Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc
From: [an 25970] at [anon.penet.fi]
Subject: Victims Say No to Gun Control
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 13:44:36 UTC

 * Originally By: [C--a--g] at [mainstream.com]
 * Originally Re: Victims of Violence and G
 * Original Area: TlkPolGuns

For Immediate Release   Call Tom Wyld or Bill Powers

April 22, 1994                  NRA Public Affairs (703-267-3820)

Media Availability

VICTIMS OF CRIME -- AND GUN BANS -- LOBBY CAPITOL HILL

Their target:  The Schumer Gun Ban

Their goal:  Controlling Crime and Preserving their Constitutional
Rights

Washington, D.C. -- "Gun bans are the worst sort of practical joke,"
said Mrs. Tanya K. Metaksa,  NRA chief lobbyist.  "Citizens are
fooled that bans protect them while law-abiding gun owners are
threatened with imprisonment.  Only criminals and politicians exit
laughing."

Mrs. Metaksa will be joined in Washington, D.C., next week by a
number of law-abiding Americans who are victims of crime -- and
victims of gun bans.  All will visit Congressmen, and some will
testify before the Subcommittee on Crime 10:30 a.m. Monday, April 25
(2237 Rayburn).  

Jacquie Miller of Louisville, Kentucky, was one of several workers
shot four times by a man wielding a semiautomatic rifle at Standard
Gravure in Louisville, Kentucky.  She came within seconds of bringing
her privately owned handgun to bear on the attacker.  Still
recovering from wounds that place her in a wheel chair, Ms. Miller
remains a staunch self-defense advocate and believes that when guns
are banned, criminals win -- and crime victims lose.  

When an intruder broke into his parents' home, Phil Murphy of Tucson,
Arizona, merely chambered a round in his Colt AR-15 semiautomatic
rifle.  That was enough to hold a drug-riddled intruder at bay until
police arrived.  Now fighting Multiple Sclerosis, which makes ease of
firearm operation a paramount concern, Phil Murphy is bound for
Washington, D.C., to fight once more -- this time to defend his right
to own the firearm of his choice.  

Believing Penny O'Hanlon of Riverside, California, possessed an
"assault weapon" banned under state law, authorities arrested and
prosecuted her.  Despite a forensic expert who testified that her
rifle, an SKS, was not an "assault weapon" banned under California
law, the DA pressed the case against her, offering Ms. O'Hanlon jail
time, even  characterizing it as "a good deal."   Ha ving won the
fight for her freedom,  Ms. O'Hanlon is coming to Washington to fight
for her rights.

Also bound for Washington, D.C., is Dr. Suzanna Gratia of Texas who
believes that gun control kept her from her handgun at a time when
she needed it most -- for defense of self and family.  In Killeen,
Texas, Dr. Gratia was dining with her parents at Luby's Cafeteria
when patrons were attacked.  Twenty-two were killed, including Dr.
Gratia's parents. 

"I hope politicians have the nerve to tell Jacquie Miller or Dr.
Gratia why more restrictions would help them defend themselves, when
restrictions had failed them so tragically in the past," said Mrs.
Metaksa.  "I hope politicians can look Mr. Murphy in  the eye and
tell him why his gun is somehow evil, and I hope that can explain to
Penny O'Hanlon why jail time is a good deal' for mere exercise of a
constitutional right.   

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