Firearms Owners Against
Crime
"As riches increase and accumulate in few hands, as luxury prevails in society, virtue will be in a greater degree considered as only a graceful appendage of wealth, and the tendency of things will be to depart from the republican standard. This is the real disposition of human nature; it is what neither the honorable member nor myself can correct. It is a common misfortunate that awaits our State constitution, as well as all others." -- Alexander Hamilton (speech to the New York Ratifying Convention, June 1788)
E-Newsletter & FOAC
Meeting Notice
October 14, 2007
Meeting Agenda-
Invited Guest Speakers:
· Vince Gastgeb (County Council-District 5)
· Jan Rea (County Council-District 2)
· Sue Caldwell (County Council-District 7)
7.1 Presentation of the past month’s report
8.1
None
9.0 NEW BUSINESS
9.1
Voter’s
Guide Approval
9.2
9.3
Judiciary
Committee Hearings (Past, Present and Future)
9.3.1
Fall
Anti-Gun Offensive Plans
9.3.2
Lobbying
& Education Day – October 23rd
9.4
Pro-Gun
Agenda Developments
9.5
Political
Events Review and Summary
9.6
Membership
committee developments
Federal issues:
9.7
HR
2640 & Public Debate / Issues
**Upcoming Gun
Show: October 27th
& 28th (
For more information on FOAC
efforts to ‘Protect YOUR Rights’, THE MOST CURRENT VOTER’S GUIDES, donating
to or becoming a member of FOAC please click on this link: http://www.foac-pac.org/
FOAC - 2007
Meeting Schedule
Jan 14, 2nd Sunday, Feb 11, 2nd Sunday, Mar 11, 2nd Sunday,
Apr 15, 3rd Sunday, May 6, 1st Sunday, Jun 10, 2nd Sunday, Jul 8, 2nd Sunday,
Aug 12, 2nd Sunday, Sep 9, 2nd Sunday, Oct 14, 2nd Sunday, Nov 4, 1st Sunday, Dec 9, 2nd
Sunday
**Time of Meeting: 10:00 AM
**Location:
****Coffee and Donuts will be
provided
***Primary Election -- May 15 (Results Finalized)
***General Election -- Nov. 6
PA Legislative Battles Over Gun Control Continue
Therefore we are planning on taking
another trip to Harrisburg on Tuesday Oct 23, 2007 to reinforce in legislators minds the premise that we
EXPECT action on ‘our’ legislation and that we are closely watching the
legislative process and every action taken on the anti-gun bills.
This will be a day devoted strictly to Legislator Interaction and
Lobbying/Education that will run from 9am to 3 pm in the Capitol building and
associated offices in
Why is it SO important for the average gun owner to
take part in this???
Certain
Philadelphia legislators have even stooped to using tax money to pay for a poll
that ‘supposedly’ demonstrates that even ‘gun owners’ want more gun control to
include One Gun a Month, Mandatory Training, Assault Weapon Bans and other gun
control concepts. Have YOU or ANYONE you know
been surveyed OR does this belief have ANY
support in YOUR club? NO!! Well
we DIDN’T think so!!
This
particular individual lobbying event will be focused on dispelling these
notions. It is important to remember
that there are dozens of anti-gun bills that are either pending or that have
been held up in the Judiciary Committee so far.
Combining that with the fact that over 25% of the PA House is
comprised of new representatives in this session with a large portion of them
not having committed to a decision (much less a vote yet) on all of these Anti
and PRO gun bills pending. We feel it is
imperative that we take the initiative to educate these new Reps and other
incumbent Reps as to why they should support and oppose other proposed
legislation. We must educate them with facts, figures, and real world realities
about crime and criminal problems and how these laws could help and hurt the
people of
DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN!!!!
You personally can make a huge
difference by attending and
participating in this event to help educate our legislators with your fellow
gun owners as to the reason why firearm ownership is so important to you. YOUR voice could make the all the difference
at this Legislator “Lobbying and Education” day in the state capital.
Please make EVERY EFFORT to join us on this most important opportunity, to protect your
constitutional rights to keep and bear arms and help pass PRO-gun bills that
will make PA a safer place to live for everyone except the criminals.
