shallit@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP (Jeff Shallit) (01/06/85)
In previous postings, we saw how the NRA, contrary to Kleinpaste, actually SUPPORTED the Moynihan-Biaggi bill that would ban cop-killer bullets; then flip-flopped and came out against it when it appeared that the Congress would NOT consent to attaching Moynihan-Biaggi to McClure-Volkmer, a bill that the NRA has worked for for two years. But exactly what is McClure-Volkmer, and why should we be worried about it? The McClure-Volkmer bill (S. 914 ; H. R. 2420), supported by such eloquent spokesman on freedom and justice as Jesse Helms, Orrin Hatch, and Roger Jepsen is a "gun decontrol bill" that would 1. Lift the prohibition on mail-order gun sales. The 1968 Gun Control Act, passed in the wake of the assassinations of Senator Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., sought to limit access to guns by criminals and would-be assassins by banning mail-order sales. Lee Harvey Oswald, the killer of John Kennedy, PURCHASED HIS RIFLE THOUGH THE MAIL BY CLIPPING A COUPON IN THE NRA's OFFICIAL PUBLICATION, THE AMERICAN RIFLEMAN. Oswald also purchased a telescopic gunsight and a handgun which he used to kill a police officer, J. D. Tippit, throught other mail-order houses. 2. Allow anyone to make interstate gun sales. Under current federal law, only federall-licensed dealers can make interstate gun sales. Licensed dealers must keep records on all transactions. This system allows the BATF to trace handguns used in crime. A recent Washington Post article showed that the Bureau has had an 85% success rate in its gun traces, helping local authorities to convict criminals. The McClure-Volkmer Bill would virtually repeal the current system of controlling interstate gun trafficking. 3. Redefine "gun dealer", thereby allowing virtually ANYONE to sell handguns without any records of such sales. Under this provision, only those who earn their principal livelihood through gun-dealing would be required to keep records. Pawnshops, a notorious source of guns used in crime, would no longer have to keep records of gun sales. Here's what the Justice Department has to say about McClure-Volkmer: "We believe the measure would cause irreparable harm to gun law enforcement." Here's what the Washington Post said about McClure-Volkmer in their editorial of October 7, 1983, entitled "Mail-Order Murder--NRA Style." "There's just no dropping your guard; while Morton Grove, Ill., was celebrating its victory the other day for the right of Americans to ban arms from their neighborhoods, the gun traffickers were continuing their relentless sabotage of public safety in a blitz of Capitol Hill. Once again, the forces that thrive unchecked on firearms traffic are filling the offices and campaign pockets of their favorite lawmakers on behalf of a gun DECONTROL [italics theirs] bill that might as well be entitled, "An Act for the Relief of Felons, Hit Men, and Other Impulse Buyers of Concelable Deadly Weapons." "Remeber this bill-- S. 914 by Senate Number, H. R. 2420 in the House-- because it is cause for genuine alarm on the part of anyone, law-abiding gun-owners included, who is worried about safer streets and homes in America, and who supports serious crime controls. Sponsored by Sen. James A. McClure of Idaho, and Rep. Harold L. Volkmer of Missouri and lobbied by the National Rifle Association (surprise!), this bill would destroy what limited federal protection does exist against gun purchases by felons, fugitives, drug addicts, and court-adjudged mentally defective people. [By the way, the NRA made huge contributions to the campaigns of both McClure and Volkmer, and in fact contributed to 14 of the 18 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee considering the bill. -- JS] "Quite aside from whether this is the way Congress wants to mark the 20th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination, the McClure- Volkmer bill would lift the current prohibition on mail-order gun sales. (Its proponents argue that a gun transfer could only occur if buyer and seller had met face to face, but as law enforcement officers will tell anyone, that's a laugh.) Thus we see that the NRA's relationship to Moynihan-Biaggi MUST be viewed in the larger context of its attempt to drive McClure-Volkmer through the House and Senate--an attempt which failed in the 98th Congress, according to a recent article. Jeff Shallit University of Chicago