Time: Thu Jul 03 18:38:13 1997
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Date: Thu, 03 Jul 1997 18:28:43 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: The real reason behing gun control and the attack on the
Branch Davidians (fwd)
<snip>
>
>>Alternative Politics, SA News, Jan 27 - Feb 10, 1994
>>
>>Next Wave
>>by Benedict D. LaRosa
>>
>>The Real Reason Behind Gun Control
>>
>>With public attention riveted on the murder/conspiracy trial of the
>>Branch Davidians, little attention has been paid to the Treasury
>>Department's investigation of the conduct of the Bureau of Alcohol,
>>Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF). Most of the media quickly saw through the
>>veneer of objectivity and rightly ignored the report released last
>>September. However, as with most government documents, there is some
>>truth hidden among the chaff. Appendix G of the report is a brief
>>history of federal firearms enforcement. It is startling in its candor
>>in revealing the real reason behind the gun control movement in this
>>country.
>>
>>Gun control is being sold to the American people as a crime fighting
>>measure. (There are also attempts to make it an environmental and health
>>issue.) Sarah Brady has publicly admitted that the Brady Bill -- signed
>>into law last November 30 -- will have little effect on crime. But, she
>>added, it was a necessary first step. President Clinton warned, "This is
>>the first step. There is more to be done. We cannot stop here." To what
>>are Sarah Brady and President Clinton referring? Appendix G provides the
>>answer.
>>
>>The report admits that the BATF raided the Branch Davidian community at
>>Mt. Carmel to enforce contemporary gun control laws. It adds:
>>
>>"In a larger sense, however, the raid fit [sic] within an historic,
>>well-established and well-defended government interest in prohibiting
>>and breaking up all organized groups that sought to arm or fortify
>>themselves.... From its earliest formation, the federal government has
>>actively suppressed any effort by disgruntled or rebellious citizens to
>>coalesce into an armed group, however small the group, petty its
>>complaint, or grandiose its ambition."
>>
>>Appendix G relates how the experience of Shay's Rebellion (1786-87), the
>>Whiskey Rebellion (1794), Fries Rebellion (1799), the fugitive slave
>>rescues of the 1850s, John Brown's raid on the Harper's Ferry federal
>>arsenal (1859), the Civil War, Southern resistance to Reconstruction,
>>the Pullman Strike (1894), etc., created an intolerance to organized,
>>armed groups on the part of the federal government. This paranoia led
>>Congress to pass the National Firearms Act of 1934, not "to curb the
>>gangsters' ability to arm themselves" with automatic weapons and
>>sawed-off shotguns as advertised, but "to discourage ownership of such
>>weapons without outlawing them." It admits that "No self-respecting
>>gangster would want to register, much less pay the tax, on his
>>Tommygun." It goes on to say:
>>
>>"The passage of the National Firearms Act of 1934, the first federal
>>effort to control ownership of firearms, grew out of this historic fear
>>of armed organizations.... In recent times, the federal government has
>>shown itself even less patient with armed groups.... As both history and
>>recent events clearly show, the United States has never tolerated armed
>>groups residing within its borders. The intent of the particular
>>organization, whether ideological or criminal, mattered little.... ATF's
>>enforcement focus retains the flavor of that historic concern with armed
>>organizations."
>>
>>The Branch Davidians were not criminals and cults are not illegal. It
>>was not criminal activity that brought the Branch Davidians to the
>>attention of the federal government, but the fact that they were an
>>organized, armed group dissatisfied with the status quo. Government
>>agents created the impression of illegality to justify their suppression
>>of the Davidians and to dissuade similar dissenters. This is why
>>Attorney General Janet Reno warned that "more Waco-like standoffs will
>>occur in the near future. I hope an example has been set ... to
>>discourage those who are tempted to join cults." The Brady Bill and the
>>even more draconian gun control measures in the upcoming crime bill are
>>but the latest steps dating back to colonial times to disarm the
>>American people, not criminals, in defiance of the Second Amendment.
>
<snip>
========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness
B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine
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