We PROMISE another spirited day!!
Brady Campaign Data Fudged To Exploit
by Dave Workman Senior Editor
The
shooting death of a Miami-Dade police sergeant and the wounding of three others
by a gunman who was subsequently killed by other officers is reason enough to
renew a ban on so-called "assault weapons," according to the Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
In a
press release Sept. 18, the Brady Campaign focused on the gun used in the
crime, identified as an AK-47, noting that Sgt. Jose Somohano's
death occurred "three years to the day after the Federal Assault Weapons
ban expired."
However,
in claiming that "More officers are killed with firearms than through any
other single cause," the Brady Campaign's own data-taken from the National
Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF)--does not support that
assertion. Gun Week checked the figures after doing some quick math using the
Brady press release which stated, "According to the National Law
Enforcement Memorial (sic), there have been 132 officer fatalities in the
Those
figures suggested that less than half of the police officers who died on the
job during those two years were the victims of gunshot wounds. There was no
supporting data on the number of officers actually killed with so-called
"assault weapons." Gun Week also found that Brady erred on the number
of police actually shot in 2005. Fifty-nine, not 50 officers died, but even
that figure is less than half of the 162 police officers who died on the job.
In
2004, according to NLEOMF figures, 162 officers died on the job, 59 of those
from gunshot wounds. In 2000, 50 of the 147 cop deaths were from shootings, and
in 2002, 60 of the 157 officers who died were shot. In 2001, there were 72
shooting deaths out of 239 officer fatalities (the same number that died in
the 9/11 terrorist attack). In 2000, 53 of the 161 officers killed on the job
died from gunshot wounds. Over the past 10 years, 582 of the 1,649 lawmen and
women who died on the job were shot. Do the math. Less than half and closer to
a third of the officers who have died on the job in the last decade were shot.
Over
the past 10 years, NLEOMF data revealed, 582 police officers were gunshot
victims. That is from a total of 1,649 police officers killed on the job in
the years from 1997 through 2006.
By
contrast, 707 officers died in traffic accidents, including 78 who were killed
in motorcycle accidents and another 151 who were struck by vehicles. Another
478 died in auto crashes.
Add
to that figure the 25 who drowned, another 15 who were fatally stabbed, the 73
who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack and 133 who died from
"job-related illness," and the number of police officers who have
died during the past 10 years numbers far less than half of the total. The
figure is actually closer to a third of all law enforcement on-the-job
fatalities.
According
to the July 17 issue of USA Today, there has been a spike in fatal police
shootings for the first six months of the year. The number of officers gunned
down during the first half of 2007 was 39, which is up from the 27 who were
shot to death during the first six months of 2006.
Traffic-related
deaths rose 36% for the same period, the newspaper revealed. The overall total
of line-of-duty fatalities for the first six months of this year came to 101,
according to USA Today.
In another
gaffe, the Brady Campaign asserted that "Through Sept. 14th of this year
police officer deaths exceed the total number of officers killed in the line of
duty by a firearm in any of the last six years." That allegation is
accurate only if the data were to include all of the officer deaths from every
cause, not just gunshot wounds. The wording of the Brady claim, however, might
lead one to believe that more officers have died in shootings this year than
during the past six years. But the Brady Campaign's own figures do not square
with that claim.
As
of Sept. 14, when the Brady group said 54 cops have been gunned down this year,
that figure is eclipsed by the number of officers killed by gunshot wounds in
2005, 2004, 2002 and 2001.
It
should be noted that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, law
enforcement is a less risky occupation than logging, commercial fishing, construction, truck driving, roofing and piloting an
aircraft.
However,
The Christian Science Monitor recently reported that there has been "a
spike in the number of police officers who died in the line of duty" that
has not been seen since 1978. That newspaper said there has been a 59% increase
in the number of police shootings over the same period in 2006, and it has
raised alarms in law enforcement.
Miami-Dade cop killer Shawn Sherwin LaBeet
was no stranger to law enforcement in south
Guns Don't Kill Kids, Irresponsible
Adults With Guns Do
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
By
Should your doctor ask your child
if you own a gun?
