----------------------------------------------------------------------- The BULLET The Official Publication of the Western Missouri Shooters' Alliance <> <> October, 1995 (816) 597-3950/Data (V.34) (816) 229-7350/FAX/HOTLINE/VOICEMAIL ...to protect and preserve the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America... WMSA Board of Directors ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Officers Board Members Kevin Jamison, President Gary Daviss, Gunshow Coordinator Terry Skinner, Vice-President Cynthia Wyett, Line Instructor Jacques Tucker, Treasurer Patrick Wyett, Political Liason Brad Alpert, Press Office & Editor Paul Wisner, Phone Tree Coordinator Ex-Officio Albert Davies, Line Instructor Linda Kimsey, Chief Instructor ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents Nutshell....................Cover, 6 From the President...............3-5 Trajectory.......................7-8 NRA-ILA Fax Network................9 From the Hart..................10-12 Favorite URL's....................12 Loving your Government.........13-17 EVENTS............................19 APPLICATIONS/Great Poetry from Chris Ferris/INSERT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Nutshell Brad Alpert I keep telling myself that this battle shouldn't be as difficult as it is. On the one hand, our side boasts educated proponents from every discipline, the unswerving examples of our own and other nations' histories, our government's own official criminal justice statistics, law review articles, our Founding Fathers' explicit writings, and most importantly, common sense. And what, exactly, does the other side have to offer, besides a peculiar kind of "logic" that defies every rule of critical thinking, cooked results from phony-baloney government "studies" funded by our own tax dollars, and a cause embraced and advanced by shameless politicians who would throttle their own mothers for career advancement? On any sort of equitable, level playing field, the battle over gun control would be won before the opening whistle's blast finished reverberating. There just isn't anything of substance to oppose us, at least not in the rarefied realm of rational discourse and informed opinion. It is only down here in the mud of reality that we have to continually struggle and fight against odds that are horribly tilted against us. Isn't it odd that our own government hires morally-challenged ideologues at the Center for Disease Control and gives them forty-five million dollars to produce "research" results which prove that bullets are germs and gun ownership is a disease? Why does every major women's magazine run regular features informing its readership that guns in the home are basically just waiting to kill loved ones? How does it come to pass that a taxpayer- funded study concludes that a "gun in the home is 43 times more likely to kill a family member than an unknown intruder" is widely debunked by serious scientists - yet the "43-times more likely" statement has been absorbed into the "conventional wisdom"? Can someone explain to me how the First and Third through Tenth Amendments to the Constitution apply protections to people from all governments at all levels, yet the "Second Amendment only restrains the Federal government" - *and the Supreme Court refuses to hear Second Amendment cases?* How come whenever major gun control legislation is moving in Congress, every major newspaper, network news program, and National Public Radio are *uniformly* supportive of it and, in fact, speak and write as if they're all working off of identical scripts? Why is professional lobbyist Sarah Brady portrayed as a selfless heroine because she fronts for a second-rate advocacy outfit that pays her in excess of $150,000 a year, while our own Tanya Metaksa is portrayed as an unprincipled highly-paid lobbyist who is nothing more than a shill for merchants-of-death firearms manufacturers? Clearly, something is structurally wrong with this scenario. After all, we are nice people who merely want to exercise a fundamental constitutional right, and yet we're facing an implacable, monolithic front comprised of local, regional, and federal governments, all the dominant media, our entire "educational" system, and all the top lackeys in the mainstream law enforcement organizations. We were sleeping while the freedom grabbers took our schools away from us. Now we live with the results of two generations of a constitutionally-deficient curriculum; the first generation of victims are now running and teaching our children in the government schools. We idled, content in the knowledge that the Second Amendment would protect our right to keep and bear arms while the media organized and carried out a systematic campaign of disinformation which resulted in general acceptance of the intellectual fraud that the Second Amendment guarantees that National Guard troops will always have access to rifles. We made our regular trips to the gun range with our buddies, never thinking of asking a black friend along and now, the gun control agenda is driven by inner-city black-on-black crime - and urban politicians know that we have no bridges to that community. Thomas Jefferson said that the price of Liberty is eternal vigilance. We were snoozing, folks, and so, our precious Liberty is on the line. It has been said that people get the government they deserve and I agree with that, but will go a bit farther: People get the Liberty they are prepared to fight for. Are you a combatant in the war for Liberty? Are you registered to vote, do you write letters to your congressmen and to the newspapers and make calls to radio talk shows? Are you active in your kid's schools' textbook selection decisions? Do you contribute your old American