Matt -- we must protest when "our side" errs

Richard Stevens dial911book at yahoo.com
Tue Jul 3 16:00:46 PDT 2001


Dear Colleagues,

The July 2001 Issue of NRA's America's First Freedom
magazine featured a cover picture of John Ashcroft and
highlighted the story of Ashcroft's letter indicating
that "the Constitution protects the private ownership
of firearms for lawful purposes."  The magazine (at
pp. 35-37) exults in the reversal of Justice
Department policy on the Second Amendment.

That's great.  On page 37, the NRA reprints Ashcroft's
letter -- as though it were *in full* -- but omits the
footnote that exists in Ashcroft's actual letter.

As you know, Ashcroft also said in that footnote in
his letter that the Constitution "does not prohibit
Congress from enacting laws restricting firearms
ownership for compelling state interests, such as
prohibiting firearms ownership by convicted felons."

The NRA omitted a key element of Ashcroft's position
- -- and then published the letter as though it were
complete.

That omission is a terrible distortion -- and
seriously damages NRA's credibility with those of us
who know the whole truth.  What else might the NRA
choose to omit, where the omission serves a PR
purpose?  Are their reports from the UN correct?
Their reports about lobbying efforts and the positions
taken by NRA-backed candidates?

I wonder who at the NRA thought it was a good idea to
distort the facts, and conceal the somewhat negative
truth, just to advance the appearance of NRA success?
That's the conduct we came to expect from HCI & Co.
... now it has infected the NRA.

Members like me should demand the NRA publish an
accounting of this mistake, fire the person who made
the mistake, apologize and repent from such conduct.

- --Richard Stevens
(my personal views only)

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Matthew Gaylor, (614) 313-5722  ICQ: 106212065   Archived at 
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<TITLE>RE: General Ashcroft make his move</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>I get the NRA's American Rifleman magazine. The July issue also has</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>an article about Ashcroft's letter, which does not quote the rather</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>lengthy footnote. However, it does contain a legible image of BOTH</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>pages of the letter, including the ENTIRE text of the footnote. This</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>is hardly the action of an organization bent on distorting Ashcroft's</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>view on the Second Amendment. Stupid editing on the part of the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>America's First Freedom team, perhaps, but not an organization-wide</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>conspiracy.</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>Jonathan Wienke</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>- -----Original Message-----</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>From: Matthew Gaylor [<A HREF="mailto:freematt at coil.com">mailto:freematt at coil.com</A>]</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2001 12:01 PM</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>To: George at Orwellian.Org</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Cc: cypherpunks at cyberpass.net</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Subject: Re: General Ashcroft make his move</FONT>
</P>
<BR>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>[Note from Matthew Gaylor:  Richard Stevens is author of the recent </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>book "Dial 911 and Die" published by the Jews for the Preservation of</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Firearms Ownership.   <A HREF="http://www.jpfo.org" TARGET="_blank">http://www.jpfo.org</A> ]</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 16:00:46 -0700 (PDT)</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>From: Richard Stevens <dial911book at yahoo.com></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Subject: Matt -- we must protest when "our side" errs</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt at coil.com></FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>Dear Colleagues,</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>The July 2001 Issue of NRA's America's First Freedom</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>magazine featured a cover picture of John Ashcroft and</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>highlighted the story of Ashcroft's letter indicating</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>that "the Constitution protects the private ownership</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>of firearms for lawful purposes."  The magazine (at</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>pp. 35-37) exults in the reversal of Justice</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Department policy on the Second Amendment.</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>That's great.  On page 37, the NRA reprints Ashcroft's</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>letter -- as though it were *in full* -- but omits the</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>footnote that exists in Ashcroft's actual letter.</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>As you know, Ashcroft also said in that footnote in</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>his letter that the Constitution "does not prohibit</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Congress from enacting laws restricting firearms</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>ownership for compelling state interests, such as</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>prohibiting firearms ownership by convicted felons."</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>The NRA omitted a key element of Ashcroft's position</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>- -- and then published the letter as though it were</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>complete.</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>That omission is a terrible distortion -- and</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>seriously damages NRA's credibility with those of us</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>who know the whole truth.  What else might the NRA</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>choose to omit, where the omission serves a PR</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>purpose?  Are their reports from the UN correct?</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Their reports about lobbying efforts and the positions</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>taken by NRA-backed candidates?</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>I wonder who at the NRA thought it was a good idea to</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>distort the facts, and conceal the somewhat negative</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>truth, just to advance the appearance of NRA success?</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>That's the conduct we came to expect from HCI & Co.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>... now it has infected the NRA.</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>Members like me should demand the NRA publish an</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>accounting of this mistake, fire the person who made</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>the mistake, apologize and repent from such conduct.</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>- --Richard Stevens</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>(my personal views only)</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=2>**********************************************************************</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>****</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Send a blank message to: freematt at coil.com with the words subscribe</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>FA</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>week)</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Matthew Gaylor, (614) 313-5722  ICQ: 106212065   Archived at </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/" TARGET="_blank">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>**********************************************************************</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>****</FONT>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=2>FTy4IcWnLsgciXWgV25+IeDS</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>=NOgR</FONT>
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