From: [n--l--n] at [io.org] (Nigel Allen)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: Handguns: "Fight The Fraud" Campaign
Date: 14 Dec 1994 01:53:39 -0600

Here is a press release from the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.
I downloaded the press release from the PR On-Line BBS in Maryland
at 410-363-0834. I do not work for or belong to the Center.


 Center to Prevent Handgun Violence Launches National "Fight the
Fraud" Campaign Exposing NRA Lies on the Second Amendment
 To: National Desk
 Contact: Gwen Fitgerald of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence,
          202-289-7319

   WASHINGTON, Dec. 8   -- In cities across the
country, television commericals exposing the gun lobby's lies on
the "right to bear arms" began airing today as part of the Center
to Prevent Handgun Violence's (CPHV) "fight the fraud" campaign.
   The education campaign was unveiled today at a Washington, D.C.,
news conference with CPHV Chair Sarah Brady, American Bar
Association President George E. Bushnell Jr., and CPHV President
Richard Aborn.  Brady released a letter of support from former
Chief Justice Warren Burger.
   The campaign is designed to educate the American public about
the true meaning of the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment:  that
it, in fact, is not a barrier to gun control legislation, as
decided in more than 30 federal and state court decisions.
   The cornerstone of the campaign is a one-minute television spot
narrated by Brady and featuring Justice Burger's statement that the
gun lobby's distortion of the Second Amendment amounts to a "fraud
on the American public."  It also highlights the numerous court
decisions upholding gun laws from Second Amendment challenges.  The
spot is now airing in Washington, D.C.; Tucson, Ariz.; Salt Lake
City; Boston; Kansas City, Mo.; and Salisbury, Md.; and will roll
out to other regions in early 1995.  The campaign also includes a
pamphlet entitled "The Second Amendment: Myth and Meaning" and an
activist guide.
   "It is part of our American heritage that we have a right to
debate -- and even disagree.  And that certainly occurs during
discussion over the uniquely American problem of firearm violence,"
said Brady.  "But we should debate policy proposals on their
merits, not behind a Constitutional smokescreen designed simply to
inflame emotions and misinform citizens."
   CPHV President Richard Aborn, an attorney, challenged the NRA to
follow through on the recent decision of its board of directors to
challenge the newly enacted federal assault weapons ban on Second
Amendment grounds.  "If the NRA believed its own propaganda, it
would be in court faster than a speeding bullet," Aborn said.  "But
despite their rhetoric, the NRA knows that in court, their Second
Amendment theory has no credibility at all."
   Bushnell echoed that theme.  "The Second Amendment was included
within the Bill of Rights to provide the states the ability to
maintain a militia.  Those who would construe a different
definition cannot find a single judicial decision to validate their
claims."
   The "fight the fraud" campaign was made possible by grants from
the Ruth Mott Fund, the George Gund Foundation, the Aaron Diamond
Foundation and the Public Welfare Foundation.

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