Well, I've had some reservations about Ashcroft, but if he sticks to his guns (no pun intended) on this, I'll consider that he has redeemed himself.
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Attorney General John Ashcroft says the Justice Department is moving to
reaffirm a long-held opinion that all law-abiding citizens have the
individual right to keep and bear firearms. It is a move that is likely to
enrage liberals who enjoyed eight years of anti-gun support from the
Clinton Administration. In a letter to the National Rifle Association,
Ashcroft says that during his confirmation hearings, he was reminded that
some hold a different view on the right to bear arms -- a view, he says,
that would "read the Second Amendment out of the Constitution." Ashcroft
says he respectfully disagrees with that view, because when he was sworn in
as Attorney General, he took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution.
And Ashcroft says that applies to all parts of the Constitution.
The Washington Times, which has obtained a copy of the letter, says
Ashcroft argues the text and the original intent of the Second Amendment
clearly protects the rights of individuals to keep and bear arms.
Mark Levin, former chief of staff to Attorney General Ed Meese, is praising
the Ashcroft statement. He tells The Times "the right to bear arms is no
less a right than the right to free speech." Levin says the problem with
liberals is that "they wish to pick and choose between individual liberties
and scuttle those with which they disagree."
Anti-Gun Bias
Meanwhile, a leading opinion pollster attributes the media's anti-gun bias
to their lack of real knowledge on the issue. Kellyanne Conway is president
of the Polling Company. She told a seminar on media coverage at the
National Rifle Association Convention, that the bias stems from the fact
that most reporters and anchors do not know much about guns.
Conway said, "The reason the media are so set against gun issues is because
they literally don't know anyone who owns a gun."
Conway told the group that many national correspondents and anchors are out
of touch with ordinary people because they "live in gated communities and
they have all the disposable income and plastic surgeons and diamond
jewelry," thus giving them the freedom to talk about things the rest of
America really does not focus on.
Conway urged NRA members not to believe what the media says about them or
the organization and its activities. She said, "The fact is, the NRA is
increasing membership to 4.3 million members, while at the same time,
there's a collateral drop off in readership of these major national
newspapers, and more importantly, the viewership of these nightly network
news programs."
NRA - Campaign Finance Reform
At the annual Convention held this past week in Kansas City, the NRA
announced it intends to fight the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform
Bill. Executive vice president Wayne LaPierre told an enthusiastic crowd
that the campaign finance bill violates the Constitution and criminalizes
free speech in America.
"As long as there is a National Rifle Association," LaPierre said, "the
First Amendment will stand in defense of the Second, and the Second will
stand in defense of the First."
LaPierre also pledged if the bill passed, the NRA "would drop anchor in
international waters just off the coast and broadcast the truth from its
own television towers."
In a surprise move, Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia, a staunch NRA
supporter, took the podium and announced he accepted the NRA's challenge on
McCain-Feingold. He called the bill "the most serious and double- barreled
challenge to our Bill of Rights that any of us have witnessed in our
lifetime."
------- End of forwarded message -------
-- Best wishes It is the besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law. This is the usual form in which the masses of men exhibit their tyranny. -James Fenimore Cooper, _The American Democrat_ (1838) www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED] http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ctrl ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
