by The Last Gun- How Changes in the Gun Industry Are Killing Americans
43. “OSBI: No DNA Evidence Discovered,” Associated Press State & Local Wire, June 8, 2009; “Man Sought for Questioning as 2 Girls Buried.”
44. “OSBI Cuts Officers on Weleetka Killings,” Tulsa World, Sept. 13, 2008.
45. Affidavit of Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Kurt Titsworth, 2.
46. “Murder Charges Filed in Weleetka Girls’ Slayings,” Tulsa World, Dec. 9, 2011,
47. Affidavit of Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Kurt Titsworth, 1–2.
48. Ibid., 2.
49. Ibid., 2.
50. Ibid., 3.
51. “Police Weapon Traced to Killings: Clock, Once City-Owned, Used to Kill Two Okla. Girls,” Baltimore Sun, Dec. 18, 2011.
52. Affidavit of Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Kurt Titsworth, 2–3.
53. “Agents Use New Tools to Trace Handguns,” Associated Press Online, July 14, 2007.
54. Ibid.
55. “After Gun Industry Pressure, Veil Was Draped over Tracing Data,” Washington Post, Oct. 24, 2010.
56. “Firearms Measure Surprises Some in GOP,” Washington Post, July 21, 2003.
57. City of Chicago v. Department of Treasury, 287 F3d 628, 631 (7th Cir. 2002).
58. Colin Miller, “Lawyers, Guns, and Money: Why the Tiahrt Amendment’s Ban on the Admissibility of ATF Trace Data in State Court Actions Violates the Commerce Clause and the Tenth Amendment,” Utah Law Review 2010, no. 665 (2010): 665, 677.
59. Federal Judicial Center, “Bauer, William Joseph,” in Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, www.fjc.gov/public/home.nsf/hisj.
60. City of Chicago v. Department of Treasury, 287 F.3d 628, 634 (7th Cir. 2002). Tiahrt and the NRA claimed that the lawsuits compromised eighteen ATF investigations. But ATF associate chief counsel Barry Orlow told the Washington Post that none was compromised. “After Gun Industry Pressure, Veil Was Draped over Tracing Data.”
61. City of Chicago v. Department of Treasury.
62. Ibid.
63. See “Foreign Intelligence and Counterintelligence Records System,” U.S. Department of Justice, www.justice.gov/nsd/foia/mis/ficrs.htm.
64. See, e.g., letter from Ronald Weich, Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden Jr., President, U.S. Senate, dated Apr. 30, 2012.
65. Angela Jacqueline Tang, “Note: Taking Aim at Tiahrt,” William & Mary Law Review 50 (Apr. 2009): 1787, 1821.
66. “Police Union Lobbyist Has Influence in Gun Debate, Beyond,” Washington Post, Dec. 15, 2010.
67. Compare National Fraternal Order of Police directory, www.fop.net/contact/index.shtml#Admin, and First Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report of Jim Pasco and Associates, filed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.
68. “Philip Morris Is Client of Police Lobbyist Fighting Tobacco Bill,” USA Today, May 12, 1998.
69. Ibid.
70. “Big Tobacco Quietly Tries to Grow Grass Roots: Industry’s Sophisticated Lobbying Tactics Strike Some Critics as Deceptive,” Washington Post, May 16, 1998; “Philip Morris Is Client of Police Lobbyist Fighting Tobacco Bill.”
71. “Police Union Lobbyist Has Influence in Gun Debate, Beyond.”
72. Ibid.
73. Chuck Canterbury, “Don’t Buy Claims About Tiahrt Gun Amendment,” Wichita Eagle, Apr. 24, 2007.
74. Chris W. Cox, NRA-ILA executive director, “Political Report: One on One with Chuck Canterbury, National President, Fraternal Order Of Police,” www.nrapublications.org/index.php/10217/political-report-16.
75. “Lawmakers Ask Feds to Share Info on Gun Trace Data That Could Help Find the Source of Guns,” Associated Press, May 2, 2007.
76. “Police Union Lobbyist Has Influence in Gun Debate, Beyond.”
