AGS Continues To Lie
To Promote Attacks On Gun Shows
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"...since the term
'assault weapon' does not occur in Pennsylvania state law, we are at a
loss to even guess why AGS makes this fraudulent claim..." |
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The anti-gun lobbying group called
"Americans for Gun Safety" (AGS)
unveiled its latest attack on gun shows and the truth this week in an ad
it ran in
Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper. The ad claimed
"As
Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge signed legislation requiring
background checks for handgun and assault weapons sales at gun shows."
In fact, no part of this claim is even remotely true.
The truth is that
in praising Gov Ridge's signing of "The Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms
Act of 1995" (also known as
Act 17), AGS ironically praises legislation
that - unlike the bills it promotes - protected both gun shows and the
rights of those who conduct them and attend them.
The requirements for transferring handguns between individuals in
Pennsylvania were set in 1934, and Act 17 made no changes in the
requirements under which someone may lawfully transfer a handgun at a
gun show. Act 17 did specify that after the Pennsylvania instant check
system became operational, all persons purchasing any firearm from a
licensed dealer would be subject to a records check wherever the
purchase was made, but the law also continued the exemption of rifle and
shotgun transfers between law-abiding individuals who are not licensed
dealers from any requirement for a records check. And since the term
"assault weapon" does not occur in Pennsylvania state law, we are at a
loss to even guess why AGS makes this fraudulent claim.
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"...[AGS] has a highly focused and barely
hidden agenda - licensing law-abiding American gun owners and registering
every firearm they own..." |
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Furthermore, while Gov. Ridge did not change gun show rules in
Pennsylvania in the manner described by AGS, what Act 17 actually did,
ironically, is protect these events. This is in stark contrast to the
gun shows bill AGS is currently promoting -
S. 890, introduced by Senators
Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) - which, like Sen. Jack
Reed's (D-R.I.) S. 767, would end traditional American gun shows.
Act
17 did:
- define gun shows in a manner that specifically recognized and
respected their unique and temporary nature,
- recognize the superiority and effectiveness of an instant record
check system and eliminate the state's 60-year-old waiting period on
handgun purchases, and
- eliminate the need for a firearms dealer to obtain a separate
license in each county where he
might wish to conduct business at a gun show
But the lies don't stop there. AGS continues to refer to a mythical gun
show "loophole," and claims "convicted felons have known about this
loophole for years." The truth, however, is found in federal government
studies. The Bureau of Justice Statistics report
"Firearms Use by Offenders" -
based on interviews with 18,000 prison inmates - found less
than 1% of U.S. "crime guns" come from gun shows. This study, the
largest such study ever conducted by the federal government, is entirely
consistent with previous federal studies.
AGS also continues to stoop to injecting "terrorism" into the firearms
policy debate, but its attempts to link the case of an "IRA terrorist"
and gun shows is built on serial lies. The criminal in question may be
in prison, but the jury that convicted him acquitted him of the charge
that he was an IRA terrorist. This, as AGS knows, is public record.
More importantly, however, the guns in question were bought at gun shows
by "straw" purchasers (individuals with "clean" records who are willing
to illegally purchase firearms on behalf of criminals prohibited from
doing so) - and absolutely nothing in the legislation AGS deceitfully
promotes would have prevented those illegal acts. However, such "straw"
purchases are already prohibited under federal law.
The ad continues a pattern of deception seen as recently as last week.
As reported in
last week's FAX Alert, the AGS Foundation released a
report, "Broken Records," claiming to document the need to mandate an
indefinite waiting period for gun sales. State authorities have blasted
the report as inaccurate.
AGSF "should be given a failing grade for its shoddy research," said
Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Paul J. Evank. "The fact is that
the group did not contact State Police for information, which we would
have been happy to supply. With accurate information, I think AGSF
would have drawn a different conclusion."
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and a local BATF agent say that just
because some background checks are not completed within a three-day
period does not mean illegal gun sales are the result. "We check all
those out," said the BATF official in Kansas City, noting that "in many
cases, it turns out the person shouldn't have been blocked anyway." If
alerted that an illegal buyer obtained a gun, the agency goes after him,
the official said.
For the record, AGS is an organization whose sole founder, a former
Board member of Handgun Control, Inc., has a highly focused and barely
hidden agenda - licensing law-abiding American gun owners and registering
every firearm they own. As we
reported last week, a Capitol Hill
staffer, as part of a AGS-sponsored field trip, recently attended a
Richmond, Va., gun show, and came away convinced that AGS's agenda is
nothing less than the "national registration and licensing and eventual
outlawing of firearms." In the end, AGS is simply an anti-gun lobbying
group with no members, no gun safety programs, and now, no
credibility.
This deceptive campaign by AGS will likely lead to increased pressure
from anti-gun lawmakers to try to move either S. 767 or S. 890, so be
sure to contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to oppose both bills.
You can reach your U.S. Senators by calling (202) 224-3121. For
additional contact information, use the "Write Your Reps" tool at
www.NRAILA.org.
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