Date: Sat, 29 Apr 95 22:49:00 UTC
From: [s--ts--v] at [genie.geis.com]
To: [gr conf] at [Mainstream.com], [n--b--n] at [Mainstream.com]
Subject: Domestic Tranquility

 The following article is under submission.  Permission to post
 this unaltered file in computer message bases and file bases
 granted for informational purposes only.  Copyright (c) 1995
 by J. Neil Schulman.  All other rights reserved.
 
 
 
              HOW ABOUT SOME DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY?
 
                       by J. Neil Schulman
 
 
     "WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to ...
     insure domestic Tranquility ... do ordain and establish
     this Constitution for the United States of America."
          -- Preamble to the Constitution
 
     If the terrorist bombing of the Murrah federal building in
Oklahoma City has proved anything, it's that extremists love
company.
 
     The Oklahoma City bombing was an act of extreme madness, and
only extremists could profit from it.  If the bombers had any
method to their madness, it was their intent to turn the rest of
us into extremists, too.  Of course, they didn't have to work
very hard.
 
     Haven't we heard President Clinton take off after talk
radio, trying to tar Rush Limbaugh and Gordon Liddy with the
extremist label?  Haven't we seen Congressman Charles Schumer of
New York call the NRA fanatics, gun nuts, and liars who foster an
atmosphere of paranoia?  Haven't we heard California Democratic
Party Chairman and talk show host, Bill Press, call for regarding
militia as enemies of the government to be infiltrated and
arrested?
 
     President Clinton, Charles Schumer, and Bill Press have this
in common with the Oklahoma bombers: they see political profit in
fostering paranoia.  But most of those whom they direct their
paranoia against are themselves innocent victims of the Oklahoma
City bombing.
 
     Certainly NRA activists who favor repeal of the anti-gun
provisions of the 1994 Crime Bill have seen no profit in it: the
bombing has delayed hearings on repeal legislation that would
likely have passed both houses of Congress by the end of next
month.
 
     Those who have been demanding Congressional investigations
of BATF and FBI agents for the deaths of innocent victims at Ruby
Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas could not have imagined that bombing
a day care center would further their cause.
 
     Members of the reserve militia who don camouflage gear and
play war games could not have thought that bombing a federal
building would win the American people to the idea that a well-
armed citizenry is a bulwark of the Bill of Rights.
 
     No.  The only people who benefit from acts of terrorism are
people in the terrorism business: terrorists and counter-
terrorists.  Terrorists who seek civil disorder thrive in an
atmosphere of paranoia.  Counter-terrorists who feed public
paranoia to gain larger budgets and greater latitude for
widespread spy operations give terrorists exactly what they want:
an atmosphere of paranoia to feed on.
 
     It's time to put those who feed on our fear on a diet.
 
     If we see the sort of men who might otherwise spend their
weekends bowling instead training to defend their homes against
federal agents wearing black Ninja suits, that's a good
indication that federal agents are creating a climate of terror
with the way they serve warrants.  Bringing civility back to the
way we conduct searches and arrests in this country would go a
long way to restoring public trust.
 
     We need to stop thinking of armed Americans, regardless of
whether they wear camouflage, as enemies.  Militia members say
they're bound to defend the Constitution of the United States.
Let's take them at their word.  If we want to know who they are,
the governor of any state has the right to muster the reserve
militia for inspection. To insure militia members that this
isn't a subterfuge for gun registration, the governor mustn't
require militia members to bring more than one rifle for
inspection.
 
     And it wouldn't hurt the Michigan Militia Corps, right now,
to promise everyone that if they have any leads on the Oklahoma
bombing or future terrorist plots, they'll notify the proper
authorities immediately.
 
     If a second trial of the police officers who beat up Rodney
King was necessary to ensure the African American community that
police brutality wouldn't be tolerated, then a first trial of the
federal officers whose imprudent raids resulted in the deaths of
the Weavers and the Branch Davidians is necessary to ensure all
Americans that when official conduct leads to the deaths of
innocents, those officers will likewise be held criminally
culpable.
 
     And if any federal agency must be given greater powers to
deal with domestic terrorism, it should be any other agency than
the BATF or FBI, whose official actions fanned these flames of
paranoia.  The Treasury and Justice Departments are overloaded
with drugs and counterfeiting; put investigation of domestic
terrorism under the Secretary of the Interior -- just to start
things off fresh with a new cast of players -- and let the
Interior Department investigators look into misconduct by
Treasury and Justice officials while they're at it.
 
     Finally, it's time to realize that the attempt to pretend
that the Second Amendment doesn't apply to the ordinary civilian
population -- the attempts by those who loathe guns to infringe
on "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" -- won't
reduce violence in this society, but merely create greater
opportunities for it.  The deaths in Oklahoma City weren't caused
by "assault weapons," but by cow droppings and truck fuel.  The
"trial of the century" in Judge Ito's courtroom is about the
terror a knife can create.  The government that doesn't trust the
people with their individual powers will find itself looked upon
with paranoid suspicion.
 
     And all of us have had quite enough of that.
 
                               ##
 
 J. NEIL SCHULMAN is the author of two Prometheus award-
 winning novels, Alongside Night and The Rainbow Cadenza,
 short fiction, nonfiction, and screenwritings, including the
 CBS Twilight Zone episode "Profile in Silver."  His latest
 book is STOPPING POWER: Why 70 Million Americans Own Guns.
 Schulman has been published in the Los Angeles Times and
 other national newspapers, as well as National Review,
 Reason, Liberty, and other magazines.  His LA Times article
 "If Gun Laws Work, Why Are We Afraid?" won the James Madison
 Award from the Second Amendment Foundation.  Schulman's books
 have been praised by Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, Anthony
 Burgess, Robert A. Heinlein, Colin Wilson, and many other
 prominent individuals.  Charlton Heston said of STOPPING POWER:
 "Mr. Schulman's book is the most cogent explanation of the gun
 issue I have yet read.  He presents the assault on the Second
 Amendment in frighteningly clear terms. Even the extremists who
 would ban firearms will learn from his lucid prose."
 
 
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