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The history of gun control, part 3
Sandy Froman
July 12, 2007
Sadly, modern history is full of instances where the anti-gun left tries to
capitalize on tragedy and fear to push their agenda. Sometimes the push is
immediate, while at other times they lay in wait gathering strength until an
opportune time, like the evil Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter novels.
Those who support the Bill of Rights need to be aware of these tactics so we
can fight to protect our civil liberties when terrible events unfold.
One such event happened on March 30, 1981.
The anti-gun left had hit a brick wall in the 1970s. Ever since Harlon
Carter had taken the reins as CEO of the NRA in 1977, re-establishing the
NRA's political lobbying arm and mobilizing a national grass-roots
opposition campaign to anti-gun legislation, gun control efforts had
virtually stopped dead in their tracks. It took the anti-gun left several
years to retool their political machine to try to combat the organized
efforts of the NRA to protect the right to keep and bear arms.
In fact, the only significant defeat for pro-Second Amendment forces in the
1970s was the confirmation of Abner Mikva as a federal appeals judge to the
D.C. Circuit. Rep. Mikva was a congressman from Illinois and one of the
leading gun control advocates in America. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit is regarded as the second-most important court in the nation.
President Jimmy Carter nominated Mikva to the D.C. Circuit. Though the NRA
and gun rights community strongly opposed the nomination, it had no
experience with judicial appointments, and a Democrat-controlled Senate
confirmed Mikva to the court, where he served until 1994. Aside from that,
there had been no major victories for the anti-gun crowd.
That changed just two months into the Reagan presidency. On March 30, 1981,
President Reagan gave a lunchtime speech to the AFL-CIO at the Hilton in
Washington, D.C. As he was leaving, he stopped beside the open door of his
limousine to wave to the friendly crowd. Suddenly, as the president was
waving, gunshots rang out. A Secret Service agent pushed the president into
the limo, which rushed off surrounded by police cars, sirens wailing.
Another agent tackled the shooter, John Hinckley, to the ground. Additional
agents grabbed Hinckley's gun, while still more agents had weapons drawn in
combat crouches as they secured the scene.
The country soon learned that one of Hinckley's shots had seriously wounded
President Reagan, who almost died following emergency surgery. Secret
Service Agent Tim McCarthy had been shot in the stomach, and Police Officer
Tom Delahanty had been shot in the neck.
One other man was shot that day during the attempted assassination. James
Brady, the White House press secretary, lay on the ground with a bullet hole
in his head. A bullet had lodged in his brain. While Brady survived his
injury (as did President Reagan and the other two men), he was left
permanently handicapped.
The left saw a renewed opportunity to go after firearms. The assassination
attempt became a rallying cry for anti-gun activists. If only people could
not get guns, they argued, such violence would not occur. Anti-gun activists
started laying the groundwork for major gun control legislation. Though
nothing came immediately from this incident, the rationale had been
established for a new gun control push.
Meanwhile, the NRA had been working since the late '70s to pass what became
the McClure-Volkmer Firearms Owners Protection Act. Designed to eliminate
the most onerous provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act, McClure-Volkmer was
eventually signed into law in 1986, a tremendous victory for pro-Second
Amendment forces (and the subject of a future column of its own.)
But Sarah Brady and her cohorts were hard at work. And in 1987 the Brady
Handgun Violence Prevention Act was introduced in Congress. Ignoring the
fact that a lone crazed individual trying to assassinate a head of state is
not something a gun law is likely to stop, opponents of the Second Amendment
made the incident look like a tragedy that could befall any person walking
the streets of America, and offered gun control as the solution.
Ronald Reagan, however, was an NRA Life Member who respected the Second
Amendment. As long as Reagan was president, no gun control law would be
passed. Facing a sure presidential veto, the bill never reached the White
House during the Reagan years, or even during President Bush Sr.'s term.
Meanwhile, Jim Brady and his wife, Sarah, became active in anti-gun circles.
Sarah Brady became chairperson of Handgun Control Inc., and the Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was created as a permanent source of
anti-gun material.
Legislation like the Brady Bill ignores the fact that violence unfortunately
has been a fact of life long before firearms were invented. Outlawing guns
does not prevent violence, but it does prevent smaller, older, disabled or
less powerful persons from effectively defending themselves against larger
and stronger attackers.
And although groups like the Brady Campaign say they just want "reasonable"
restrictions on gun ownership, by their own logic they cannot completely
stop "gun violence" without outlawing all private gun ownership, no
exceptions.
Once the anti-gun left has a cause or celebrity to rally around, rational
thought goes out the window as they push their proposed legislation.
The Brady Bill, which became H.R.1025, was signed into law by President Bill
Clinton Nov. 30, 1993. Though it has not been shown to have had any impact
on preventing the criminal misuse of guns (and parts of it were struck down
by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1997 case of Printz v. United States), it
is still touted by anti-gun activists as a first step to ending what they
see as the scourge of private gun ownership in America.
Sarah Brady is still a leading figure in the anti-gun movement. Jim Brady is
still an advertisement for gun control.
And the Clintons still oppose your constitutional right to keep and bear
arms. Hillary Clinton has praised her husband for enacting this
unconstitutional measure, and continues to support it today.
We need to remind ourselves of these things, and of the left's tactic of
capitalizing on tragedy, as the Clintons seek to retake the White House in
2008.
Sandy Froman is immediate past president of the National Rifle Association
of America and a longtime member of the NRA board of directors. A practicing
attorney in Tucson, Ariz., Froman is an international speaker on the right
to keep and bear arms and an advocate for federal judges who will interpret
the Constitution according to its original meaning.
