.............................................................. >From the New Paradigms Project [Not Necessarily Endorsed]: From: "Weldon Clark" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: BATF Attacks First & Second Amendments Date: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 1:20 AM Editor's Note by Weldon Clark – The US House of Representatives will shortly be voting on the Hostettler amendment to curb the powers of BATF. I first got involved in the defense of the right to own and use firearms for legitimate purposes when one of BATF's raid got Kenyon Ballew shot. He was never charged or convicted of any crime. He lost 40% of his brain. The same federal agency now is going after an author for writing a work of fiction and a maker of a kit from which a gunsmith could make a firearm. This agency whether under Clinton or any other president has violated the rights of ordinary people. Do you wish to live in a police state or not? Call your US Representative at (202) 225-3121 and your two US Senators at (202) 224-3121 and at the Capitol Switchboard. Write your CONGRESSMAN OR STATE LEGISLATORS can now be accomplished at the speed of light, thanks to WorldNetDaily's new Legislative Action Center. http://congress.nw.dc.us/wnd/ Here is the URL for Congressional Telephone Directory: http://clerkweb.house.gov/106/mbrcmtee/members/teledir/me mbers/cdframe.htm Here's an e-mail link to Congress. http://in-search-of.org/ http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ http://www.gunowners.org/mailerx.html The articles below are by Neal Knox who I have known for over 20 years, Chris Stark who called the author's attorney for verification and Angel Shamaya of keepandbeararms.org. Read it all then ACT ON IT. ***************************** Neal Knox Repot by Neal Knox The attorney for John Ross, author of the best-selling "Unintended Consequences," has written the Attorney General and Treasury Department Inspector General complaining that St. Louis BATF agents have contacted Ross' estranged wife asking her to make comments against him. In late May, according to the letter from former prosecutor James H. Jeffries III, two BATF agents approached her on the street, identified themselves, and asked for her comments on the book. A few weeks before, someone called her new phone number, claimed to be a fan of the book and asked if she agreed that it was "a manual for the murder of federal agents." Ross' wife, Carolyn, once confessed to John in my presence that she had only read about half the lengthy book, which is filled with the arcane minutia of ballistics and gun design that have made it popular with gunowners. His firearms technical dissertations are excellent; unlike much of his discussion of airplanes. The book also details, with reasonably good accuracy, the history of "gun control," its effects in the U.S. and overseas, and, with some artistic license, relates several BATF horror stories. In an initially plausible plot that becomes fantasy, his protagonist kills by mistake, then deliberately and imaginatively, several BATF agents and anti-gun politicians. When it first came out, I received several direct reports from gun dealers who said BATF had threatened unspecified "trouble" unless they quit selling the book in their stores. Considering the way BATF undoubtedly feels about this book, and the ham-handedness of some agents, I don't doubt that Carolyn was contacted in hopes that she would act as a disgruntled ex-wife and reveal violations of law by her machine gun collector husband -- who, like his protagonist in the book, enjoys safely shooting trap with machine guns in an old quarry. ******************************************************** To begin receiving Neal Knox's bi-monthly newsletter, send a contribution of $25 or more to The Firearms Coalition, 7771 Sudley Rd. No. 44, Manassas, VA 20109. For current news, call 1-900-225-3006 (89 cents per minute) or visit http://www.NealKnox.com (free). ********************************************* Chris W. Stark - Director GUN OWNERS ALLIANCE http://www.GOA-Texas.org email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] MORE BATF HARASSMENT - John Ross is Target! I have personally verified the letter below to be legitimate, for I have personally spoken to it's author, Mr. James H. Jeffries, III. This letter can also be found at http://www.GOA- Texas.org/ross-1.htm Please call your Washington D.C. Congressman, and ask them to investigate this blatant abuse of power by the BATF. Their number is (202) 224-3121. With Respect, Gun Owners Alliance Chris W. Stark - Director WebRing master Gun Owners Alliance for a No-Compromise NRA http://www.GOA-Texas.org/webring/no-compromise.htm *************************************************** JAMES H. JEFFRIES, III ATTORNEY AT LAW 3019 LAKE FOREST DRIVE GREENSBORO, NC 27408 TELEPHONE: (336) 282-6024 30 June, 2000 Honorable Bradley A. Buckles, Director Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms United States Department of the Treasury 650 Massachusetts Avenue, Northwest Washington, D.C. 20226 Re: Mr. John Ross St. Louis, Missouri Dear Mr. Buckles: I represent Mr. John Ross of St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Ross is an investment broker and financial adviser with a respected investment firm in St. Louis. He has degrees in English and Economics from Amherst College. Mr. Ross is very active in community and public affairs. He is the grandson of President Harry Truman's press secretary, Charles Ross, and was himself the Democratic Party candidate for the United States House of Representatives from the Second District of Missouri in 1998. In short, Mr. Ross is an upstanding and productive member of his community. Mr. Ross has had a lifelong interest in firearms and is both a Federal Firearms Licensee and a Special