Guidelines issued by the
They warn that "Children are
curious even if they've had some sort of firearm training. That's why parents
taking responsibility for safe gun storage is so essential."
Doctors across the
It sounds simple enough, but the
problem is that the advice ignores the benefits and exaggerates the costs of
gun ownership.
Take a recent example from
Herald:
"Debbie is a mom from Uxbridge
who was in the examination room when the pediatrician asked her 5-year-old,
'Does Daddy own a gun?'
"When the little girl said
yes, the doctor began grilling her and her mom about the number and type of
guns, how they are stored, etc.
"If the incident had ended
there, it would have merely been annoying.
"But when a friend in law
enforcement let Debbie know that her doctor had filed
a report with the police about her family's (entirely legal) gun ownership, she
got mad."
Perhaps it was only a matter of
time. Accidental gun deaths involving children get national coverage. News
programs stage experiments with 5 and 6-year-olds in a room filled with toys
and a gun. Shocking pictures show the children picking up the gun and playing
with it like a toy. For years, the
With all this attention, the fear
is understandable, but it is still irresponsible. Convincing patients not to
own guns or to at least lock them up will cost more lives than it will save. It
also gives a misleading impression of what poses the greatest dangers to
children.
Accidental gun deaths among
children are fortunately much rarer than most people believe. Consider the
following numbers.
In 2003, for the
28 children under age 10 died from
accidental shots. With some 90 million gun owners and about 40 million children
under 10, it is hard to find any item as commonly owned in American homes, as
potentially as lethal, that has as low of an accidental death rate.
These deaths also have little to do
with "naturally curious" children shooting other children. >From 1995
to 2001 only about nine of these accidental gun deaths each year involve a
child under 10 shooting another child or themselves. Overwhelmingly, the
shooters are adult males with long histories of alcoholism, arrests for violent
crimes, automobile crashes, and suspended or revoked driver's licenses.
Even if gun locks can stop the few
children who abuse a gun from doing so, gun locks cannot stop adults from
firing their own gun. It makes a lot more sense for doctors to ask if
"daddy" has a violent criminal record or a history of substance
abuse, rather than ask if they own a gun.
Fear about guns also seems greatest
among those who know the least about them.
For example, those unfamiliar with
guns don't realize that most young children simply couldn't fire your typical
semi-automatic pistol. Even the few who posses the strength to pull back the
slide on the gun are unlikely to know that they must do that to put the bullet
in the chamber or that they need to switch off the safety.
With so many greater dangers facing
children everyday from common household items, it is not obvious why guns have
been singled out. Here are some of the other ways that children under 10 died
in 2004.
Over 1,400 children were killed by cars, almost 260 of those deaths were young pedestrians.
Bicycle and space heater accidents take many times more children's lives than
guns. Over 90 drowned in bathtubs. The most recent yearly data available
indicates that over 30 children under age 5 drowned in five-gallon plastic
water buckets.
Yet, the real problem with this gun
phobia is that without guns, victims are much more vulnerable to criminal
attack. Guns are used defensively some 2 million times each year. Even though
the police are extremely important in reducing crime, they simply can't be
there all the time and virtually always arrive after the crime has been
committed. Having a gun is by far the safest course of action when one is confronted
by a criminal.
The cases where young children use
guns to save their family's lives rarely makes the
news. Recent examples where children's lives were clearly lost because guns
were locked and inaccessible are ignored.
Recent research that I did examining
juvenile accidental gun deaths for all
Asking patients about guns not only
strains doctor patient relationships, it exaggerates the dangers and risks
lives. Yet, in the end, possibly some good can come out of all
this gun phobia. If your doctors ask you whether you own a gun, rather
than sarcastically asking them if they own a space heater, why not offer to go
out to a shooting range together and teach them about guns?
By
STEPHEN MANNING, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 4,
2:27 PM ET
Deep
inside
Most
of the guns, used now for forensic research, were seized during crimes under a
31-year-old law in the nation's capital that
bars handgun ownership for nearly everyone except law enforcement — a measure
police have praised as a valuable tool against violence.
But
that ban is now in jeopardy.