Rifleman magazines to the local library? Do you walk the precincts for freedom-loving political candidates? Do you proudly display your NRA decal? Do you take non-gunowner friends shooting? Do you buy NRA memberships as Christmas gifts? Do you contribute to ILA and GOA? Do you live a life which reflects positively upon gunowners? Thanks to the dedicated efforts of many gunowners and the organizations which represent them, our political power is on the upswing, but we have a long way to go before we can afford anything approaching the complacency we've shown until recently. It's easy to whine and moan and complain while your rights are being systematically stripped away. And, of course, sending your $35.00 to NRA every year is a simple way to convince yourself that you've demonstrated and fulfilled your commitment to freedom. Our enemy is out there and he is watching us. He would like nothing better than for you to sit on your butt and let him finish the job King George started a few centuries ago. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- From the President (Note from Brad: I don't edit this column. Life is too short.) It is a good day for Liberty. In "To Kill a Mockingbird" Lawyer Atticus Finch shoots a rabid dog, calmly replaces his glasses, turns the matter over to the sheriff, and cautions the children not to go near the dog. This is a good example of how to handle any self defense shooting. Tell your Congressthing that we expect a vote on the repeal of the gun ban, even if Clinton will veto it. What we will not accept is the federalization of gun related crimes and limit on self-defense which had been attached to the bill. Mike Peters died after many years dependent on a wheelchair and respirator. He liked to target shoot at the Lake City Range, the only exercise he could take. I did not know the man, but we should take care of our own. On 19 August, 1995, Deltha Word was involved in a minor traffic accident on a bridge over the Detroit River. The other driver, a 300 lb specimen, smashed her car window with a jack handle, pulled her out of the car, ripping her clothes off in the process. She jumped into the river to escape her assailant, and drowned. We are constantly warned that our Public Safety Law will result in gunfights following traffic accidents. A gunfight could only have improved this incident. Kansas City's death rate is going down, this follows a national trend. It will doubtless be credited to the gun ban and Brady, however criminologists credit the drop to a smaller number of young males, the demographic group involved in crime. The ATF got a black eye with its "good old boys" picnic. The Justice Department of Janet Reno (who prevented a mass suicide at Waco) has issued an administrative subpoena for the tape in an attempt to discredit the evidence. Member Mike Hurley was on National Guard active duty assisting the Highway Patrol in drug suppression. He was fired for having "militia tendencies" (in the National Guard? The Horror, The Horror). It appears that Mr Hurley was bold enough to make casual remarks disagreeing with the administration of Bill Clinton (a DC area president). The Patrol was alarmed to find that Mike was computer literate (having sold assault computers for many years), had internet access, and was exposed to views opposing the government, knows a militia member, and has some knowledge of the constitution and law. Missouri taxpayers will be happy to know the Highway Patrol is now safe from the influence of educated persons. A Kansas City Councilwoman (one of several members who have not been charged with a crime) held a town meeting where a denizen of her district whined about guns. The councilwoman agreed, but warned that the local shooters alliance was very strong, she heard from us every week. This points up that our letters may not convert these people, but may reduce their enthusiasm for doing mischief. Keep those cards and letters going out. The NRA Women's Policies Committee has established the Sybil Ludington Award for women who have contributed to the movement. It is named for a 16 year old Revolutionary heroine who spread the alarm of a British raid on militia stores at Danbury Connecticut on 26 April, 1777. Marion Hammer is the well deserved first recipient. The Ruby Ridge hearings continue. The BATF (a cat stomping government agency) hired a private detective to do things government agents are prohibited from doing by law. This gumshoe thought that he would only be paid if Weaver was convicted. The informer spent three years and $450 to get Weaver to sell two used shotguns, but only if Weaver cut the barrels down. Attorney Gary Spence has been quoted as saying that the government had never done anything like Ruby Ridge before, actually it has, and repeatedly. FBI director Freeh has vowed that agents will never again be sent out with orders to kill on sight as they were in the Weaver case. This should sound more comforting than it actually is. The Gun Rights Policy Conference adopted a hand signal, thumb and forefinger extended in the form of a pistol, or an "L" for Liberty. Member Myron Kelsey has contributed a logo showing a hand forming the "L" in "Liberty". Myron also contributed the cartoon of an armed rape victim asking "How would you like a .38 caliber vasectomy?" Bill Clinton (a DC area president) has proposed banning all ammunition which could penetrate soft body armor. This would ban most commonly used hunting rifle ammunition. He exploits for this purpose an officer who was shot while wearing a vest, shot in the head. Contributions can be made to the NRA through the Combined Federal Campaign, the foundation's designation is 1390. WMSA will soon have a tax-deductible foundation as well. Prohibitionists