Occupational Taxpayer under the National Firearms Act. Of central importance to the purpose of this letter is the fact that Mr. Ross is also the author of Unintended Consequences, a highly popular novel about the trials and tribulations of legal gun owners and dealers in the United States. Although the book is manifestly a work of fiction, it accurately depicts documented historical events in the long and sordid history of misconduct by personnel of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The book is in its fifth hardcover printing with some 50,000 copies in circulation and has become enormously popular among the gun owners of the United States. Because the book is highly critical of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, it appears that some in your agency have undertaken to suppress it and to intimidate its author. Honorable Bradley A. Buckles - page two For example, in 1997 the book's publisher became aware that individuals purporting to be BATF agents had threatened vendors of the book in at least three different states with "problems" if they did not cease their sales of the book. A full- page ad in Shotgun News offering a $10,000 reward for the identity of these individuals put a stop to that particular business. Now we have learned that in late May of this year agents from your St. Louis field office have engaged in an official effort to enlist Mrs. Ross, who is amicably separated from her husband as an informant against her husband. On or about May 24 2000, at about 7:30 a.m. two agents approached Mrs. Ross on the street while she was walking her dog, identified themselves by displaying their BATF credentials, and proceeded to inquire what she thought about her husband's book. When she was noncommittal the agents terminated the conversation and departed. This contact had been preceded in previous weeks by pretext telephone calls to Mrs. Ross, by what were undoubtedly your agents, in an attempt to draw her out about her husband's book. An agent, using the pseudonym of Peter Nettleson, and pretending to be a great fan of Unintended Consequences, sought Mrs. Ross's agreement that the book was, in fact, "a manual for the murder of federal agents." [1] I note in passing that best-selling author Tom Clancy in recent books has murdered a Director of the FBI, the President of the United States, the entire Congress, the Supreme Court, the entire cabinet, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a few lesser functionaries. I presume he has not thereby become subject to investigation by your literary critics. 1. As an experienced federal prosecutor I am fully aware of what is going on here. Disgruntled former spouses are a prime source of intelligence for law enforcement, having as they frequently do both a strong bias against the subject of the investigation and the proximity and intimacy to know many things not available to others. A structured approach such as this required, according to your manuals, formal agency approval. It required the investment of time and effort in setting up the approach: determining Mrs. Ross's new address, learning her new telephone number, physical surveillance to determine her routine so that she could be approached in a way that she could not simply shut the door and where there would be less risk of confirming witnesses, the use of a female agent to lessen any apprehension at being approached publicly by strangers, etc. Honorable Bradley A. Buckles - page three What kind of people are you? Is there no honor within the ranks of your agency? It has long been clear, from repeated court decisions and congressional committee reports, that your agents have no familiarity with the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Now it appears that they have not even been introduced to the very first Article of the Bill of Rights. I am writing to express our outrage about this conduct and to formally demand that your agency cease and desist from this unconstitutional abuse of power. I am contemporaneously making formal Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act demands upon BATF for the records and files pertaining to Mr. Ross, his book, and these events. By copies of this letter I am requesting the Inspector General of the Treasury Department to formally investigate this unlawful conduct and the Attorney General to investigate to determine whether Mr. Ross's civil rights are being violated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Sincerely yours, [signed] James H. Jeffries, III cc: Attorney General of the United States Inspector General, Department of the Treasury +++++++++++++++++++++++ Help Support the work of Gun Owners Alliance! Go to: http://www.goa-texas.org/members.htm TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR E-MAIL ALERTS, send an e-mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *********************************************** U.S. vs. STEWART -- ATF MISFIRES AGAIN TODAY'S HEARING IN COURT REVEALS ATF INEPTITUDE by Angel Shamaya Executive Director http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com (Phoenix, Arizona) July 10, 2000 Bob Stewart will be sleeping in his own bed again tonight. All arguments in the government's current case against him have been heard, cross examinations of the only two expert witnesses in today's hearing have been conducted, and the judge is expected to offer his opinion as court reconvenes on Thursday, July 13, at 10:30am in the 9th circuit court in Phoenix. If you've been on summer vacation for the last month and missed this case, Mr. Stewart and his family were raided by 10 BATF agents and 3 Mesa police at their home in Mesa, Arizona on June 16. Mr. Stewart has for the last several years sold incomplete .50 caliber rifle kits bearing no serial numbers. His position is that the kit is