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." Reply to: J. Neil Schulman Mail: P.O. Box 94, Long Beach, CA 90801-0094 Voice Mail & Fax: (500) 44-JNEIL JNS BBS: 1-500-44-JNEIL,,,,25 Internet: [s--ts--v] at [genie.geis.com]