wailed about "NRA influence" on the Waco hearings. Not a word was said about HCI paying Washington DC Attorney John Podesta to direct damage control for the administration. The NRA tried to present evidence, HCI tried to twist the facts (and succeeded), I see a difference. Board Member Brad Alpert (ed. note: Alpert is also WMSA's Press Officer and the editor of this newsletter) remarks that if guns cause crime, all of his are defective. It is claimed that the courts have rejected the individual rights theory of the second amendment. In fact the courts have not decided between collective and individual theories. There have been some recent rulings that the right is not infringed as long as some guns are legal. By the same reasoning, it would be OK to destroy an endangered species as long as some endangered species still exists. However, the argument would appear to accept the individual theory. Some very Special Fellows have provided me with transcripts of the Waco hearings, which are now on the Paul Revere BBS. The Second Amendment Foundation reports that California resident James Dingman was arrested for possession of an unregistered assault weapon, an SKS, he pled guilty to get out of jail and tried to register the weapon to reduce the felony to an infraction. His registration was refused on the grounds that the SKS is not an assault weapon. The Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the Brady law on the grounds that it only infringes state sovereignty a little bit. There is a motion pending for a rehearing by the entire 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The more dissention on this in the circuits the better, the Supremes will take a case if the different appellate circuits are split on the issue. Kansas City Police, North Patrol has a BBS 437-6228. The Committee of 1776 has scheduled its Washington rally for 1 September, 1996 (Labor Day). N.Y. Governor Pataki signed a law allowing police officers to ride the Long Island Railroad for free. Survivors of the LIRR massacre praised the measure as preventing future massacres. These are the same people who claimed that it would have done no good for someone to pull a pistol and shoot back at Collin Ferguson. It would be advantageous to be on the computer mailing list for Great American Auctioneers & Liquidators Inc, 6338 Variel Ave, Woodland Hills, CA 91367. Computers have been of great advantage to us in the movement. In no other way can information and planning get around as quickly. Brad Alpert and Leroy Pyle have done great work in this area, we shall have to name something appropriate after them, try to keep it clean. There is some progress on the Istook Amendment, defunding anti- gun lobbyists receiving federal money. Call your congressperson. Saw a horrible prediction, ex-senator Danforth thinks Clinton will win. Our presidential strategy must be based on ABC, Anybody But Clinton, and it must be unified behind a major party candidate. If we take our support elsewhere, we could end up with a second term president Clinton. A Clinton with nothing to loose. A Clinton who will appoint two Supreme Court Justices, and cost us thirty years or more before we can take a second amendment case to the Supremes. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Trajectory Brad Alpert HR 1488 (repeal of the "assault weapon" ban) is stuck in the House. Rep. Bob Barr recently removed odious provisions which would potentially have federalized most gun crimes. Happily, this modification satisfied those who considered such federalization as a poison pill, constituting grounds for opposing the entire bill. I believe that we can thank Larry Pratt of GOA for putting enough pressure on Congressman Barr that the offending provision (Section 3) was removed. I compete in DCM matches under the auspices of Pioneer Gun Club. These competitions involve 50 shots for record with 2 "sighters", for a total of 52 rounds. At the last match it occurred to me that that there are 52 weeks in a year, and if each one of the competitors present would write just one letter or make one phone call to his representatives each week, our continued freedom to keep and bear arms would be in better shape than it is now. Colin Powell has put himself on record as supporting waiting periods and "other inconveniences" as a condition for gun ownership. Couple this with his support of affirmative action and continuance of the welfare state, and there remains little questions as to why he has been nominated for president by the Media Party. All politics are local, according to Tip O'Neill. Economics are too. We gunners should support our local arms industry whenever possible, and in that light, I want to recommend that you take a look at the product line of American Arms, Inc. Located in North Kansas City, the firm manufactures and imports a range of economical firearms. I recently purchased a PX-22 as a travel companion. This gun is basically a Walther TPH lookalike, and I am very pleased with it. It's a palm-sized semiauto, is accurate and reliable, and I am just pleased as can be with it. Impressions I have received from others indicate that quality and value are hallmarks of the entire American Arms product line. A company with a conscience, American Arms was a contributor to WMSA's Gunstock '94 rally, so let's support those who support us! The "Million Man March" at the Lincoln Mall in DC is happening as I write this. Lead by Benjamin Chavis (philandering embezzler, expelled by the NAACP), Marion Barry (convicted doper/jailbird/adulterer), and Louis Farrakhan (black separatist and anti-semitic racist), the March has captured the focus of the dominant media. I remember standing in a sea of patriotic gunowners at the same Mall last year. It was