The history of gun control, part 3
Sandy Froman
July 12, 2007
Sadly, modern history is full of instances where the anti-gun left tries to
capitalize on tragedy and fear to push their agenda. Sometimes the push is
immediate, while at other times they lay in wait gathering strength until an
opportune time, like the evil Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter novels.
Those who support the Bill of Rights need to be aware of these tactics so we
can fight to protect our civil liberties when terrible events unfold.
One such event happened on March 30, 1981.
The anti-gun left had hit a brick wall in the 1970s. Ever since Harlon
Carter had taken the reins as CEO of the NRA in 1977, re-establishing the
NRA's political lobbying arm and mobilizing a national grass-roots
opposition campaign to anti-gun legislation, gun control efforts had
virtually stopped dead in their tracks. It took the anti-gun left several
years to retool their political machine to try to combat the organized
efforts of the NRA to protect the right to keep and bear arms.
In fact, the only significant defeat for pro-Second Amendment forces in the
1970s was the confirmation of Abner Mikva as a federal appeals judge to the
D.C. Circuit. Rep. Mikva was a congressman from Illinois and one of the
leading gun control advocates in America. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit is regarded as the second-most important court in the nation.
President Jimmy Carter nominated Mikva to the D.C. Circuit. Though the NRA
and gun rights community strongly opposed the nomination, it had no
experience with judicial appointments, and a Democrat-controlled Senate
confirmed Mikva to the court, where he served until 1994. Aside from that,
there had been no major victories for the anti-gun crowd.
That changed just two months into the Reagan presidency. On March 30, 1981,
President Reagan gave a lunchtime speech to the AFL-CIO at the Hilton in
Washington, D.C. As he was leaving, he stopped beside the open door of his
limousine to wave to the friendly crowd. Suddenly, as the president was
waving, gunshots rang out. A Secret Service agent pushed the president into
the limo, which rushed off surrounded by police cars, sirens wailing.
Another agent tackled the shooter, John Hinckley, to the ground. Additional
agents grabbed Hinckley's gun, while still more agents had weapons drawn in
combat crouches as they secured the scene.
The country soon learned that one of Hinckley's shots had seriously wounded
President Reagan, who almost died following emergency surgery. Secret
Service Agent Tim McCarthy had been shot in the stomach, and Police Officer
Tom Delahanty had been shot in the neck.
One other man was shot that day during the attempted assassination. James
Brady, the White House press secretary, lay on the ground with a bullet hole
in his head. A bullet had lodged in his brain. While Brady survived his
injury (as did President Reagan and the other two men), he was left
permanently handicapped.
The left saw a renewed opportunity to go after firearms. The assassination
attempt became a rallying cry for anti-gun activists. If only people could
not get guns, they argued, such violence would not occur. Anti-gun activists
started laying the groundwork for major gun control legislation. Though
nothing came immediately from this incident, the rationale had been
established for a new gun control push.
Meanwhile, the NRA had been working since the late '70s to pass what became
the McClure-Volkmer Firearms Owners Protection Act. Designed to eliminate
the most onerous provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act, McClure-Volkmer was
eventually signed into law in 1986, a tremendous victory for pro-Second
Amendment forces (and the subject of a future column of its own.)
But Sarah Brady and her cohorts were hard at work. And in 1987 the Brady
Handgun Violence Prevention Act was introduced in Congress. Ignoring the
fact that a lone crazed individual trying to assassinate a head of state is
not something a gun law is likely to stop, opponents of the Second Amendment
made the incident look like a tragedy that could befall any person walking
the streets of America, and offered gun control as the solution.
Ronald Reagan, however, was an NRA Life Member who respected the Second
Amendment. As long as Reagan was president, no gun control law would be
passed. Facing a sure presidential veto, the bill never reached the White
House during the Reagan years, or even during President Bush Sr.'s term.
Meanwhile, Jim Brady and his wife, Sarah, became active in anti-gun circles.
Sarah Brady became chairperson of Handgun Control Inc., and the Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was created as a permanent source of
anti-gun material.
Legislation like the Brady Bill ignores the fact that violence unfortunately
has been a fact of life long before firearms were invented. Outlawing guns
does not prevent violence, but it does prevent smaller, older, disabled or
less powerful persons from effectively defending themselves against larger
and stronger attackers.
And although groups like the Brady Campaign say they just want "reasonable"
restrictions on gun ownership, by their own logic they cannot completely
stop "gun violence" without outlawing all private gun ownership, no
exceptions.
Once the anti-gun left has a cause or celebrity to rally around, rational
thought goes out the window as they push their proposed legislation.
The Brady Bill, which became H.R.1025, was signed into law by President Bill
Clinton Nov. 30, 1993. Though it has not been shown to have had any impact
on preventing the criminal misuse of guns (and parts of it were struck down
by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1997 case of Printz v. United States), it
is still touted by anti-gun activists as a first step to ending what they
see as the scourge of private gun ownership in America.
Sarah Brady is still a leading figure in the anti-gun movement. Jim Brady is
still an advertisement for gun control.
And the Clintons still oppose your constitutional right to keep and bear
arms. Hillary Clinton has praised her husband for enacting this
unconstitutional measure, and continues to support it today.
We need to remind ourselves of these things, and of the left's tactic of
capitalizing on tragedy, as the Clintons seek to retake the White House in
2008.
Sandy Froman is immediate past president of the National Rifle Association
of America and a longtime member of the NRA board of directors. A practicing
attorney in Tucson, Ariz., Froman is an international speaker on the right
to keep and bear arms and an advocate for federal judges who will interpret
the Constitution according to its original meaning.