not a firearm as it is incapable of firing a live round without significant modification. The BATF raided his home in contention that the non-firing kits are in fact guns because they are "readily made functional as explosive devices which fire a projectile." (You can read the past news reports on this case here: http://www.maadi-griffin.com/.) Judge Anderson is a Vietnam veteran (according to AZ libertarian party unaffiliated chair, Liz Andreasen, who was present and taking copious notes to report for SierraTimes.com.) The judge who fought in the war our own President evaded is hearing a case that could lead to a Second Amendment battle. And from what happened today and in Mr. Stewart's June 22 hearing, it looks like the judge is committed to issuing a fair opinion. Following are detailed accounts of today's hearing for people who wish to know more. Today's arguments revolved around whether or not the 50 caliber kit is legally classifiable as a firearm. At issue is the definition of the word "readily" as in "readily made to fire a projectile". Mr. Stewart doesn't have a federal firearms license and, if the court rules that he was selling guns without a license, Stewart could be facing prison--again--and this is where this case gets sticky. Mr. Stewart was convicted of a felony in 1994 for manufacturing and transferring fully automatic machine guns. Bob Stewart spent 1 year and 4 months of his life behind bars for what both he and his lovely wife hold to this day as "a setup to run us out of business". He is a convicted felon, and the government says a convicted felon cannot have possession of a gun, period. (Yes, that includes residents of Maine who get caught with a lobster under the legal weight requirement, and yes, that includes women who've been raped three times in Massachusetts and get caught carrying a gun because they aren't interested in there being a 4th. Felony means no gun in your possession unless the felony is expunged from the court records, sayeth King George. Please pardon my digression.) But court rulings since Mr. Stewart's conviction are expected to get his conviction overturned, so a legal web is weaving itself in odd circumstances aplenty. Back to today's hearing... BATF's attorney, Mr. Welty, in his opening statements today held up an assembled .50 Maadi-Griffin rifle kit and said, "We're here today to answer the question 'Is this a gun?'" The issue was not whether or not a converted Maadi-Griffin kit is a gun; the issue hinges on whether or not a Maadi- Griffin KIT is "readily" rendered into a workable firearm. The judge let it ride, and so did Bob Stewart's defense attorney, Mr. Haney. The opening statements otherwise seemed rather bland. At one point, the judge urged both counsels to "get to the reason we are here." A partial kit that was stolen from Bob Stewart's home during the raid on June 16 was entered as evidence. The kit that BATF purchased through an undercover agent and PARTIALLY (more on that in a moment) converted was also admitted as evidence. The instruction manual for converting the kit was admitted, as well. And then the hair splitting began. Each side called one expert witness apiece, and each side cross examined the other's witness. BATF got first dibs and called Curtis Barlett, the BATF Chief of Firearms Technology from their D.C. office. Mr. Bartlett has been at his job "classifying firearms" for 26 of his 27 years with the agency. Though he claims he has testified in approximately 300 court cases for his employer, the federal government, he cannot remember the last time he has converted or heard of the conversion of a kit for investigation-"maybe 10 years". In the same breath, he testified that he knows of many similar kits of various makes and models advertised in a magazine he claims to read: Shotgun News. Expert Witness Bartlett explained that he was able to assemble the entire kit into a firearm in a total of 80 minutes: 15 minutes to read the manual, 35 minutes to cut and otherwise modify the receiver, and 30 minutes to assemble the contraption into a workable firearm. Here is where the BATF exhibits a severe case or moronism: Mr. Barlett explained that he then fired a blank cartridge (not a bullet, a primer inside a .50 caliber shell casing) to "prove" that it was now, after 80 minutes of focus, a firearm! Yes, you read that right. He didn't fire the only ammo the gun is designed to fire and traveled all the way across the nation at taxpayers' expenses to testify on the conversion time of the kit he didn't fully convert. Brilliant move, BATF. Cross examination by defense attorney Haney posed an obvious question: How much more time would you have put into the job of converting this kit into a firearm if you were going to fire a real round of live ammunition? Barlett's response after much quibbling: probably twice as much time. Further questioning of this "expert" government agent revealed that several of the required modifications of the kit were not made, either. These required modifications as spelled out in the assembly manual of which BATF has numerous copies include welding, determining proper fit (headspacing) to assure safe firing of a live round, fastening of the muzzle brake, and a couple of other things stated in plain English in the instruction manual, suggesting that along with having a propensity for invading people's homes in Nazi- style no-knock raids and pointing unregistered machine guns at little kids, BATF cannot read or follow simple instructions. Agent Bartlett defended his lack of complete conversion by stating that "as long as it can fire one round, it is a firearm, and our conversion could be made to fire one round." How much money we could collect in a pool to get him to fire his incomplete conversion will forever remain a mystery, but I'd put up my best rifle just