NRA SPOKESMAN WARNS LEGISLATION MOVES TOWARD DISARMING OF AMERICA

It is the eventual goal of the federal government to disarm all U.S. citizens, claimed a spokesman for the National Rifle Association during a stop in Cape Girardeau Saturday.

Brian K. Black, field representative for the NRA's Missouri field services office at St. Charles, said this would be done through legislation that would first control, then ban outright ownership of certain classes of weapons and ammunition.

He met with NRA members, and publicized the upcoming Friends of the National Rifle Association fund-raising banquet that will be held April 21, at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Cape Girardeau.

Black said pending or proposed legislation by anti-gun organizations would make it illegal to own an 18-round, .22 caliber, semi-automatic rifle that has been used for many years for hunting or target shooting.

"If Attorney General Janet Reno has her way, you'll have to buy an after-market attachment that would only allow you to load 15 rounds into your 18-round, .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle," said Black.

He said Reno is also proposing that anyone who owns a gun collection of more than 20 guns of any type or caliber, or buys more than a 1,000 rounds of ammunition would have to purchase a federal arsenal license.

"Instead of calling it a gun collection, Reno now calls it an arsenal," said Black. "She also wants to have all firearms registered with the local police or sheriff's office."

Black feels this will lead the U.S. down the road to federal gun registration -- which he said was just one step toward their goal of eventually disarming all citizens. "They can't do that until they know where all the firearms are," he said.

Black said most of the firearms legislation that has been passed or proposed was written by people who know very little about firearms. As an example, he cited the recently-passed Brady Bill.

He said, "The public has been misinformed by the government and the national news media about what the Brady Bill will actually do. They said there was widespread support for the bill. That is not true. At least five states have said they will not enforce or support the Brady Bill because they do not have the money or manpower to take care of the administrative paperwork and the background checks."

Black said the Brady Bill will not take guns out of the hands of criminals because criminals do not usually try to buy their guns in guns stores or sporting shops.

He said, "There was a lot of publicity about the six percent of convicted felons who tried to purchase handguns and were turned down because of the Brady Bill. But what about the other 94 percent of the criminal element who get their guns from the black market, drug dealers, theft, or other sources?"

Black said the real impact of the Brady Bill is that the gun-control camel now has its nose under the tent flap.

"Now we have Brady II that is being written," he said. "We don't know exactly what the final version will be, but we've already talked about what Janet Reno would like to see in the bill. And more gun control legislation is in the works."

Black said all citizens, whether they are NRA members or not, need to be concerned about what is happening in Washington.

He said, "Many people believe they will never take away their shotgun or deer rifle, but both are now on the list. The federal government and the Clinton Administration want to control firearms one class of a gun at a time, and one class of bullet at a time. They want to tell you what a `good' gun is. Today, the assault rifle is a bad gun. Tomorrow, it will be an 18-round, .22 caliber, semi-automatic rabbit-hunting or target-shooting rifle."

He said the passage of the Brady Bill has not hurt the NRA.

"In fact, Bill Clinton's election was the best thing that's ever happened to the NRA. Since President Clinton was elected, our membership has grown. We're now approaching 3.5 million members. We now have 87,000 members in Missouri, and national NRA membership is at an all-time high and still growing," he said.