Time: Wed May 28 17:19:56 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id OAA00447; Wed, 28 May 1997 14:49:45 -0700 (MST) by usr09.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id OAA09529; Wed, 28 May 1997 14:49:38 -0700 (MST) Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 17:09:05 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: L&J: COMPARING NAZI AND U.S. GUN LAWS (fwd) <snip> > >FORWARDED On Wed, 28 May 97 09:04 PDT, tbw00@amdahl.com (Tom Whittaker) >wrote: > > COMPARING NAZI AND U.S. GUN LAWS > > Alan Bock > Orange County Register Columnist > > A call from the PLO to disarm all the Jewish settlers in the >West Bank region, in the wake of the despicable massacre of Arabs >in a mosque and subsequent unrest, got me thinking about a book >I've been reading. It's most unlikely that the Israeli government >would carry out the PLO's wishes, of course. But we've heard calls >to disarm Jews before. > The last time Jews were effectively disarmed by law was when >the Nazis passed their Weapons Law in 1938, which specifically >stated that no Jew could own firearms or be involved in any >business involving firearms, from manufacturing to retailing. > Aaron Zelman and Jay Simpkin of Jews for the Preservation of >Firearms Ownership, in a provocative but persuasive book, argue >that the Nazi Weapons Law of 1938 provided a direct model for the >1968 Gun Control Act in the United States. They make the case in >"Gun Control: Gateway to Tyranny," published by JPFO. > The Nazi law built on previous gun-control laws passed during >the Weimar period. The 1938 law tightened up previous laws and >(of course) made sure Jews couldn't have weapons or have anything >to do with them. It was passed to protect the Nazi regime, which >had been elected with a plurality (i.e., a minority) and faced >widespread opposition within the populace. It required a license >to own almost all kinds of weapons, except for certain government >officials and Nazi Party functionaries and members. > The 1968 Gun Control Act also exempts government entities from >the controls that apply to law-abiding citizens. It also uses >federal control of interstate commerce to convert what the U.S. >Constitution calls a "right" into a government-granted privilege- >-even as the Nazis did. > There's another curiosity. The 1928 Weimar weapons law >created the category of "hunting weapons" and treated such weapons >differently from other weapons. So far as Jay Simkin, who's >researched the subject extensively, know, this is the first time >that category appears in any country's weapon-control laws (of >which there were almost none in the world before 1920). > In the 1968 Gun Control Act the term "sporting purpose" is >introduced, making its first appearance in any federal law or court >decision. While "sporting purpose" is nowhere defined, the >secretary of the Treasury is authorized to use this vague concept >to decide which weapons can or cannot be owned by private persons. > All this might be coincidence, of course. If you want to >control people's access to weapons, which is what gun control is >all about, there are certain provisions you'll include. > What Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership did, >after hearing people talk about apparent parallels between the Nazi >law and the 1968 U.S. law, was to get original copies of the Nazi- >era and prior laws and have them translated. Then they placed the >provisions of the 1938 Nazi Weapons Act side by side against >provisions of the 1968 Gun Control Act. > The parallels are downright eerie. The U.S. version tends to >be wordier and more bureaucratic-sounding than the Nazi version. >But the powers granted to authorities and the requirements placed >on people who want to own firearms track very closely. > Particularly dramatic are the various forms prescribed for >firearms dealers and government agencies. Not all laws include >examples of the forms they want used. The Nazi law does. So does >the U.S. law. > Is there a more tangible connection? The JPFO researchers >looked at the representatives and senators who had been most active >in promoting gun control in the 1960s, seeking a German connection. >They found that the late Sen. Thomas Dodd, D-Conn., had been a >senior member of the U.S. team that prosecuted Nazi war criminals >during the Nuremberg trials. He lived in Germany, and his official >duties required him to look at Nazi records and Nazi laws. > Then another researcher pointed them to the published record >of the hearings held before the 1968 law was passed. And there was >a letter to Senator Dodd from the law librarian of the library of >Congress, dated a few months before the 1968 law was passed: > "Your request of July 2, 1968...for the translation of several >German laws has been referred to the Law Library for attention. > "In compliance with your request...we are enclosing herewith >a translation of the Law on Weapons of March 18, 1938...as well as >the Xerox copy of the original German text which you supplied." > So Dodd had his own copy of the Nazi law and asked the >Library of Congress to translate it for him during the time the >1968 law was being drafted. Where and when did he get it? Did he >really use it as a model for the U.S. law? His family controls his >papers. They haven't responded to requests to do research among >them. > However it happened, we have a Nazi-style, Nazi-inspired law >on the books. JPFO wants a full-scale congressional investigation >into how this happened, if not outright repeal, before we even >think about any more "gun control." It's a good point. > > >=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >Unsub info - send e-mail to majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com, with >"unsubscribe liberty-and-justice" in the body (not the subject) >Liberty-and-Justice list-owner is Mike Goldman <whig@pobox.com> > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S. : Counselor at Law, federal witness email: [address in tool bar] : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU web site: http://www.supremelaw.com : library & law school registration ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this ========================================================================
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