to watch him shoot the partially- modified "firearm"--but I'd be watching with interest from a distance. I've never seen a government agent's head blown off of his body due to utter incompetence, and I think that would be worth a good rifle. The .50 caliber bullet holds as much gun powder as a hand grenade; it is best to assemble it properly. The next witness was called by Bob Stewart's defense attorney, Mr. Haney. Mr. Haney called Bill Richardson to the stand. Mr. Richardson is a firearms manufacturer consultant of 18 years, and apparently a specialist in the field of computerized machining equipment. While Mr. Richardson stated plainly that to do the job right on a conversion of a Maadi-Griffin kit would require specialized skill or a good amount of time for a novice, he did concede that the machining of the receiver could be accomplished in the amount of time it took the BATF's primer-firing Chief of Firearms Technology if someone was skilled in the craft of firearms conversion. Nothing seemed to be gained or lost on either side from Mr. Richardson's testimony, but his bias toward the defense of Mr. Stewart was readily apparent. Of the 23 people in the courtroom audience, I also estimate that 18-20 of us were there in support of Bob Stewart, as well. The judge was paying attention to this shenanigans displayed by the BATF's "specialist" who didn't even finish the conversion OR fire a real live round of real live ammo, and his eyebrows went up more than once during Bartlett's testimony. My personal opinion is that he will come back and rule that a complete conversion was never made, because it wasn't. (We will know for sure on Thursday.) But I don't think this case will hinge on the amount of time it took for the feds to partially convert Bob Stewart's kit. This case is going to get much bigger than that. Bob Stewart believes his case is going to require a ruling on the Second Amendment, and he may just be right. Allow me to elaborate. If the judge rules that the kit is NOT a firearm, according to the rules of admissibility in the district court, the BATF will not be allowed to admit any other evidence outside of the items mentioned in the search warrant. Bob Stewart says he will then sue the BATF for a host of infringements and infractions against himself and his family. Pointing a gun at his 7-year- old boy. Cuffing his wife, Naomi, in their front yard for all the neighbors to see. Cuffing Mr. Stewart for two hours with two thugs holding glock pistols to his head while they trashed his home without ever bothering to show him the search warrant he was vocally requesting, stole his computer, all his files and records, the kits he was repairing for his customers, etcetera. If Mr. Stewart was breaking no law, these guys screwed up royally--and he intends to make them pay for their mistake in money he says will go to set up a legal defense foundation to help other gun owners who are similarly victimized by the hired thugs of federal agencies. On the other hand, if the judge rules that the Maadi-Griffin kit IS a firearm, Bob Stewart intends to appeal based on his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. According to Mr. Stewart, should the judge rule that the kit is a firearm, when court rulings that have occurred since his conviction overturn that conviction and restore his rights, he genuinely believes he can ride this case to a jury trial--and win. Lofty? Yes. Doable? Bob Stewart is convinced. We shall see. I will attend the judge's ruling on Thursday, June 13, and I will offer a full report to all who are on our email list at that time. If this report was forwarded to you, feel free to sign up for our email reports on our site at http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com. We are also offering a brand new, fully operational, all stainless steel .50 caliber Maadi-Griffin to a lucky member of our organization. As soon as we reach 2,500 members, we're putting all the names in a hat and picking the lucky winner. All you need to do to get your name in the hat is support our organization by becoming a member for $29.95. We genuinely require financial assistance, and we just made the commitment to give 20% of every penny generated from this membership drive from this day forward to the Bob Stewart Defense Fund. You'll get a one-year membership with our organization plus a chance to win a fine rifle plus a chance to help Bob Stewart. Contrary to his earlier statements, he does in fact need financial help if this case is to go much further. Please help us press on. Please help us help Bob Stewart's legal drive. Please join our organization and get your name in the drawing to win the king of all rifles—the Maadi-Griffin .50 caliber Stainless Model 89. http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/members/ SEE A PICTURE OF THE RIFLE WE ARE GIVING AWAY. http://www.keepandbeararms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlu s.asp?cmd=view&articleid=280 ************************************************************ For those of you in South Carolina who wish to receive specific alerts please e-mail request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and/or visit www.scfirearms.org. ************************************************************ What To Do If The Police Come To Confiscate Your Militia Weapons see www.2ndamendment.net For legislative updates contact www.nealknox.com and go to "Scripts from the Firearms Coalition Legislative Update Line" *************************************************** >From The 2ndAmendmentNews Team If you received this as a forward and wish to join please send: E-Mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following text in the message body: SUBSCRIBE 2nd-Amendment-News We have had a computer error. 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