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			    GENERAL-RKBA Digest 353
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) FAXALERT: Take Action On The Bigger Clinton Gun Ban by NRA Alerts 
2) RELEASE: Right to Carry: Cajun Success! by NRA Alerts 
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Topic No. 1
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1998 19:03:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: NRA Alerts 
To: general-rkba-real.nra
Subject: FAXALERT: Take Action On The Bigger Clinton Gun Ban
Message-ID: 
                        NRA-ILA FAX ALERT
           11250 Waples Mill Road * Fairfax, VA  22030
 Phone: 1-800-392-8683 * Fax: 703-267-3918 * GROOTS@NRA.org 
Vol. 5, No. 15                                       *4/17/98
                                                 
                                
           TAKE ACTION ON THE BIGGER CLINTON GUN BAN
     
     As we anticipated in a previous FAX Alert (Vol.5, No. 13),
President Clinton lived up to our expectations, continuing his
attack on the rights of law-abiding U.S. gun owners.  The
President, through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms'
(BATF) interpretation of the "sporting purposes" test for imported
firearms, has halted the importation of 58 semi-automatic rifles. 
The "sporting purposes" test was included as part of the 1968 Gun
Control Act, which has been interpreted as allowing the BATF
arbitrarily to decide which firearms can be imported based on their
being "recognized as particularly suitable for...sporting
purposes...."  The NRA is working to roll back this latest action. 
Currently, U.S. Senator Larry Craig (R-Id.) is working to include
an amendment to upcoming legislation that will reverse this import
ban.  Please call your U.S. Senators and urge them to support
Senator Craig's amendment number 1604.  Also, U.S. Representative
Bob Barr (R-Ga.) has introduced companion legislation in the House
of Representatives -- H.R. 2734.  With  lawmakers returning to
Washington, D.C., after their Easter recess, please call your U.S.
Representative and urge him or her to support H.R. 2734.  Your
Senators and Representatives can be reached by calling 202/224-
3121.
                       ANOTHER CDC "STUDY"
     Yet again, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) has gone out of its way to try to justify investigating
firearm fatalities as a health issue.  Published in the April 16
edition of the International Journal of Epidemiology, the CDC
claims that their latest "study" of gun-related deaths, which
covered 36 countries (or parts of countries), including the U.S.,
was spurred by the World Health Assembly's declaration that
"violence (is) a public health problem worldwide."  If that were
true, why were only firearm-related fatalities studied, and why
were countries (over 150 of them) that have excessively high rates
of violent deaths not included in the "study"?  It seems that the
CDC does not consider a violent death to be violent unless it
involves a firearm.  They also seem to disregard the plight of
poorer countries, as the countries that were studied were listed as
the 36 richest in the World Bank's 1994 World Development Report. 
Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck took the same CDC
data and found no "significant...association between gun ownership
levels and the total homicide rate...."  (Professor Kleck also
found that the "[a]ssociations with the total suicide rate were
even weaker.")  Furthermore, the CDC should recognize that the
availability of firearms cannot be singled out as a contributing
factor to violent crime rates, as countries like Switzerland, New
Zealand, Finland, and Israel all have relatively low rates of
violent crime, but high rates of gun ownership. The CDC "study"
does show one thing -- that the CDC is after your guns!
                     MEDIA MISSES MARK AGAIN
     In an April 9 Knight Ridder article on the Brady Act's
"effectiveness" in South Carolina, this news service reported that
"[m]ore than 200 fugitives have been arrested in South
Carolina...as a result of the 1994 Brady Act."  This claim was
attributed to State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart. 
The only problem with crediting the Brady Act with these results is
that South Carolina is not a Brady state.  It has not been subject
to the provisions of the Brady Act since the law went into effect
on Feb. 28, 1994.  Then-Governor of South Carolina Carrol Campbell
issued an executive order calling for the implementation of an
Instant Check system as soon as the Brady Act was officially
enacted.  In other words, South Carolina proves what NRA has been
saying all along -- Instant Check catches criminals, Brady does
not.
                     CAN WE STILL REACH YOU?
     With an ever-increasing population, and people adding multiple
telephone lines to their homes and businesses for fax and modem
lines, our nation's telephone system is always in need of
expansion.  New area codes are constantly being added to help
handle the influx of new numbers, which means that our records are
often in need of updating.  If you know that your area code is
going to change, or it has already, please call the Grassroots
Division at 1-800-392-8683, so that we can make the necessary
changes to our database.  We want to continue to send you the
valuable information regarding your right to keep and bear arms,
but we need to know how to reach you.
                       A LOOK AT THE STATES
COLORADO: Governor Romer (D) has yet to sign HB 1170, NRA-backed
range protection legislation, and HB 1376, the Victims Protection
Act reform. Please give Governor Romer a call at  303/866-2471 and
urge him to sign these measures.  
CONNECTICUT: Both the NRA-backed range protection bill, Substitute
Senate Bill 315, and the "Lawler anti-gun bill," Substitute House
Bill 5746, have been referred by their respective chambers to their
next committees.  SB 315 will be considered by the Planning &
Development Committee next week, and  HB 5746 will be considered by
the Public Safety Committee either Tuesday or Thursday of next
week. Please call your legislators at 860/240-0100 and ask them to
vote "NO" on HB 5746, and vote "YES" on SB 315. 
-=Continued in next post=-
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