The law was struck down by a federal appeals court this year, and now the
The
case represents the first time a federal appeals court struck down a
gun-control law on the grounds that the Second Amendment guarantees the right
of individuals to own guns. Up to now, courts have generally interpreted the
amendment to protect only the collective right of states to maintain militias.
If
it takes the case, the high court could issue its first direct ruling on the
Second Amendment in 70 years, solidifying some
of the nation's toughest gun
laws or exposing them to a torrent of new
challenges.
"It
will be the biggest ruling on the Second Amendment ever," Paul Helmke,
president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence. "You get nervous when you see something with far-reaching
implications."
Even
the National Rifle Association, which believes it might have an advantage with
a conservative-leaning high court, is uneasy.
"I'd
rather be on our side than on their side, given the chances, but there is
always a `but,'" said Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive
vice president.
Lawyers
for the city and the plaintiffs, who are backed by the libertarian Cato
Institute, say they believe the court will break its long silence on gun rights. D.C. officials say they expect to learn
by early November whether the Supreme Court will take the case.
Passed
in 1976,
Critics
say the law has done little to curb violence, mainly because guns obtained
legally from outside D.C. or through illegal means are still readily available.
Although
the city's homicide rate has declined dramatically since its peak in the early 1990s, it still ranks among the nation's highest, with 169 killings in
2006.
Last
year, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department seized 2,656 guns, up 13
percent from 2005. Many of the guns flowed in
from surrounding states such as
Linda
Singer, the district's attorney general, said public safety is the main reason
the city decided to take the case to the Supreme Court. Without the law, the
city's homicide rate would probably be higher, she said.
"More
guns leads to more gun violence," she
said.
The
Second Amendment reads: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the
security of a
In March, a three-judge
panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down the city's gun law in a 2-1
decision, saying it violated residents' Second Amendment rights.
Some
cities and states with tough gun laws are getting nervous about D.C.'s appeal. During
the lower court proceedings,
Helmke,
of the Brady Campaign, said the group suggested to
Not
everyone shares the gloomy outlook.
Kenneth
Barnes Sr., an anti-violence activist whose son was shot in the face and killed during a 2001 robbery in
"This is the capital of
the
OR Teacher Sues for Gun Rights; Senator
Vows Campus Ban Guns
by Dave Workman Senior Editor
An Oregon public school teacher was due to be in Jackson
County court Oct. 11 in her lawsuit against the Medford school district,
seeking the ability to bring her handgun to work for protection against her
reportedly violent ex-husband, against whom she has a restraining order.
The lawsuit is being funded by the Oregon Firearms
Educational Foundation. The case has taken on national implications, and the
woman's attorney, James Leuenberger of
Sen. Ginny Burdick, who traveled to
"Yet, she obviously thinks single moms don't need
protection from abusive ex-spouses, nor is she the least bit concerned about
discriminating against law-abiding Oregon female gunowners
who happen to be teachers," Gottlieb said.
He characterized the legislation as a bill "designed
to "make female teachers more vulnerable to abusive ex-spouses by specifically
stripping away their right of self-defense on school campuses.
"Sen. Burdick is a text book example of the
socially-prejudiced liberal," Gottlieb observed, "She would stand up
for a woman's right to choose on every issue except when it comes to the choice
of personal protection. In this case, she obviously feels women like the
teacher in
He was joined in his criticism by CCRKBA Executive
Director Mark A. Taff, who noted that there has never
been a case where a legally-armed teacher ever harmed a student on a public
school campus. He reminded Gun Week about
Leuenberger admitted to Gun Week that he had not anticipated this
case would become something of a cause celeb in the gun rights community. But
in the days following his filing of the lawsuit against
The teacher has maintained a low profile throughout the
ordeal, and Leuenberger told Gun Week that she has been "very stressed." He said the judge "may or may
not" announce a decision right away, but no matter how he rules, it is
likely there will be an appeal.
The teacher did author an Op-Ed opinion piece in the
Sept. 16 edition of The
Portland Oregonian, in
which she said her ex-husband had threatened to kill her. The ex-husband is
apparently approved as a substitute teacher in the
IACP
The so-called "Great Lakes Summit on Gun Violence"
held in Chicago
earlier this year by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP),
and the report issued by that organization in September were largely financed
by the anti-gun Joyce Foundation.
