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'No Compromise,' Says Armed Women's Group By Michael L. Betsch CNSNews.com Editorial Assistant January 07, 2002 (CNSNews.com) - Big or small, rapid-fire or semi-automatic - the Armed Females of America (AFA) are on a mission to protect every American's constitutional right to own and possess a firearm. And don't mistake this women's group with a homemakers association, warns the AFA. "If you're looking for a women's organization to exchange cooking recipes, talk about child rearing or stitchery, then this is not the place for you," the AFA's newly launched website reads. The AFA is strictly a Second Amendment advocacy organization, explained AFA of Texas Director Kathryn Graham. "We're trying to educate women concerning firearms and promote laws that are friendlier to the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution." The focus of the AFA, said its National Director Carma Lewis, is "to educate, motive and activate women" with regards to firearms. And the group strictly adheres to a policy of 'no compromise,' she added. 'No compromise," Lewis stated, means "every single firearm law that is on the books is illegal." The AFA wants all laws pertaining to firearms repealed. Lewis said her group considers it "unfortunate" that the National Rifle Association (NRA) has, in AFA's view, succumbed to a policy of compromise. She said the NRA "felt that the only way to hang onto our rights was to compromise," something it did when it endorsed the first Handgun Control Act of 1968. It was compromises such as the one the NRA displayed in 1968 that led Lewis to launch Armed Females of America in 2002. "The Second Amendment is in our Constitution for a reason and it should stay there," she said. Lewis is a firm believer in the Constitution. By her account, "Everything hinges on the Second Amendment." Any compromise made with regards to the Second Amendment puts America one step close to tyranny, and she warned that could mean, "We lose everything." According to Nancy Hwa, a spokesperson for the anti-gun Brady Campaign and its affiliate Million Mom March, the AFA's goals are off-target. Hwa contends that sensible gun laws are imperative to reducing gun violence in the U.S. "And sensible gun laws," she said, "include safety training for gun owners and registration of guns, you know, keeping the records of sales of all guns." "What we're doing is trying to have reasonable standards, not just for the weapons but for the user too, to make sure the person isn't a criminal; that they're not a juvenile; and that they have proper training," Hwa added. But the AFA's Graham said the "sensible gun laws" Hwa mentions aren't "friendly to the Second Amendment." The AFA strongly believes that guns don't kill people, people kill people. The Brady Campaign's Hwa remarked, "That's the same argument that gun people make all the time. Well, people with guns kill people." Touched by gun violence AFA founder Lewis said she knows firsthand that people kill people. Her 12-year-old son was murdered at the hands of another child with a gun. Despite her grief over the loss of her son, Lewis does not point her trigger finger at a gun as being responsible for her son's tragic death. "It took an idiotic, irresponsible and evil-hearted person to pull the trigger -- in this case, another child who bragged about how easy it would be to kill someone and get away with it." "And they still blame the gun," she said of the anti-gun lobby. According to Graham, the anti-gun lobby's attempts to restrict firearms ownership and the privileges granted to Americans under the Second Amendment "give a lot of people a very warm and fuzzy feeling." "They think they're helping to end violence," Graham said of groups such as the Million Mom March. "As we have seen over the last few years, the opposite seems to be true, but they aren't getting the message." In order to clarify that message, Lewis said her main focus is to pursue lawmakers elected by pro-gun Americans who "aren't doing their job that we voted them in for." Those representatives "forget that they work for us" once they are elected to office, she said. As an example, she points to Senate passage of the Lautenberg Amendment in 1999. Under that amendment, Lewis says, "If you've ever been a felon, it doesn't matter for what reason, you can never own a firearm. Even if you're a police officer, it does not matter." According to Lewis, one of the most egregious violations to the Second Amendment contained in the Lautenberg Amendment is the provision forbidding white-collar felons who "didn't do anything violent" from ever owning a gun. "We feel that if somebody has served their time and they're eligible for parole and they're qualified to be sent back out on the streets - then they have the right to self defense," Lewis declared. "To me, that right is a human right." And how does the Brady Campaign and Million Mom March feel about all of Lewis' goals for her newly founded organization? "We're certainly not going to get worked up over a group like this," commented Brady Campaign spokesperson Nancy Hwa. "I mean, there's little fringe groups all over the place that we don't bother with -- I didn't even know these guys existed." Lewis said she's prepared for such a response. And, Graham added, "Check back in a month - that's gonna change." As for the AFA's strategic plans, Lewis said, "We are just going to set fires under everybody. We aren't just going to have one focus." *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! Write to same address to be off lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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