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activities or opposed, much to the infuriation of some of their 
supervisors.  Witness the plight of San Jose Officer Pyle who after 
testifying against gun control in Sacramento (1989) returned home to 
find that Chief Joe MacNamara no longer required his services. He was 
put on desk duty and his case is on appeal.
    Further investigation of HCI's allegation of law enforcement 
support produced the American Law Enforcement Officers Poll for 1989. 
It was sent to 16,259 Chiefs of Police, Sheriffs and command personnel 
nationwide. The curious reader should refer to the appendix for a
copy of this poll. The stated purpose of the poll "... was to enlighten
the Congress, the media, and other organizations regarding the opinions
of our nation's top law enforcement officers." For the most part, the 
poll's questions are not much better in absenting themselves of obvious 
bias than are the questions of the gun control crowd. However, it seems 
to be the only poll conducted directed at regular line officers as 
opposed to their politically appointed or elected supervisors.  Its 
results state that the majority of street law enforcement personnel 
do not support the views of HCI. Clearly, HCI has overestimated its 
law enforcement support, basing its claims on the support of a few 
organizations which are listed as:
Fraternal Order of Police (207,000 members)
National Association of Police Organizations (90,000 members)
International Association of Chiefs of Police (14,500 members)
National Sheriff's Association (30,000 members)
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) 
(2,200 members)
    Upon contacting these organizations (the last two could not be 
reached) it was confirmed that they do indeed support the practices 
and views of Handgun Control, Inc, though this claim is vehemently 
denied by a member of the Fraternal Order of Police.  Mr. R. Peters 
contends that the regular membership of the FOP in no way endorses 
the gun control/elimination activities of HCI.  Presentation of the 
group's magazine confirms this, though it must be noted that the 
leadership of the group disagrees with its membership and supports HCI.
    As a last point on HCI's accumulation of supporters, there is some 
controversy about the groups ethics in gaining them. The 1989 Federal 
Lobbying Report (for the first half of the year),
"... showed that HCI gave anti-gun Columbus Oh. Police Officer Dewey 
Stokes, who heads the Fraternal Order of Police, $2,000 on June 30, 
1989. HCI has now given him $3,000 since the first of the year. It
does not say why he received it, only that it was a 'contribution."
    They also show that HCI gave $500 to the Florida Police Chiefs on
June 30, 1989.
"In addition, the reports also show that Phillip C. McGuire, former 
associate director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, 
received substantial payment for expense requests."
    'It appears that HCI has bought their relationship with a segment 
of the anti-gun law enforcement community,' said John Barnett, projects 
director of the Second Amendment Foundation."
    More research is necessary to determine how true Mr. Barnett's 
comment is. When HCI was asked about this, the representative from 
public relations declined to comment, but then added that appearances 
are often deceiving. Clarification as to his meaning on this was not 
provided.
GOALS AND REASONS FOR EXISTENCE
   To use the words of the NRA in describing the agenda of HCI:
 "HCI was formed to lobby for legislative control and government 
regulations on the manufacture, importation, sale, transfer, and 
civilian possession of handguns. Their efforts have expanded to 
include attempts to limit the private ownership of semi-automatic 
firearms, specifically rifles."
   Using the words of HCI commercials and printed propaganda:
   "... fighting to keep handguns out of the wrong hands."
     In the words of founding chair, Nelson T. Shields, III.:
 "I'm convinced that we have to have Federal legislation to build on. 
We're going to have to take one step at a time, and the first step is 
necessarily--given the political realities--going to be very modest 
... Our ultimate goal--total control of handguns in the United States--
is going to take time ... The first problem is to slow down the 
increasing number of handguns being produced and sold in this country. 
The second problem is to get handguns registered, and the final problem 
is to make the possession of all handguns, and all handgun ammunition 
totally illegal."
     The common denominator of the three reasons listed above for the 
existence of HCI is legislation for governmental regulation and 
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 * SRP 2.00 #2737 * If you can read this, I've escaped from your Twit List.
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