77. See “Jim Pasco,” CornerStone Associates, www.cornerstone-associates.org/biographies.html#jim_pasco.
78. See “Capabilities,” CornerStone Associates, www.cornerstone-associates.org/capabilities.html.
79. See “Our Clients,” CornerStone Associates, www.cornerstone-associates.org/clients.html.
80. “Endorsements: U.S. Senate and House, Kansas Governor,” Wichita Eagle, July 25, 2010.
81. Miller, “Lawyers, Guns, and Money,” 665, 681–82. See also “After Gun Industry Pressure, Veil Was Draped over Tracing Data.”
8. Paper Tiger
1. Richard Lacayo, “Under Fire,” Time Magazine, Ian. 29, 1990. A version dated June 24, 2001, is available at www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,153695,00.html.
2. Josh Sugarmann, NRA: Money, Firepower & Fear (Washington, DC: Violence Policy Center, 2010), 14–15.
3. “Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., Presidential Candidate, Delivers Remarks at the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum,” CQ Transcriptions, Apr. 13, 2012. The speech can be watched at “Mitt Romney at 2012 NRA Annual Meeting,” YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlqz_IPNOzO.
4. “Dem-Backed Crime Bill Has Romney’s Support,” Boston Herald, May 29, 1994.
5. “Romney Cries Foul, Dares Kennedy to Debate Him,” Boston Herald, June 2, 1994.
6. “Herald Panel Grills Romney on Crime,” Boston Herald, Aug. 1, 1994.
7. “Mitt Rejects Right-Wing Aid,” Boston Herald, Sept. 23, 1994.
8. “Massachusetts to Enforce Strict Gun Safety Laws,” New York Times, Apr. 3, 2000.
9. “Area Gun Lovers Mad at Romney,” The Republican, July 10, 2003.
10. “Bay State Enacts Assault Weapons Ban,” Boston Globe, July 2, 2004.
11. “Massachusetts Governor Shares Election Views,” Hannity & Colmes, Fox News, Aug. 4, 2004.
12. The VPC defined states with “strong” gun laws as those that add significant state regulation in addition to federal law, such as restricting access to particularly hazardous types of firearms (for example, assault weapons), setting minimum safety standards for firearms and/or requiring a permit to purchase a firearm, and restrictive laws governing the open and concealed carrying of firearms in public. States with “weak” gun laws were defined as those that add little or nothing to federal restrictions and have permissive laws governing the open or concealed carrying of firearms in public. Violence Policy Center, “Massachusetts Has Lowest Gun Death Rate in Nation,” news release, Apr. 23, 2012, www.vpc.org/press/1204death.htm.
13. Violence Policy Center, “Massachusetts Has Lowest Gun Death Rate in Nation.”
14. “In farming, sheep dipping is a chemical bath given to sheep to rid them of bugs or disease or to clean their wool before shearing. In CIA terminology, sheep dipping means disguising the identity of an agent by placing him within a legitimate organization. This establishes clean credentials that can later be used to penetrate adversary groups or organizations. Similar to the real sheep, the agent is cleaned up so that nobody knows where he’s been, kind of like money laundering.” See “11 Terms Used by Spies,” HowStuffWorks, http://people.howstuffworks.com/11-terms-used-by-spies.htm.
15. “Romney Assures Gun Rights Group of His Fealty,” New York Times, Apr. 14, 2012; “Mitt Romney Announces Support of Conservationist Rob Keck,” Targeted News Service, Feb. 21, 2012.
16. Ibid.
17. “Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., Presidential Candidate, Delivers Remarks at the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum.”