the Gunowners March on Washington and we enjoyed a media blackout. It's funny how "news" is selected and made, isn't it? WMSA Chief Instructor Linda Kimsey was at C.R. Specialty recently arranging the purchase of "course ammo" which the store kindly sells us at discount. At the moment of payment, she heard a voice from behind saying "I'll take care of that!". It turned out that the voice belonged to our friend, local attorney John Michael Quinn, who insisted on paying for the entire lot of ammo. On top of this random act of kindness, Mr. Quinn purchased a Colt .22 target pistol three months and gave it to us for course use. We owe a big thank you to this stalwart supporter! You've read about the sabotage of the train signals and track in Maricopa County, AZ which resulted in a wreck which killed and injured a number of people. You may not know that the FBI is working its way down the subscription list of a particular railroad magazine (there are about 30 subscribers in Arizona) which recently detailed a nearly identical act of sabotage of a passenger train earlier in this century. The FBI suspects that some murderous whackos may have used the historical piece as a blueprint for mayhem. The next time someone tells you "the First Amendment never killed anyone", remember the train wreck. Definitive proof that Charles Schumer's name is misspelled! Run your favorite spellchecker on his last name and you will see that his real name is "Schemer". ----------------------------------------------------------------- NRA-ILA FAX NETWORK 11250 Waples Mill Road * Fairfax, VA 22030 Phone: 1-800-392-8683 * Fax: 703-267-3918 Vol. 2, No. 45 10/13/95 NRA RADIO HITS THE AIRWAVES! This is the opportunity we've been waiting for! Starting Sunday, October 15, from 8:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. e.s.t., NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre will take to the airwaves of the NBC Radio Network for two hours of unedited, undistorted and undiluted talk about guns, crime and freedom. With the help of a host of special guests, Wayne will dispel the myths, quell the rumors and answer our critics in an open forum. The show is being offered by NBC on a trial basis, so only a modest number of the 300 independently-owned NBC radio stations will air Sunday's program. In order to ensure a permanent national broadcast, we must show NBC that there is a strong base of audience support for this program. Members: please consult your local yellow pages under "Radio," locate the NBC radio station in your area, then contact the station manager and urge him to air the "Wayne LaPierre Show." Call today and tune in on Sunday! NRA-BACKED REPEAL BILL STILL ALIVE IN CONGRESS The U.S. Senate did not take action this week on key government appropriations bills that contain two NRA-supported amendments. This gives us a little extra time to put some pressure on our Senators to support these two measures _ the Smith Amendment and the Istook/McIntosh Amendment (see Fax Alert Vol. 2, No. 44). These amendments seek to level the playing field for groups like NRA-ILA _ whose pro-Second Amendment stand has been under attack for years by organizations and study groups that are heavily funded by taxpayer dollars. As you know, NRA-ILA receives no taxpayer dollars at all! We must fund our lobbying activities and studies through the generous contributions of our members. These Amendments make sure that other groups have to do so as well. Members: please contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to take up the appropriations bills & support the Smith Amendment and the Istook/McIntosh Amendment! Your Senators can be reached by calling (202) 224-3121. Representative Bob Barr's (R-Ga.) recent changes to the bill, H.R. 1488 _ legislation to repeal President Clinton's 1994 gun and magazine ban _ picked up new co-sponsors this week, but we still have a long way to go! Help spread the word throughout your community and encourage your family, friends and fellow club members to contact their U.S. Representatives and urge them to sign on and support H.R. 1488! For a fact sheet with more information on the proposed changes to H.R. 1488, please call NRA-ILA at 1-800-392-8683. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- From the Hart Carolyn Hart Several weeks ago an acquaintance approached me with a letter she had received from the Internal Revenue Service. She knew that I write on a part-time basis, and wanted some suggestions as to how to respond to the IRS letter, which was a demand for more money for the fiscal year ending 12/31/92. I gave her my advice, which was to write and tell the IRS that her tax preparer for that year had arrived at a much lower figure, which had been paid, and that she would like an explanation of how the IRS had arrived at their amount. I offered to type it up in the computer for her, and all she would have to do is sign it. "Oh, no," she said. "I'm going to write it out in longhand, and misspell a few words so it doesn't look like I'm too smart. If you act like you're a little bit afraid of them, you don't get in so much trouble." About the same time, another acquaintance told me that during a phone conversation with an IRS representative (the IRS had called him at home), his dogs started barking because someone had driven up in his driveway. The IRS representative said arrogantly "If you don't stop those dogs barking, I'm going to hang up. We can't talk with those dogs barking." The poor man did his best to quiet the dogs instead of hanging up on the IRS agent. Then, just last week, a friend who lives in a rural county was complaining about the actions of the local sheriff. I commented that he should find out when the next election would be held, and work