing up new members of her organization at a recent gun show in Salt Lake City.

The National Rifle Association, however, was quick to point out that the study was completed last year by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., with flawed data. Indeed, both the BATF and the Congressional Research Service stated at the time of Schumer's study, which relied on BATF gun-tracing data, that the statistics were not used correctly.

"The [B]ATF tracing system is an operational system designed to help law enforcement agencies identify the ownership path of individual firearms. It was not designed to collect statistics. ... [B]ATF does not always know if a firearm being traced has been used in a crime ... [A trace can occur] for any reason. No crime need be involved," explained the Congressional Research Service in a report.

In short, the statistics used by Clinton cannot be used to conclude that gun dealers have supplied guns to criminals, according to the NRA.

"I guess that begs the question that if authorities suspect some gun dealers of wrongdoing, why haven't they already been investigated?" asked NRA lobbyist James Baker. He explained that the federal government licenses gun dealers and gives the BATF authority to investigate and prosecute, any time existing federal gun laws have been broken.

"Now, the administration has a plan to drive gun dealers out of business through arbitrary regulation. The administration has a plan to drive gun makers out of business with taxpayer-funded junk lawsuits. The administration has a plan to license law-abiding gun owners. The only group the administration doesn't have a plan for dealing with is armed criminals," said Baker.

Since Clinton took office in 1992, said Baker, the number of federally licensed gun dealers has been reduced by almost two thirds. The most recent announcement by Clinton to have the BATF crack down on gun dealers is just another attempt to reduce the number of dealers still further, he said.

"The White House is apparently targeting gun dealers who sell, in the administration's opinion, too many guns. They are also going after dealers who don't sell enough guns. I think it would end a lot of confusion if the White House just told federally licensed dealers how many guns they should be selling," said Baker. 'This is all beside the fact that the administration's entire initiative perpetuates the deceptive misuse of BATF trace data contrary to the repeated cautioning of both BATF and the Congressional Research Service.'

Cannon agrees. "The president wants to go after guns, not criminals. That's his emphasis."

His eConservativeCoalition.com website adds: "The wisdom of our Founding Fathers is evident every day by the peace we enjoy as a community and by the fact that no invading army has ever made a significant insurgence on United States soil." It also warns that opposing forces are trying to destroy the Second Amendment "under the pretense of safety."

The site claims support from the NRA, Gun Owners of America, the Second Amendment Foundation, Women Against Gun Control and other organizations.

Janalee Tobias, president of Women Against Gun Control, also at the Salt Lake City gun show, criticized the Clinton proposals.

"He's throwing marshmallows at the problem. If he wants to throw hardballs he should concentrate on what's causing the crime," said Tobias.

Echoing the popular bumper sticker, she intoned, "Guns don't kill people. We all know it's the person pulling the trigger. I just took another gun class and found out they did a study where they dropped a gun 300 feet. It doesn't go off. You have to pull the trigger."

What government needs to concentrate on, said Tobias, is "the people who pull the trigger."

Vice President Al Gore announced his support for licensing gun owners during a campaign stop in Boston recently. He said he would mandate full, gun-owner licensing for all firearms purchases and ownership.

"What's it going to solve?" asked NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre regarding the Clinton-Gore proposal to license gun owners. "The criminals could care less. They're not going to stand in line; they won't comply with it," he said. The NRA has warned that Clinton's proposal to track every gun and bullet used in a crime means that all guns will be registered.

In addition to licensing and registration, the president also reiterated his call for $10 million to be set aside as grant money for firearm manufacturers to develop "smart guns" -- research that is already being done by a number of manufacturers, and has been for several years. The NRA says Clinton is using this grant money and the threat of lawsuits to control gun manufacturers.

"Clinton's proposal is not only an unnecessary waste of federal money, but even one of the most rabid anti-gun organizations, the Violence Policy Center, has stated opposition to such a proposal, noting this technology '... cannot decrease gun homicides or suicides. ...' Of course," says an NRA statement, "while Clinton offers industry this proposed taxpayer-subsidized research, he continues to hold over their heads the very real threat of taxpayer-subsidized lawsuits."

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David M. Bresnahan is an investigative journalist for WorldNetDaily.com

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), February 08, 2000

Answers

Reminds me of a bar I visited in Winston-Salem, NC once. If you were not smoking when you entered, you were when they handed you a free pack of cigarettes.

-- (@ .), February 08, 2000.

Thanks be! Another good Congressman defending our God-given, Constitution-guaranteed rights, and demonstrating it in his actions and in having such a website. Can't wait to visit his site. As for the previous poster, poor analogy to discredit this man's work on our behalf: people at a gun show aren't comparable to "non-smokers going into a bar." Give it up!

-- Elaine Seavey (Gods1sheep@aol.com), February 08, 2000.