This revelation prompted Alan Gottlieb, founder of the, Second
Amendment Foundation, to question whether the IACP report deserved any
credibility in its findings and recommendations. In a stinging opinion piece,
co-written by Gun Week Senior Editor Dave Workman, Gottlieb said the
IACP is "revealing itself to be the best group of police officials money
can buy."
The Gottlieb-Workman piece was not the only criticism
leveled at the summit or the report, "Taking a Stand: Reducing Gun
Violence in Our Communities." National Rifle Association radio host Cam
Edwards, and veteran gun rights activist David Hardy also took swipes at the
IACP and Joyce Foundation.
Wrote Edwards on his blog:
"This is an anti-gun report bought and paid for by an anti-gun foundation,
assembled by antigunners from the Joyce Foundation,
Harvard, and the
Gun Week obtained data listing Joyce Foundation grants of $375,000 and $174,788
for the IACP's summit, along with another $99,935
"to develop and execute the release of a report on the Great Lakes States
Summit on Firearm Violence."
Among the IACP's
recommendations were that all gun sales be done only through licensed firearms
retailers, with mandatory background checks. IACP also recommends banning
so-called "assault weapons" and ".50-caliber sniper
rifles." They want Congress to repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, a federal law
that protects sensitive federal gun trace data from general access.
The summit was attended by representatives of various
law enforcement agencies and several prominent regional and national anti-gun
rights organizations, including the
Also receiving criticism was the press for virtually
overlooking the links between the Joyce Foundation and the IACP, despite the
fact that the foundation trumpeted its involvement in the summit and
production of the report on its own website. According to the Joyce website,
the foundation "has funded IACP to work collaboratively with law enforcement
officials, public and medical health professionals, researchers and
policy-makers to address gun violence reduction through a coordinated, regional
approach." The New GUN WEEK, October 15, 2007
Senators Grill ATF
Nominee
US Attorney Michael Sullivan fielded some tough questions
about gun laws while winning praise Sept. 26 at a Senate confirmation hearing
to become director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF), according to Associated Press.
Sullivan, a former Republican state legislator and
district attorney in
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), who chaired the Senate
Judiciary Committee hearing, lauded Sullivan's "distinguished career in
public service."
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) introduced Sullivan at the
hearing, praising both his professional abilities and his character.
"It is a job that he's proven more than qualified
and capable of performing," Kerry said.
Sullivan also faced some grilling from Kennedy and Sen.
Charles Schumer (D-NY) about whether the ATF would be willing to release more
gun tracing data, a move the senators said could help state and local law
agencies fight gun crime.
Sullivan said there has been confusion about what data
ATF could share, but he said he hopes ATF will provide more data.
Sullivan has repeatedly stressed his agency's support for
the Tiahrt amendment which restricts release of such information to local law
enforcement engaged in criminal investigations. The New GUN WEEK, October 15, 2007
KY Collegians Slate Protest of Campus Gun
Ban
Students
at
The
university, in
The
newspaper quoted Caott. Mike Dowell with the Western
University Police Department, who said, "It's not the smartest idea to
walk around with an empty holster, but there's nothing illegal about it."
Organizers
of the event might concur with Dowell's assessment to a point. It is their
opinion that there ought to be something in the holster, and that's why they
are planning this protest. Their aim is to get the university to reconsider its
prohibition, so that students who are legally licensed to carry handguns can
do so on the campus.
University
officials do not appear ready to budge.
The
week-long protest is being organized by the Students for Concealed Carry on
Campus. This organization was founded in reaction to the April massacre at Virginia
Tech, and there are chapters on several college campuses. The New GUN WEEK, October 15, 2007
NEWS RELEASES
BLOOMBERG LOOKING
BELLEVUE, WA – The renewed scandal involving alleged missing machine guns that had been secretly and illicitly purchased by officers with the Albany, NY Police Department several years ago suggests that if New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to go after illegal guns, he need only drive up the Hudson River with his rogue investi