for whoever would be running against the incumbent sheriff. "Not a good idea," he said. "I'd be afraid to work against this guy. He's been known to come down on people who oppose him for re-election." My own mother, after reading some of my columns regarding the arrogant and un-Constitutional behavior of many branches of government, told me that I write very well and that the columns were good (mothers are like that!). "But I'm afraid for you, too," she said. "You might attract attention from the wrong people," meaning the government agencies that I write about. Is this the United States of America, or is this some third world dictatorship where the people live in fear and intimidation? Thomas Jefferson said "When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." Many of the people of the United States of America fear their government. This has been substantiated by a USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll taken in April which revealed that 39% of those polled felt that the government "posed an immediate threat to their rights and freedoms." When the word "immediate" was removed, 52% agreed with the statement. America is beginning the slide toward tyranny that Plato warned about when he discussed democracy. He said that democracy would inevitably degenerate into anarchy, and then to tyranny. We are perhaps seeing the anarchy phase now, with the crime and drugs in the cities, and the closing of Pennsylvania Avenue, C Street and Delaware Avenue in Washington, DC. Our elected representatives have barricaded themselves against their own constituents. The original form of government of the United States was a republic, which protects the rights of the individual. Not until Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933 was this country referred to as a democracy, which rules by majority regardless of individual rights. The distinction is clear, and applies to the United States today. We may be seeing the beginning of the tyranny phase of Plato's theory as well. Individual rights are violated by the income tax which takes money from some to give to others as the government sees fit. The Endangered Species Act violates private property rights by dictating how the owner may use his property. The Department of Housing and Urban Development sues American citizens who dare to verbally protest the locating of houses for the "disadvantaged" in their neighborhoods because they fear the behavior of the drug addicts that will be housed there. The President of the United States permits "sweep searches" of public housing without warrants, and requests even more power to investigate American citizens who might, just might, commit a crime. The President says that Americans have a radical amount of freedom, and believes that he has a personal mission to limit that freedom. Americans have had just about all they can take of the arrogance and dictatorial behavior of government officials. When government becomes tyrannical, it must be reined in by the people themselves. Keeping one's mouth shut and cowering in a corner will accomplish nothing. All Americans out there who refuse to join and contribute to Constitutional activist groups because they "don't want to be on someone's list" are aggravating the problem. Elected officials have no way of knowing the strength of the people or their disgust with government unless they are told by the people themselves. Those who avoid voting, or who are afraid to communicate their wishes to their representatives are enabling the government to increase its power with impunity. Those who are not willing to stand up publicly for what they believe in, those who are not willing to draw a line in the sand and say "This far will you go, and no further," do not deserve the liberty that they profess to cherish. --- Editors Note: Due to the failure of a text conversion program and my subsequently having neglected to compare the output to the original, the final paragraph of Carolyn's essay was dropped last month. It follows, below, with my abject apologies: ... Americans are being betrayed by politicians and bureaucrats who use hard-earned tax money to restrict the right of the people to protect themselves. These aloof guardians of the public well-being are ensconced behind barricades and protected by police and security guards against criminal attack. Meanwhile, they have left the rest of us to face the mean streets and the criminal perpetrators with little or no protection. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Loving Your Country and Hating Your Government by Jacob G. Hornberger Several months ago, President Clinton condemned Americans who exposed and criticized wrongdoing by the U.S. government. The president said: "There's nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country." Let us examine the implications of the president's claim. In the 1930s and throughout World War II, there were a small group of German citizens who sacrificed their lives resisting the Nazi regime. They believed that the true patriot was the person who lived his life according to a certain set of moral principles. When one's own government violated those principles, it was the duty of the patriot, these Germans believed, to resist. