Gun Owners of America E-Mail/FAX Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
"I can tell you that the President of the United States is certainly
eager to take advantage of every tragedy that occurs. And to
suggest that, somehow, a crack-house kid would have had a
trigger-lock on the gun that the crook in the house had with their
drugs and stolen guns -- I don't think so. That's a very
implausible scenario to say the least."
-- Larry Pratt, GOA Executive Director on MSNBC's Equal Time
(Wednesday, March 15, 2000) -- Last week it was the morning TV
programs like NBC's Today show and CBS' This Morning. This week,
GOA Executive Director Larry Pratt has been hitting the after-dinner
talk shows.
Pratt appeared on MSNBC's Equal Time last night with co-hosts Ollie
North and Paul Begala. Sparks flew as Pratt excoriated the
President for using horrible tragedies to further his political
agenda.
At the same time, Pratt also blasted the President's call to
"enforce the existing [anti-]gun laws."
"Rather than call for the enforcement of existing gun laws -- which
all of us opposed at the time that they were being put on the
books," Pratt said, "we think it would be much more appropriate to
call for their removal. That way we're not going to have as many
people being disarmed and victimized by criminals who get their guns
anyway no matter what the gun control laws are."
Pratt pointed out how foolish the gun control logic is. A virtual
complete gun ban and confiscation in England has now led to a rising
crime rate (which has now surpassed our own). And their ban has not
stopped more than 3 million guns from reportedly landing in
criminals' hands.
"Are we supposed to believe that if on an island they can't keep
guns out of the hands of criminals, that the Brady law is somehow
going to keep guns out of the hands of criminals?" Pratt said.
Pratt also blasted an HCI spokesman on the show for calling on
Congress to close the gun control "loopholes."
"What you're calling a 'loophole' is what the Founders called
freedom," said Pratt. "And meanwhile, all these 'loopholes' you
want to close off -- all they do is result in an increase in crime
in this country."
GOA plans to offer this tape in the future for a minimal cost. Gun
activists who would like to see a first class debater take on our
political enemies will find lots of talking points that they can
use.
MEDIA ADVISORY: As this goes to press, Larry Pratt is scheduled to
appear on CNBC's [Geraldo] Rivera Live tonight at 9:00 EST. As with
any media "schedule," such plans are always tentative and could be
changed at any time by the media host.
HOUSE VOTE: GOA will alert you tomorrow as to the results of the
House vote which occurred today. It is imperative that we defeat
the gun control in the crime bill now -- otherwise, today's
restrictions will become part of the "existing gun laws" that the
President and others will be seeking to enforce tomorrow.
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