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5.) Appendix I
6.) Appendix II
FORMATION
There are several discrepancies in everyone's tale of how HCI was
originally formed so as mentioned, Neal Knox's story being the most
substantiated and therefore, plausible, shall be used here.
According to Nelson T. (Pete) Shields, III., (founding chair of HCI)
ex-CIA agent, Edward (Edwin?) O. Welles, was the first chairman of the
National Council to Ban Handguns which was later renamed Handgun Control,
Inc. What is curious about this (other than alleged CIA involvement
in the move to ban private firearms ownership) is a competing group
was formed in the same year as NCCH (1979) by Reverend Jack Corbett
under the auspices of the United Methodist Church. Rev. Corbett
describes Welles as a "guiding light" to what Knox refers to as "an
ostensibly competing organization." Further evidence of Welles'
involvement with two competitors is provided by a telephone conversation
Mr. Knox was conducting with Rev. Corbett in which Rev. Corbett "was
stymied by my [Neal Knox] recitation of facts that refuted his anti-gun
arguments, Corbett handed the phone to Welles-- to my utter astonishment."
(It should be noted that at the time Edward O. Welles had founded
HCI and NCBH, he was the owner of two handguns (allegedly buried in
his backyard) and a Sharps-Borchardt rifle. It is very unusual that a
man such as he would form an anti-gun coalition.)
After this, the discrepancies about HCI's origins become enormous
and impossible to sort through. There are many who advocate the position
that Shields is a puppet controlled by Welles. Others disbelieve any
further connection between Welles and the coalitions other than founding.
Many moderates as well as extremists speculate on the possibilities of
a CIA conspiracy. In my research, I have been unable to corroborate
any origination stories other than the one from Mr. Neal Knox, and even
it contains unanswered questions.
In any event, the group was eventually connected to John and Sarah
Brady indirectly via John Hinkley Jr.'s 1980 assassination attempt on
then President Ronald Reagan. Drawing a loaded .22 revolver from his
coat, Hinkley emptied its cylinder in 2.8 seconds, wounding the
president and his press secretary, Mr. James Brady. Brady was shot
in the head and as a result, is now permanently confined to a wheelchair.
His wife, Mrs. Sarah Brady, began advocating legislation for further
gun control. Four years later, Mrs. Brady found her son in a friend's
car playing with a loaded .22. Though it is the contention of many
that at this point she founded HCI, it had already been in existence
since 1974. Instead, as a political wife, she quickly became the chair.
Hence the confusion of many as to whether HCI is "that Shields group
or that Brady group." It is both.
ORGANIZATION AND MEMBERSHIP
The following information was requested from HCI on three separate
occasions to no avail. The National Rifle Association responded after
my futile efforts to gain response from HCI with a listing of HCI's
organization, and its National Committee which seems to be only a forum
for the boasting of celebrity membership.
HEADQUARTERS: 1225 I Street, NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005
TELEPHONE: (202) 898-0792
REGIONAL OFFICES: 703 Market Street *
Suite 1511
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 546-1884
310 Fourth Street
Suite 724
Minneapolis. MN 55415
(612) 333-2823
* The San Francisco office has moved to Los Angeles, Calif.
At the time of this writing, I do not have the new address
and telephone number.
STAFF: 15
FOUNDING CHAIR: Nelson T. (Pete) Shields, III
CHAIR: Sarah Brady
PRESIDENT: Charles J. Orasin
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: F. Robert Meier, Treasurer
Lois Hess, Secretary
David Birenbaum, John Phillips, Carl Bogus, Helen Raiser, Hon.
John Corderman, Maurice Rosenblatt, Hon. Lee Fisher, Jeanne
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