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime, on the other hand, believed that the real patriot is the citizen who supports his government, especially in times of crisis and war. The traitors, in their eyes, were the Germans who opposed the Nazi government, especially after the war had begun. The story of the small number of Germans who resisted the Nazi regime is told in a recent book, An Honourable Defeat (1994) by Anton Gill. Gill points out that by the end of the war, most of the German resisters had been identified by the Gestapo and murdered. Gill points out: That this is the story of a defeat none will doubt. Some will dispute that it was an honourable one. It is certainly not the story of a failure. Against terrible odds and in appalling circumstances a small group of people kept the spirit of German integrity alive, and with it the elusive spirit of humanity. We should all be grateful to them for that. What would President Clinton say about these resisters? Undoubtedly, he would call them troublemaking traitors to the Nazi regime. After all, the president would ask, how could these people claim to love their country and, at the same time, claim to hate the Nazi government? The real patriot, the president would say, was the German citizen who loved his country and, therefore, his government. As President Clinton would have said to the German resisters, "There's nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country." What about the British colonists living in American in 1776? They certainly had no love for their government. When we celebrate the Fourth of July, it is easy to forget the real implications of what happened during the fight for independence. It is important to remember that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, John Hancock, and the like were not American citizens when they signed the Declaration of Independence. They were as British as you and I are Americans. And they hated the philosophy and policies of King George, taxation, economic regulation, immigration controls, trade restrictions, and so forth. The colonists were violent men. They did everything they could to kill the soldiers who fought on the side of their own government. On the other hand, British soldiers did all they could to bring death to their fellow citizens. As we celebrate the Fourth of July each year with our fireworks and picnics, we tend to forget that real people with real families were deliberately killed on both sides of the conflict. Were the colonists patriots? Certainly the British government did not think so. Nathan Hale (who regretted that he had but one life to give for his country) was hung because he was a traitor to his government. If the rebellion had failed, there is no doubt that the signers of the Declaration of Independence would have all been put to death by their own government officials, for treason. What would be President Clinton's position with respect to the War for Independence? On the surface, he would, of course, sing the praises of America's Founding Fathers and American Independence Day. But this would only mask a deep-seated resentment against the colonists. What gave them the right to take up arms against their own government? Clinton would ask. They had no right to resist tyranny by force. They should have continued to plead and lobby for political representation in the Parliament. William Jefferson Clinton would have said to Thomas Jefferson: "There's nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country." A hundred and fifty years ago, a small band of Mexican citizens took up arms against its own government. Despite popular misconceptions, Sam Houston, Jim Bowie, David Crockett, William Travis, and the other rebels at the Alamo, Goliad, and San Jacinto were not Americans. They were not Texans. They were Mexican citizens. They had pledged allegiance to the flag of the Republic of Mexico. Why did they engage in violent acts against their own government officials? Because they hated the regulations and the taxation that the Mexican president, Santa Ana, was imposing on them. Were the rebels patriots or traitors? Their position was that patriotism meant devotion to ideas like liberty and property. They believed that the real patriot, the person who loves freedom, resists his own government when his government becomes destructive of fundamental rights. Of course, Santa Ana took the position that these Mexicans were, instead, traitors to their government and their country. Unfortunately, President Clinton would share Santa Ana's perspective. By becoming Mexican citizens, he would say, the colonists had pledged to support their government officials, even when the latter were taxing and regulating them. It was wrong, President Clinton would claim, for the Mexican colonists to have considered themselves patriots. After all, "There's nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country." Actually, the president's mind-set is the same as that held by tyrants throughout history. In the mind of the ruler, the government and the country are one and the same. The citizen who has the temerity to expose and criticize wrongdoing by his own government is, ipso facto, a traitor to his country. The citizen who supports his government's conduct, no matter how evil or destructive, and who doesn't ask uncomfortable questions, is a real "loyalist." Consider the deaths at Ruby Ridge and Waco. At Ruby Ridge, U.S. government officials persuaded Randy Weaver to commit a crime_selling them a shotgun that was one-fourth inch too short. After a U.S. marshal was killed in a subsequent shoot-out at the Weaver home, the FBI put out the following order: Do not demand a surrender; do not try to arrest; we do not want a jury trial here; instead, take them out; kill them all; shoot them until they are dead; teach them that no one kills a federal official, not even in self-defense; but make it look good by ensuring that the victims were armed. So, after having shot Weaver's 14-year-old son in the back, the feds shot Weaver's wife Vicki in the head. Fortunately, they were unsuccessful in killing Weaver and were humiliated by the jury at Weaver's trial. Was that the end of it? Oh, no. The FBI then engaged in a cover-up of this Latin American-style