-=Continued from previous post=- 
               CEASE THE IGNORANCE. CEASE THE FEAR.
     CeaseFire, Inc., a national gun ban organization, is
mounting an aggressive nationwide media campaign to brainwash
Americans into believing that handguns in the home, for any
purposes, are unsuitable for law-abiding citizens. CeaseFire is
currently pushing their anti-gun campaign in Boston, Mass.;
Albuquerque, N.M.; Austin, Tex.; Cleveland, Ohio; Miami, Fla.;
Portland, Ore.; and Salt Lake City, Ut. We've all complained
about an anti-gun media and the need to combat it, and now's your
chance to act! NRA is looking for volunteers in these specific
areas, and across the nation, to educate their local media
outlets and movie theaters that are running CeaseFire
announcements. For your copy of an NRA Eddie Eagle public service
announcement video and information to combat CeaseFire's
outlandish claims, that you can distribute to the media outlets
in your community, please call (800) 231-0752 ext. 1574.
                    SLOW DOWN ON "FAST-TRACK"
     It now appears that "fast track" trade legislation will be
voted on this Spring. If passed, "fast track" would grant the
President wide authority to negotiate trade agreements. NRA has
been working to insert language in this bill to restrict the
President's authority to arbitrarily ban from importation
firearms that are legal to own, manufacture and possess (see lead
story). A recent L.A. Time's piece noted a "White House official
who specializes in gun control policy, Jose Cerda, stating, 'we
are taking the law and bending it as far as we can to capture a
whole new class of guns'." If it is not stopped, the Clinton
Administration has indicated it will implement a ban on imported
firearms which the NRA believes will ultimately prohibit many, if
not all, semi-automatic rifles and handguns. Please call your
Congressman at (202) 225-3121, and urge him to vote "no" on "fast
track," unless "fast track" is modified to stop President Clinton
from banning more firearms. 
                    CAMPAIGN FINANCE STALEMATE
     Thanks to the leadership of First Amendment friend Senator
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), opponents of free speech failed three
times in October to end the filibuster of  S. 25, the
McCain-Feingold "campaign finance reform package."  NRA opposes
McCain-Feingold because it would seriously restrict our ability 
to communicate political information with NRA members, and we 
have joined in a coalition with groups covering  the entire 
political spectrum in opposition to the speech reform bill. It 
now appears a vote on a campaign reform bill will be held this 
Spring in both houses of Congress. However, opponents of free 
speech plan to continue to push for this bill. That's why it is 
important you continue to spread the word on this misguided bill 
and keep up your  calls to lawmakers in Washington at (202) 224-
3121 in opposition to this misguided piece of legislation. 
                     RUBY RIDGE REPERCUSSIONS
     An Idaho magistrate has dismissed all charges against Kevin
Harris, the man accused by the Boundary County, Idaho prosecutor
of murdering Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan, at the start of 
the 1992 siege at Ruby Ridge. Boundary County District Court
Magistrate Quentin Harden ruled that Harris, who had already been
acquitted of murder in an earlier federal trial, could not be
prosecuted again because it amounted to double jeopardy.
Meanwhile, a Federal Appeals Court in San Francisco has cleared
the way for Harris, who was wounded by the  FBI sniper round that
killed Vicki Weaver, to proceed with  a $10 million civil suit
against the federal government, ruling that the Bureau's "shoot
to kill" rule of engagement was "a gross deviation from
constitutional principles and a wholly unwarranted return to a
lawless and arbitrary Wild West school of law enforcement."  
                      TEXAS TEACHER ARRESTED
     Ninth grade English teacher Susan McCue of North Side High
School in Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested last September after
telling her boss that she had placed a handgun in the trunk of
her car after being threatened by an unruly student. According to
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Tarrant County district
attorney's office has decided not to press charges against Ms.
McCue, citing a recent change in state law that excludes school
parking lots from "off limits" places to possess a firearm. The
sponsors of the new law, Senator Jerry Patterson (R-11th), now a
candidate for Texas Land Commissioner in 1998, and Rep. Bill
Carter  (R-91), had law-abiding citizens such as Ms. McCue in
mind when amending Texas's Penal Code. [Reports indicate that Ms.
McCue is now back in the classroom and that her principal is
determining whether any students require disciplinary action.]   
    RIGHT TO CARRY--WORKING IN THE STATES, NEEDED NATIONALLY 
     Just as reports confirm the success rates of right to carry
laws in Kentucky and Louisiana, newly-released  statistics once
again prove the critics wrong in their claim that allowing
law-abiding citizens to carry handguns will result in increased
crime. This time, the good news is from the Commonwealth of
Virginia. The results--overwhelmingly positive! In the first year
under concealed carry reform, 65,429 permits were issued, and
only .06% were revoked. That means that 99.94% of permit holders
continue to be law-abiding! "The people who get permits are
unusually law-abiding," Gary Kleck, Florida State criminologist 
was quoted as saying in the Virginian-Pilot (Oct. 7), adding, "I
only wish the entire population had that low a rate of committing
gun crimes." 
     And while a majority of states have carry laws similar to
Virginia's, there still remains a patchwork of different statutes
and restrictions among the 50 states as a whole. Therein lies the
need for U.S. congressional passage of H.R. 339, the national
right to carry reciprocity bill. Currently, H.R. 339 has 64
co-sponsors, a number that has steadily increased during the last
several months. Representatives John Thune (R-S.D.), Phil English
(R-Penn.), Bill Goodling (R-Penn), John Shimkus (R-Ill.), and
Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) are the latest to sign onto the bill as
co-sponsors, and they deserve thanks for their commitment to self
defense. Please continue to call your U.S. Representative at
(202) 225-3121, and urge him or her to become a co-sponsor to
H.R. 339, the bill which requires states to recognize other
states' permits, just as they recognize the driver's licenses
issued by other states. Calls should be made to both your U.S.
Senators at 202/224-3121 as well, in support of S. 816, the
Senate companion bill to H.R. 339, introduced by NRA Board Member
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho).
             NEW TOOL TO COUNTER ANTI-GUN PROPAGANDA
     It has long been the practice of anti-gun groups and
elements of the media to lump firearms suicides, homicides, and
accidents--whose causes are separate and distinct--in order to
scare the public with alarming statistics. Call the Grassroots
Division at 1-800-392-8683 to get NRA-ILA's latest Fact Sheet
debunking the myths being perpetuated by the gun banners
regarding suicide and homicide. 
           SECOND AMENDMENT SCHOLAR TO SPEAK IN MAINE 
     Come join leading Second Amendment scholar and attorney
Stephen P. Halbrook for two presentations at the University of
Maine School of Law in Portland, Maine, on Wednesday, February 4,
1998. Presentation times are 12:00 noon and 7:00 pm. The topics
will include the recent "Brady Act" case of Printz v. U.S., and a
variety of issues concerning the right to keep and bear arms. 
Please make plans to attend these free presentations. For more
information, contact Brad Macdonald at (207) 773-1513. 
     Permission to reprint all or portions of this publication
granted, duly noting "NRA Grassfire, January, 1998."   1997, NRA
Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, Virginia  22030.
http://www.groots@nra.org.
=+=+=+=+
This information is provided as a service of the National Rifle
Association Institute for Legislative Action, Fairfax, VA.
This and other information on the Second Amendment and the NRA is
available at: http://WWW.NRA.Org
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End of GENERAL-RKBA Digest 316
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