Well, I received my first piece of mail today from my good friends at HCI and Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. It was their Winter '99 Progress Report. This was an eight page booklet covering a number of topics such as...
- 1998 Elections Are Grandslam For Gun Control; voters defeated 11 of HCI's Dangerous Dozen list of candidates who opposed "common sense gun control measures." That's an oxymoron if I ever heard one.
- Brady Law Waiting Period Expired Nov 30: Public Safety At Risk; Jim, Sarah, Senators, Reps, and law enforcement held a new conference to warn Americans in 25 states that they will no longer be protected by a "cooling off" period (I'm nervous, I may have to keep a loaded pistol around to protect myself); Sarah says "90% of Americans agree that a waiting period to purchase firearms is sane, sensible policy; since '94 almost 250,000 prohibited purchasers have been stoped from buying handguns in gun stores; Jim and Sarah will be going back to the Hill to fight for a renewed waiting period. By the way, there was no atribution for the stats presented.
- A Look At The States; 1999 looks bright for gun control measures in Kalifornia (sorry, guys and girls); Massachusetts sets the standard for rest of nation with the toughest gun violence prevention law (sorry, guys and girls); Missouri to hold 4/99 referendum on CCW, mentioned recent study by HCI and DPHV that shows violent crime has fallen faster in states where CCW is strictly regulated or prohibited, also mentioned that law enforcement and civic and community leaders will be working hard to prevent this "dangerous" measure from passing.
- A Message from Her Royal Highness; "we're doing it to protect the kids;" another interesting stat mentioned, "whether by homicide, suicide, or unintentional shootings, guns kill more American children than almost any disease or childhood illness." Pure unadulterated BS!
- Articles on different programs to "stop the gun violence;" STOP 2 (prevent firearm injuries in the home); development of Emergency Response Kit to help health professionals harness the power of the media to educate Americans about gun violence prevention strategies; information about the various lawsuits against manufacturers.
- A request for a donation.
It took me three tries to read all the material (I had to keep taking it out of the trash). When I finished I had to take a walk to calm myself down. This is a very slick piece of trash, all short "sound bites", all preying on the uninformed person's sympathy, and complete with "official stats."
About the only good thing I can say is that it cost them a little money for absolutely no return. I'm sorry for the length of this, but I just needed to vent.
- 1998 Elections Are Grandslam For Gun Control; voters defeated 11 of HCI's Dangerous Dozen list of candidates who opposed "common sense gun control measures." That's an oxymoron if I ever heard one.
- Brady Law Waiting Period Expired Nov 30: Public Safety At Risk; Jim, Sarah, Senators, Reps, and law enforcement held a new conference to warn Americans in 25 states that they will no longer be protected by a "cooling off" period (I'm nervous, I may have to keep a loaded pistol around to protect myself); Sarah says "90% of Americans agree that a waiting period to purchase firearms is sane, sensible policy; since '94 almost 250,000 prohibited purchasers have been stoped from buying handguns in gun stores; Jim and Sarah will be going back to the Hill to fight for a renewed waiting period. By the way, there was no atribution for the stats presented.
- A Look At The States; 1999 looks bright for gun control measures in Kalifornia (sorry, guys and girls); Massachusetts sets the standard for rest of nation with the toughest gun violence prevention law (sorry, guys and girls); Missouri to hold 4/99 referendum on CCW, mentioned recent study by HCI and DPHV that shows violent crime has fallen faster in states where CCW is strictly regulated or prohibited, also mentioned that law enforcement and civic and community leaders will be working hard to prevent this "dangerous" measure from passing.
- A Message from Her Royal Highness; "we're doing it to protect the kids;" another interesting stat mentioned, "whether by homicide, suicide, or unintentional shootings, guns kill more American children than almost any disease or childhood illness." Pure unadulterated BS!
- Articles on different programs to "stop the gun violence;" STOP 2 (prevent firearm injuries in the home); development of Emergency Response Kit to help health professionals harness the power of the media to educate Americans about gun violence prevention strategies; information about the various lawsuits against manufacturers.
- A request for a donation.
It took me three tries to read all the material (I had to keep taking it out of the trash). When I finished I had to take a walk to calm myself down. This is a very slick piece of trash, all short "sound bites", all preying on the uninformed person's sympathy, and complete with "official stats."
About the only good thing I can say is that it cost them a little money for absolutely no return. I'm sorry for the length of this, but I just needed to vent.