death squad's conduct. FBI officials falsified and destroyed documents, perjured themselves, conspired to obstruct justice, and refused to obey orders from the U.S. Attorney's Office. In their minds, the FBI is an independent, national, patriotic police force (like the Gestapo and the KGB) that can punish citizens with impunity, without the time and trouble of a trial, and without having to answer to anyone. Has any federal official been brought to trial for murder, perjury, conspiracy, or obstruction of justice? Of course not. The feds have tried to buy justice by paying Weaver and his children $3.1 million. The money, of course, came from American taxpayers, not those who committed the crimes. What happens if a taxpayer refuses to pay his taxes by claiming that the taxpayer did not commit the crimes? They kill him and call it "resisting arrest." All of this is what Justice Department employees term "justice." Of course, the federal attitude towards what happened at Waco is exactly the same. Federal officials secured a search warrant from a federal judge under a perjured affidavit. They decided against a low- profile search of the premises and against apprehending the Branch Davidian leader, David Koresh, outside the compound. They needed a bigger "splash" for upcoming budget hearings. So, the feds planned a high-profile raid that they termed "Showtime." But "Showtime" did not quite work out as planned, for several federal officials lost their lives in the raid. And the deaths of those officials ultimately sealed the fate of the Branch Davidians. No one can ever accuse U.S. government officials of playing "softball", "kill a federal official, and you won't have to worry about a trial or anything else." The recent movie Braveheart shows that political attitudes toward defiant citizenry have not changed much over the centuries. The attitude of King Edward and his minions toward the Scottish people many centuries ago was quite similar to that of President Clinton and his underlings toward American dissidents. King Edward had Scottish people raped, tortured, and hanged for failing to pay proper deference to His Royalty; and His Highness never had even one ounce of remorse. Is President Clinton's and the Democrats' attitude toward American dissidents any different? It is true that FBI and BATF officials did not rape Vicki Weaver before they killed her, and that they did not rape the Branch Davidian women before they gassed and burned them. And we should give credit where credit is due. But is there any remorse whatsoever over the political killings of innocent people? In the recent congressional hearings on Waco, the Democrats, led by Congressman Charles Schumer, made a grand spectacle of being concerned about child abuse in the Branch Davidian compound. The implication was this: "Our concern for the Branch Davidian children is evidenced by our concern about possible child abuse in the compound." What nonsense. The truth is that the Democrats did not care one bit for the Branch Davidian children or for any other individual who was gassed and burned alive in the compound. How do we know this? Because, again, there is not one bit of remorse for the loss of life at Waco. The Democratic attitude is instead the same as that held by the FBI and the BATF: These were white-trash, weird people, and so it is no big deal that they, and their children, died. Moreover, the Democrats feel that since David Koresh might have been engaged in child abuse, then federal officials had the right to kill him without a trial (despite the fact that he is innocent until proven guilty), and, in the process, to kill the other hundred people who were not even accused of child abuse (including the dead children). And the Republicans? They are similar to the nobles in Braveheart. The nobles would pontificate on the virtues of freedom and the importance of principle. But as soon as the King offered them money and lands, the nobles would betray all of their ideals. Is this not the case with Republicans? Republicans are notorious for talking the libertarian talk, even now calling themselves libertarians, but they are totally unable to walk the libertarian walk. Offer them votes or campaign contributions or a congressional chairmanship, and they sell their souls very easily. Unfortunately, during the recent hearings on Waco, the Republicans were so concerned with upholding their law-and-order image that they treated the FBI and BATF with kid gloves. The Republicans think that if they expose police murders, conspiracies, perjuries, and cover-ups, this might hamper law enforcement in the future. Thus, Republicans did not even try to secure the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate and prosecute the FBI and BATF death-squad activity. More important, the Republicans failed to gain any reasonable assurance that the death squads would not be used again under "appropriate" circumstances. What was so uplifting about Braveheart was that small band of Scottish men, led by William Wallace, who loved their country and hated their government. Like many who had come before them, and who have come after them, they refused to compromise their principles. President Clinton was wrong when he said: "There's nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country." Throughout history, there have been courageous and honorable individuals, patriots, who have loved their country and hated their government. And, unfortunately, throughout history, there have also been weak and cowardly people, traitors, who have loved and supported the tyranny of their own government. It is to the patriots, not the traitors, that we owe Magna Charta, the Petition of Right, habeas corpus, the presumption of innocence, trial by jury, due process of law, private property, and so many other aspects of human freedom. It is the patriots, not the traitors, who have remained steadfast for principles of right, even when it meant incurring the wrath and retribution of their own government officials. And it will be the patriots, not the traitors, who ultimately triumph in America and end our government of the pestilence that pervades it, so that, once again, American patriots will love their country and not hate their government. Mr. