Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs,talk.politics.guns
From: [m g r] at [anhep2.hep.anl.gov] (Dr. mike)
Subject: Thanks for NRA membership
Date: Fri, 6 Aug 1993 13:52:13 GMT
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I'm thinking of sending the following to the magazine "American
Rifleman". I have donned my asbestos suit and am ready for flames!
e-mail guarantees I'll read it. Hope you have as much fun reading it
as I've had writing it.
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The following article started out as a thank you note but
the August issue of American Rifleman has too many subjects for me
to ignore. After explaining how I became an NRA member for free
(the thank you part) I will cover gun control ["Kids & Guns", page
42], the police state agenda [page 58], and our over crowded
prisons [Criminals" page 59].
In the marijuana movement I go by the name "Dr. mike" (small
m on purpose). The doctor comes from my Ph.D. in nuclear
engineering. I regularly visit "the net" and saw an anonymous
posting for free membership in the NRA - all I had to do was send
in a 200 word essay and bingo - I'd be a member on somebody elses
tab. I've never owned a gun but as I watch our freedoms rapidly
disappear I've always admired and respected what the NRA has
accomplished in maintaining what I consider the last resort
against oppresive government - armed revolution. I've never
worried about outside invasion because I know how to build
thermonuclear warheads as well as particle beam weapons [a.k.a.
"Star Wars"].
I sent my essay electronically and received my membership card
and hat a couple of months later. I've had nothing but positive
comments from friends. Complete strangers have walked up to me
and said "I'm really glad to see you wear that hat in public. I
wish more people did." It's amazing! What's even more amazing is
the similarity of the "War on Drugs" to the attempt to eliminate
semi-automatic weapons.
For example, in the "Kids & Guns" article it states "All the
scholarly research has found that laws like the Brady bill have no
statistically significant impact on crime. But the whole idea of
asking people to 'do it for our kids' is to avoid such analysis."
All the scholarly research on marijuana shows it is less harmful
than any other drug, it has medical uses, and the laws which
prohibit it are more dangerous than the drug itself. Even the
DEA's own judge ruled in 1988 "marijuana, in its natural form, is
the safest therapeutically active substance known to man." But we
keep it illegal because we don't want to "send the message to our
kids." Invoking children allows us to ignore facts. It worked on
drugs, it will work on guns too.
People in the marijuana movement have been talking about our
present police state for a long time. The Bill of Rights does not
exist for drug cases. Property can be confiscated without arrest
much less a trial. You are assumed guilty of drug use and must
piss into a bottle to prove your innocence on many jobs. Like the
former Soviet Union, our children are being trained to turn in
their parents. Once handguns are outlawed this same technique
will be used to ensure that nobody is hiding any guns. An eight
year old won't understand why your house was taken away, simply
because he told a friendly teacher that you had protection against
thieves.
Our prisons are over crowded with drug cases. According to
the Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin "Prisoners in 1992"
there are more people in prison for drug offenses than for any
other crime. And in "Federal Criminal Case Processing, 1980-90"
they clearly show that rapists do less time behind bars than drug
offenders. In 1991 the average time behind bars for rape was 70.8
months, for drug trafficking it was 86.1 months. Here in Illinois
our prisons are operating at 150% of capacity and it is estimated
that by 1994 there will have to be a revolving door policy - you
can't put any more in unless you let some out.
The Illinois legislature has decided to let people get out in
1/3 the time instead of 1/2 the time that they normally get for
good behavior. Since drug cases have mandatory minimums they
don't get time off. So people caught smoking pot do more time
than rapists and we can't afford to build more prisons because our
taxes are too high already. Passing the "three strikes and you're
out" law might feel good, but it won't cure the problem.
If the "War on Drugs" is any indication of what's in store
for gun owners, you can say goodbye to factual information and
logic. There are a few irresponsible drug users just as there are
a few irresponsible gun owners. People who have no regard for
public safety should be locked up. But just as the vast majority
of gun owners are responsible and safety conscious, the vast
majority of marijuana users also behave responsibly and protect
public safety.
25 years ago Richard Nixon coined the phrase "War on Drugs".
He was worried about marijuana. Today, we chase crack cocaine and
few police worry about marijuana. When we make semi-automatic
weapons illegal, the people who own them will hide them. But as
time goes on, the availability of more powerful weapons will
appear in larger numbers. After all, fully automatic weapons are
illegal today, and a few criminals own one. If you want to buy an
illegal gun, of any kind, you'll go for the most bang for your
buck. And we'll see lots more fully automatic weapons in the
hands of responsible citizens. Just like we see marijuana in
the hands of responsible citizens.
To whoever is paying for my NRA membership, thank you. At
present all "hempsters" ARE criminals - all 30 to 50 million of
us. If Handgun Control Inc. is successful, I'll still be a
criminal. Will you?
Patience, persistence, truth, work: [d--ad--r] at [hemp-imi.hep.anl.gov]
Dr. mike home: [m--s--g] at [igc.org]
IMI, P.O. Box 2242, Darien IL 60559, 708-859-0499
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