From: [m--iw--r] at [f326.n3603.z1.FIDONET.ORG] (Matt Giwer)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: Nra testimony         2/4
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 93 21:47:00 PDT

   [ ...Continued From Previous Message ]


     Any firearm, semi-automatic or otherwise, capable of accepting a
detachable magazine can accept a magazine of any capacity.  In
addition to banning magazines, S. 683 requires registration of
existing magazines.

     It should be noted that in registering firearm magazines, S. 653
will also register law-abiding gun owners.  The Supreme Court ruled in
Haynes v. United States 390 U.S.85(1968) that criminals have a 5th
amendment right not to register a firearm.  Therefore, they would be
under no obligation to comply with a magazine registration law.
Furthermore, a magazine can be constructed by virtually any one with
knowledge of metal working.  Various firearms experts at the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms have testified that even an
inexperienced individual could change a magazine in one or two
seconds.

     It is important to point out that although the proponents of
these bills have advanced the argument that existing owners of
firearms and magazines are "grandfathered", there is no way to know
when a magazine has been manufactured.

     Moreover, high capacity magazines as defined by S. 453 are not a
significant factor in crime.  The annual firearms incident reports by
the New York City police department have found that the average number
of rounds fired by criminals during the course of incidents involving
firearms is consistently less that 3 rounds. The police involved fire
slightly more.

     The argument is being made that absent a high capacity magazine,
the recent tragic murders in San Francisco would not have occurred.
However, the list of heinous crimes in this country is hardly limited
to the use of any particular firearm and certainly not an "assault
weapon".

     * Richard Speck killed eight nurses with a knife,
     * Charles Whitman gunned down 14 people using a variety of
     common hunting rifles and revolvers from a tower at the
     University of Texas at Austin.  His overall total including
     those killed with a knife before climbing the tower was 18.
     * John Wayne Gacy killed at least 32 boys using quite a few
     different weapons to murder his victims, but no "assault
     weapons".
     * Ted Bundy confessed to murdering 30 young women, and hinted
     at possibly hundreds more.
     * Julio Gonzales killed 87 people with a couple of gallons of
     gasoline at the Happy Land Social club in New York City, the
     worst mass murder in a single incident in U.S. history.
     * Jeffrey Dahmer killed 17 victims by strangulation
     *David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, killed 6 people with a
     revolver.
     * Juan Corona killed 25 migrant workers by strangulation.
     * Priscilla Ford, who killed 7 and injured 23 people with her
     car.

     The point is, there is no corner on mass murder by those using
firearms, and to suggest that an individual who manifests violent
behavior would be stopped by restricting the availability of a
particular firearm is hardly credible, and not the basis for
formulating public policy.

     For example, a Member of this committee had an opinion article
published in the Washington Post regarding the recent tragic shootings
by Gian Luigi Ferri in San Francisco.  Obviously Ferri had deep seated
mental problems, yet appears to have no criminal record or recorded
history of mental illness.  There is no reason to believe he would
have been stopped even under California's strict fifteen day wait for
all firearms, regardless of what firearms are legal for purchase.

     The conclusion of the article is that the existence of the
specific firearm itself, with its potential for mayhem, is the cause
of the deaths and injuries, rather than the actions of a demented
individual.

     The Senator said that the DC-9, a semi-automatic handgun capable
of accepting a box magazine, was bought in Nevada, but could also have
been bought in California, and then makes much of the volume of
ammunition carried by Ferri loaded into "high- capacity" magazines.
Yet, any firearm capable of accepting a box magazine is capable of
accepting a high-capacity magazine.  There are literally tens of
millions of self-defense and sporting firearms that take such
magazines, both semi-automatic and manually operated, such as by a
bolt or even lever action.  Since the overwhelming number of firearms
that will take a box magazine are not used by criminals, banning any
firearm that will accept a box magazine is pointless for crime
control, but will have a tremendous impact on the lawful gun owner.

     However, the capability of the firearm used is hardly the major
factor in this event.  The sad truth is, this shooting was
methodically carried out in such a way that ample time was available
to facilitate reloading for practically any style of firearm ever
manufactured.  It could have been accomplished by a mad man or woman
using virtually any one of, or several for that matter, commonly
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 -- SPEED 1.30 >01<: Clinton to Gore. "How are things on the Hil?"


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Note:  These are only my own opinions...but others may agree!