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENTS Terry W. Skinner WMSA General Membership Meeting...............Nov. 1 WMSA Board Meeting............................Nov. 14 WMSA's NRA Personal Defense Course............Nov. 19 The next General Membership meeting will be held Wednesday, November, and will be held at the usual place - Trails West Library, 11401 E. 23rd Street at 7pm. The speaker will be announced later. Not much else is going on in the month of November. People are going hunting and getting ready for Thanksgiving. So, have a Great Time! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Poetry from Chris Ferris Schumer in the crow's nest to Captain Wee Willie C., These Waco hearings, Cap, why, they've gotten to me, With Lantos and Taylor, we were "navigators three", We watched for "truth icebergs" in this heavy, rough sea. We shucked and we jived and we struggled to divert, We 'controlled big time damage' til we sweat through our shirts, But now, Big Boss Willie, your ship is fast sinkin', And into the lifeboats me n' Lantos will be slinkin'. We'll leave behind Taylor, with his Mississippi drawl, As the WACO goes under, he can shout: "Bye, you all!" Yes, the WACO struck an iceberg as you sipped vermouth, On the side of the berg, Boss, was stenciled: THE TRUTH. The WACO listed to starboard, you recalled the POSEIDON, But instead of Leslie Nielsen, you called for Joe Biden, You shouted, "Sarah Brady, go break out the flare gun!", Then she meekly responded, "But, Boss, oops, we have none!" Sarah had no pyrotechnics hidden underneath her dress, She had no flare pistol with which to signal distress, As the WACO, she foundered, oh, and this was the worst, Boss Willie, you shouted: Save ME, people, first!" Then the U boat, she surfaced, slightly off to port, And she fired four torpedoes, I'm sad to report, "Fire One", "Fire Two", "Fire Three" and "Fire Four", Shouted Zeliff and McCollum with a unified roar. Slammed by icebergs of truth and fact finding torpedoes, The WACO's hull has shattered, its strength's been exceeded, As you stole Sarah's life jacket and her HCI dress, L'il Boy George Steffie sent out one final S-O-S. Me n' Lantos are now rowin' for our lives in a panic, We won't get sucked down as WACO pulls a TITANIC, You're headin', Boss, to the bottom of a D.C. atoll, To be marked by a buoy labeled: "sunk by gun control". ******************************* Chuck Schumer to Willie, please come out of the bunker, Waco hearings are over, bro, there's no need to hunker, We danced and we rapped and we shucked and we jived, When we saw the "truth", distant, we out and out lied! We shammed and we slammed, we diverted the focus, We fuzzed up the "goal" with some real hocus pocus, "Bill Clinton's Magicians", that's what most people called us, And when the show was over, Bill Zeliff hadn't stalled us. We were mostly successful, but some dung we did step in, Like when Aunt Janet Reno called a tank "not a weapon", See, because the tanks present had no one-oh-five guns, They were stamped "Cleared For Use By Bill's FBI Nuns". Yeah, I know, Chief Gun Hater, her words make me wary, Now she screws up by terming tanks "not military", I know what you're thinkin', Boss, and I'm worried, too, If gun owners heard Janet, Lord, what will we then do? If tanks are "not weapons" fit for military uses, Yikes, we'll hang by those words, Janet rigged up our nooses, If tanks are "not weapons", 'cause they missin' one item, What if people thus view "rifles", 'cause Janet did incite 'em? Rifles, semi-auto? oops, "not weapons" of war, 'Cause they're "not military", at least, not any more, Why, they're lacking that switch with which to go "auto", Kiss goodbye the gun ban for which we had fought, oh. Yes, Janet's ill chosen words making toys out of tanks, Are knives in our backs for which we owe her no thanks, Now despite my assertions quite to the con-trary, Semi-auto black guns are "not weapons, military!" Yes, just like the tanks called by Reno: "rental cars", Black guns will be called by their owners: "long steel bars", Yes, that's right, Super Prez, your AG dropped the ball, She said, "Tanks are not weapons!", now, we'll take a hard fall. If tanks are "not weapons", well, then, what of "banned guns", Bill, I think Butchie Reno spent too long in the sun, These Reno-esque words, Boss, will come back to haunt us, At every Town Meeting, the voters will taunt us! Yeah, the press loved ol' Janet in her bright orange dress, But, Willie, Big Janet has sure left us a mess, Saying tanks are "not weapons", merely "cars loaned by Avis", From this kind of "logic", Sarah Brady won't save us! Christopher C. Ferris ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Western Missouri Shooters Alliance Address business correspondence to: WMSA POB 11144 Kansas City, MO 64119 Direct editorial correspondence to: Brad Alpert, Editor BULLET 1553 SW 25 Kingsville, MO 64061 Direct Defense Course inquiries to editorial address. All material contained herein is copyright WMSA and may be reprinted unless otherwise specified, with attribution to this publication, author, and date of issue. Unsigned material is written by the Editor, Brad Alpert -----------------------------------------------------------------------