Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns From: [ACUS 05] at [WACCVM.SPS.MOT.COM] (Paul Anderson) Subject: Senator McCain's Reply Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 20:22:53 GMT After faxing a letter to Senator John McCain (R-AZ), I received the following positive reply: Dear Mr. Anderson: Thank you for contacting me to tell me you oppose the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act. I agree with you. As you know, I have voted against legislation in the past and I continue to oppose it. I believe waiting periods would do more to impinge upon the Second Amendment rights of honest citizens than curb the flow of illegal firearms to criminals. First, criminals don't purchase guns through legal channels. According to the National Institute of Justice, among the incarcerated felons surveyed who admitted to owning firearms, 84% had obtained them on the streets and not from licensed dealers. Cities such as Washington, D.C. and New York City should teach us something. These are areas that have among them the strictest gun control measures in the country. They are also plagued with some of the highest violent crime rates in the nation. Second, according to the Department of Justice, the largest category of people ineligible to purchase firearms are unlawful users of controlled substances. Criminal records don't exist for many of these people. Therefore it would not be possible to perform effective background checks on the overwhelming majority of felons who may attempt to purchase firearms. Finally, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms estimates that approximately 7.5 million firearms are sold at the retail level each year. Required local law enforcement to perform background checks on each of these sales would divert substantial resources from more effective law enforcement activities. In last year's crime legislation, we had a genuine opportunity to attack violent crime through better enforcement, and stronger penalties. However, that opportunity was squandered when those who don't share our belief in the Second Amendment turned the crime bill into a gun control bill. I find these attacks on our Second Amendment rights to be unacceptable. Please be assured that I will continue my efforts to protect your Second Amendment rights, and seek effective means for addressing the problem of violent crime. Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so in the future. Sincerely, /s/ John McCain