Growing Rift
in Anti-Gun Community?
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"...On one side of the rift are the more radical extremist groups promoting
the Reed bill..." |
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A group of anti-gun lawmakers and gun-ban advocates held a
sparsely-attended press conference on March 20 to promote another attack
on gun shows, but this effort also included a curious attack on the
"Project Exile" prosecution model. The event drew far more anti-gun
extremists than actual members of the media, and served as the launching
pad for U.S. Representative John Conyers' (D-Mich.) H.R. 4034 - touted as
the House version of U.S. Senator Jack Reed's (D-R.I.)
S. 767. But was
this event merely an attempt by Conyers and his supporters to grab
publicity, or does it expose a growing conflict among anti-gunners?
Flanked by fellow Representatives Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Dianne
DeGette (D-Colo.), Conyers adopted the anti-gun movement's
universally-accepted shameless strategy of
exploiting the war on
terrorism to promote attacks on the Second Amendment. Conyers and his
cohorts, however, went a step further to promote his legislation. Using
"...[I]ndicative of this growing rift within the anti-gun
community was... a recent
American Prospect article attacking AGS..." |
a "study" put together by an obscure anti-gun organization called the
Pacific Center for Violence Prevention (PCVP), Conyers derided the
highly acclaimed "Project Exile" prosecution model - a program that has
been widely hailed as helping to lower violent gun crime. This would
appear to be an attempt to show how his bill is "superior" to the
McCain/Schumer/Lieberman bill (S. 890), which includes cursory support
for "Project Exile."
But there may be more to this latest assault on gun shows than simply
just another example of anti-gun lawmakers working to eviscerate the
Second Amendment. Does the addition of the attack on "Project Exile" in
the anti-gun strategy serve to expose an ever-widening rift within the
anti-gun movement?
This rift seems to have started with the launch of the new anti-gun
organization that calls itself
"Americans for Gun Safety" (AGS), and has
widened with the attacks on gun shows. So it is not surprising an
anti-gun shows bill would help to better
expose the conflict.
On one side of the rift are the more radical extremist groups promoting
the Reed bill, which includes the Violence Policy Center (VPC) - an
organization that openly advocates banning all handguns - and the Consumer
"...HCI began claiming it supports 'Project Exile,' but only
after NRA helped make it a nationally popular crime-fighting tool..." |
Federation of America (CFA) - which has worked hand-in-hand with VPC on
numerous occasions and advocates that every home in America with
children be "gun-free."
VPC representatives attended the Conyers press
conference but did not release a statement, while CFA's Susan Peschin
put out a release that seemed to indicate her group is entirely ignorant
of federal gun control laws. Her statement included the comment,
"Representative Conyer's [sic] bill merely extends federal law from gun
stores to gun shows" - a blatant lie, as the same federal laws that apply
at gun stores already apply at gun shows nationwide.
While the CFA
release did not echo the anti-"Project Exile" sentiment of Conyers and
the PCVP, it does express support for Conyers/Reed attack over the
competing McCain-Schumer-Lieberman/Castle-McCarthy (H.R. 2377) anti-gun
show bills, which both include language supporting "Project Exile" as a
sop to pro-gun Congressmen.
But perhaps far more indicative of this growing rift within the anti-gun
community was the distribution at Conyers' press conference of a recent
American Prospect article attacking AGS. The article (a link to it can
be found on the VPC website) explains how Internet billionaire Andrew
McKelvey began funneling millions of dollars into the gun-ban lobby
formerly known as HCI - McKelvey briefly held the position of HCI Board
Member - then, to the apparent chagrin of the already established national
anti-gun organizations, started his own anti-gun group, AGS.
Many anti-gun groups at the state level were initially enticed to align
with AGS by the allure of McKelvey's millions, but are now trying to
distance themselves from AGS due to its attempt to mis-represent itself
as an organization that supports the right to own guns. Most of those
state groups are quite open with their extremist anti-gun views, even
openly supporting banning firearms. So as AGS began to try to separate
itself from the image of being just another anti-gun group, the state
groups started dropping away. But AGS has not been able to hide from
the fact that one of the goals it has stated as its "top national
priority" is the establishment of a Draconian licensing and registration
scheme for all gun owners.
So where does this leave the anti-gun movement? Still dangerous, of
course, and with plenty of supporters in Congress and the so-called
mainstream media. But it would appear that anti-gun organizations are
now stalling their own agenda by openly fighting over the specifics of
their anti-gun agenda. The most radical extremist groups, such as VPC,
are trying to vilify AGS because it is not anti-gun enough.
Meanwhile,
AGS is trying to fool the general public into believing it "supports the
rights of individuals who own firearms."
And where does this leave the
gun-ban group many people still refer to as HCI? Conflicted, no doubt,
as it publicly supports many of the most extreme anti-gun views held by
groups like VPC, but also tries to deceive the general public into
believing that it does not have all law-abiding gun owners in its
sights. HCI has yet to publicly weigh in on Conyers' anti-gun
show/"Project Exile" condemnation press conference, and the group has
vacillated on the two Senate bills that seek to end traditional American
gun shows. Initially, HCI supported both, then changed its position to
preferring the Reed bill, but not opposing the Lieberman-McCain bill.
Considering HCI began claiming it supports "Project Exile," but only
after NRA helped make it a nationally popular crime-fighting tool, it
will be interesting to see how the organization responds to the March 20
event. Will it abandon its "support" of a proven crime-fighting tool,
abandon several staunch allies by condemning their attack on "Project
Exile," or simply remain silent, hoping not to get drawn into the
growing battle within the ranks of the anti-gun community?
Related Stories...
More about the Gun-Ban lobby at work
More about Project Exile
AGS Continues To Lie To Promote Attacks On Gun Shows (Jan 2002)
Gun-Ban Lobby Continues To Exploit Fear Over Terrorism (Dec 2001)
AGS Launches Next Phase of Shameless Exploitation Campaign (Nov 2001)
AGS Continues to Exploit Sept. 11 Acts of War (Oct 2001)
AGS Continues To Try To Exploit Fear Over Terrorism (Oct 2001)
Anti-Gunners Shamelessly Exploit September 11 Tragedies (Sep 2001)
Schism Between Gun Control Groups (May 2001)
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