PROTECTING page 4
The Warmth of Family
The Elegance of Mansion Living!
will have difficulty getting guns
through legal channels.
Tell me, whom are we trying
to protect?
The most salient argument
for the Brady Bill broaches the
need for a "cooling off period."
Proponents claim that five days
will not only enable police to per-
form background checks, but
also will encourage purchasers
to think twice. Individuals who,
in a fury, want a gun to blow off
someone's head, will be forced
to take a breath, cool off and re-
consider their next move.
Even if it saves one person's
life, supporters say, the Brady
Bill is worth it.
But that argument can be
turned on its face. Who says the
waiting period won't endanger
people's lives? Consider Mrs.
Jonestein, a fictional, yet none-
too-farfetched, city dweller.
Mrs. Jonestein is that "one
person," that "one life" that
might have been saved if she
had owned a gun for self-de-
fense. Alas, Mrs. Jonestein was
on her fourth day of waiting for
Big Brother's permission to buy
a gun when an armed criminal
entered her apartment and shot
her. Dead.
Once again, please tell me be-
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"I think Jews have
shown that they've
learned nothing
from history by
supporting gun
control. Gun
control is the key
to genocide."
—Aaron Zelman
cause Pm still confused: Whom
are we trying to protect?
In Milwaukee, there's an or-
ganization called Jews For the
Preservation of Firearms Own-
ership Inc., directed by founder
Aaron Zelman.
"I started the organization to
challenge Jewish leadership,"
Mr. Zelman says. "I think Jews
have shown that they've learned
nothing from history by sup-
porting gun control. Gun control
is the key to genocide."
Mr. Zelman hearkens back to
the Weimar Republic, which
passed legislation in 1928 that
forced citizens to register
weapons with the government.
In 1933, when Adolf Hitler came
to power, the Nazis inherited
lists of licensed weapon owners.
The Nazis used those lists to fer-
ret out Jews and confiscate their
firearms.
"What gun control did was
register people, not just guns,"
Mr. Zelman says.
On Nov. 11, 1938 — Kristall-
nacht — the Third Reich passed
laws that straight-out forbade
Jews from owning instruments
of self-defense. Part one of the
Reichsgesetzblatt reads:
"Jews are prohibited from ac-
quiring, possessing and carry-
ing firearms and ammunition,
as well as truncheons or stab-
bing weapons. Those now
possessing weapons and am-
munition are at once to turn
them over to the local police au-
thority...
"Firearms and ammunition
found in a Jew's possession will
be forfeited to the government
without compensation."
I'll grant that America in the
1990s is not Germany in the
1930s. But, as Mr. Zelman says,
it is interesting to note the pos-
itive correlation between gun
control and genocide. Indeed, it
also was evident in Ottoman
Turkey, when Armenians were
not allowed to bear arms.
Similar cases surfaced in the
former Soviet Union, China,
Guatemala, Uganda and Cam-
bodia. In each, a persecuted peo-
ple was denied a basic right, the
right to bear arms.
Our Founding Fathers did
not create the Second Amend-
ment on a whim. They recog-
nized the extent to which
government could infringe on
personal liberties and wanted
to provide citizens with a way
to fight back. The political
philosopher John Locke posited
that a free people in a free coun-
try must be free to rebel against
tyrant leaders.
We, as Jews, should know
this.
Additionally, the Brady Bill
is a way for government to take
aim at not only our Second
Amendment rights but also at
our right to free trade. Govern-
ment shouldn't delay private
transactions. That's not its role
in a free market.
But, if you're not persuaded
by philosophy, take note of these
statistics, published in the Wall
Street Journal by economist and
editorial writer Jay Edward
Simkin. Mr. Simkin studied the
Chicago Police Department's
yearly "Murder Analysis" re-
ports for 1965 to 1989.
"In 1973, 59.2 percent of all
murders by firearms were com-
mitted by people using hand-
guns; this percentage fell to a
low of 36.9 percent in 1981. Af-
ter a 1982 handgun registration
act, the downward trend
stopped. The figure hovered
around 40 percent until 1988,
when it rose to 45 percent."
Unfortunately, Americans
need target practice. Instead of
focusing on gun control, we
should aim at preserving basic
human rights. Let's shoot for
stiffer criminal sentences while
we strive to preserve the right
of citizens to protect themselves
without government interfer-
ence.
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