WASHINGTON (AP)--A day before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Lebanese man
was convicted of conspiring to ship weapons acquired at Michigan gun shows to
the terrorist organization Hezbollah.
 The man was prohibited from buying guns because of a conviction for grand
theft. But he did not have to undergo a background check because no federal or
Michigan state law requires such checks for sales between private or unlicensed
gun sellers and buyers at shows, according to a report released Wednesday by
[red]the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
[/red]

 The scheme, which the man was running with his brother,[red] whose record was
clean,[/red] was revealed by a police informant, the report said.
 Using such examples, the report called for stricter federal controls on guns,
including requiring complete criminal background checks wherever a gun is sold,
including at gun shows, through classified ads or over the Internet.


 "For terrorists around the world, the United States is the great gun bazaar,"
said the report, which details how terrorists amass firearms in the U.S.
 Bills to close the loophole for background checks at gun shows - which the
report called a "breeding ground for gun sales to terrorists" - have been
introduced by[red] Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., John McCain, R-Ariz., Joseph Lieberman,
D-Conn., and Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del.
[/red]

 [blue]Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, said the
Brady Center was trying to exploit the attacks in order to further its
political agenda of getting more gun control laws passed at a time when firearm
sales are up.
 "The events of Sept. 11 had nothing to do with guns," he said.[/blue] "Plausibly, had
the cockpit crew of the four fateful jetliners been able to arm themselves, we
might have saved 4,000 innocent lives," he said.
 In the Michigan case, it is absurd to blame U.S. gun shows for state-sponsored
terrorism that is bankrolled by foreign governments, Arulanandam said. Also,
existing law was adequate in the case to bring the perpetrators to justice.
 

Among other examples cited in the report:
 - An illegal Pakistani immigrant who frequented gun shows and bought rifles
and pistols is being investigated by a federal grand jury in Texas for possible
links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, the report said.
 - In Florida, members of the Irish Republican Army in 1999 bought dozens of
handguns, rifles and rounds of high-powered ammunition from a licensed dealer,
collectors and private citizens. They then hid them in packages that were
mailed overseas and intercepted by police, the report said.
 

- A manual for jihad, or holy war, was found at the remains of a terrorist
training camp in Afghanistan and singles out the U.S. for its easy availability
of firearms.


[size=3][red] The report recommends outlawing mail purchases of parts necessary to make
assault weapons; strengthening federal enforcement authority over gun dealers;
making permanent the federal ban on assault weapons; placing limits on
large-volume gun purchases; giving the FBI access to background check records
of gun purchasers in the government's database; and retaining the records for
at least six months.

[/size=3][/red]  On the Net:
 Brady center: www.bradycenter.org
 NRA: www.nra.org

 (END) DOW JONES NEWS  12-19-01
 11:50 AM- - 11 50 AM EST 12-19-01


we need to shoot this down, before it ever takes flight!

NO!! ya think...[:O]

This just doesn't make sense....

Question:  Why would you buy firearms in the US and risk being caught shipping them to remote locations when you can buy $40 AK's in third world countries?


Well used sar1 in US = $150-200  (semi-auto)
Well used sar1 outside US = $30-150  (auto)

It really doesn't suprise me that sheeple believe this crap from the Bradey org.  Joe citizen believes everything he reads (if he reads)and if he does have doubt he is just to lazy to research the issue and find the truths.

It really doesn't suprise me.

You know, I recall people from the Left and the Right insisting that if we relinquish our Freedoms because of terrorism, then the terrorists win.  Yet, at the same time, they are proposing exactly that.  Amazing.