In a message dated 6/16/01 10:01:51 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< "Gun registration is not enough. Waiting periods
are only a step. Registration is only a step. The
prohibition of private firearms is the goal." - Janet Reno >>
I was pretty sure this one was bogus, too, -- it's just too silly to be true
-- but it took me a little longer to find the evidence. From the Free
Republic site (not a bastion of liberalism, as I understand it):
According to editorials by Martin Dyckman, published in the St. Petersburg
Times May 2 and May 28, 1995, the "quote" appears to have originated with an
affidavit written by Fred Diamond of Miami, FL who claimed to have heard Reno
speak in Coral Gables (not Fort Lauderdale) "on or about November 1, 1984".
According to Diamond's affidavit, "Janet Reno told the members of our group
assembled, that waiting periods were only a step, that registration was only
a step, and further that the prohibition of the private ownership of firearms
was the only ultimate solution to controlling crime. I was shocked and
appalled to hear her, an elected public official sworn to uphold and defend
the Constitution, espouse and advocate a position that would effectively
repeal the guarantees of the Second Amendment."
Early in 1993, after Reno was nominated to be Attorney General, Diamond
talked to Marion Hammer, then the National Rifle Association's Florida
lobbyist, and NRA sent him affidavits to sign. Diamond says he rejected their
first draft. Subsequently, Hammer's newsletter, Florida Firing Line,
published an article on Reno in March 1993, including almost word for word
the key passage from Diamond's affidavit about what Reno allegedly said, but
the newsletter put the speech in 1991, not 1984. Diamond didn't sign the
affidavit (with the correct year) until June 17, 1993, after Reno had already
been confirmed.
Reno has been questioned about the "quote" and denies having said it, either
in 1991 or 1984. A spokesman for the Justice Department, Bert Brandenburg,
told the New York Times syndicate: "The assertion is untrue and the attorney
general has never made such a statement" (Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 2,
1995). The Reno "quote" has appeared in print elsewhere, including National
Review on May 29, 1995 as part of an article by Alan W. Bock about the
militia movement; and was reprinted in a Guns and Ammo editorial by Ed Moats
on concealed carry in October of 1996.
Patrick Sweeney
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