18. Ibid.
19. James William Gibson, Warrior Dreams: Violence and Manhood in Post-Vietnam America (New York: Hill & Wang, 1994).
20. Ibid., 11.
21. The Free Congress Foundation was a pioneer in marshaling funds from the ultra-wealthy and in coordinating the strategy of the far right’s culture war against the perceived excesses of liberalism. “FCF is also widely credited as one of the pioneer organizations of political action through organized coalition. Before the foundation’s creation, established conservative leaders and institutions often acted individually in accordance with their beliefs. FCF introduced co
nservatives to the ‘coalition model,’ which trained them to coordinate—and time—their efforts with conservative members of Congress, journalists, think tanks and grassroots groups. This would ensure that initiatives had broad-based coordinated support.” See “History,” www.freecongress.org/about/history. The late Paul Weyrich, who founded both the Heritage Foundation and the Free Congress Foundation with the help of the beer magnate Joseph Coors, was credited in a 1998 article surveying the right-wing landscape with laying the foundation of the “new conservative labyrinth.” This labyrinth “includes dozens of national and regional think tanks (Heritage, American Enterprise, Free Congress Research and Education, Cato, Hudson, Hoover, Manhattan, and so on), legal centers (Institute for Justice, Washington Legal Foundation, and the Pacific, Atlantic, New England, and Southeastern Legal Foundations), magazines (American Spectator, Weekly Standard), journals (Public Interest, National Interest), and an extensive communications and marketing capacity.” Karen M. Paget, “Lessons of Right-Wing Philanthropy,” American Prospect, Sept.–Oct. 1998.
22. Speech by National Rifle Association First Vice President Charlton Heston, delivered at the Free Congress Foundation’s 20th Anniversary Gala, Dec. 7, 1997, available at www.vpc.org/nrainfo/speech.html.
23. For a detailed discussion of the NRA’s alignment with the right-wing’s “movement conservatives,” see Violence Prevention Campaign, From the Gun War to the Culture War: How the NRA Has Become the Pillar of the Right (Washington, DC: Violence Policy Center, 2002), www.vpc.org/graphics/gunwar.pdf.
24. “Call to Arms,” Washington Post, Aug. 6, 2000.
25. Gibson, Warrior Dreams, 11–12.
26. Southern Poverty Law Center, “T.J. Ready,” Intelligence Files, www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/profiles/jt-ready “Ready was well known as a friend of Russell Pearce, former president of the Arizona senate, sponsor of the state’s draconian anti-immigrant law, known as S.B. 1070. The two were photographed and videotaped together at a 2007 rally. When confronted by a reporter at the time, Pearce claimed he hardly knew Ready. But, in fact, as the Phoenix New Times reported, Pearce was part of a small group that had celebrated Ready’s baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2003 or 2004. And when Ready was running for the Mesa City Council in 2006, Pearce called him a ‘true patriot’ in a video supporting his candidacy, according to New Times. The newspaper also reported that Ready described Pearce as a ‘father figure’ who had groomed him for a possible run for the Arizona state legislature.”
27. “Police Believe Neo-Nazi killed 4, himself in Ariz.,” Salt Lake Tribune, May 5, 2012.
28. Ibid.
29. Speech by National Rifle association First Vice President Charlton Heston.
30. “Former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., Presidential Candidate, Delivers Remarks at the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum.”
31. Violence Policy Center, Lessons Unlearned: The Gun Lobby and the Siren Song of Anti-Government Rhetoric (Washington, DC: Violence Policy Center, 2010), 8, www.vpc.org/studies/lessonsunlearned.pdf.
32. “Call to Arms.”
33. Becky Bowers, “In Context: Ted Nugent Saying If Obama Wins, ‘I Will Either Be Dead or in Jail,’” PolitiFact, Apr. 19, 2012, www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/apr/19/context-ted-nugent-saying-if-obama-wins-i-will-be.
34. “Romney Goes on Offensive on Guns at NRA Gathering; Likely GOP Nominee: Obama Waiting for Second Term to Act,” Baltimore Sun, Apr. 14, 2012.
35. “Biography—William J. Clinton,” William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, www.clintonlibrary.gov/_previous/bios-WJC.htm.
36. NRA Action (periodical of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action), Sept. 1992, www.saf.org/pub/rkba/wais/data_fles/aphrodite/nraction0992 (accessed June 20, 2003); “Call to arms”; brief item, associated Press, Oct. 15, 1982.
37. “At Election Time, Political Mouths Open,” Associated Press, Oct. 25, 1982; brief item, Associated Press, Oct. 15, 1982.
38. NRA Action, Sept. 1992.
39. “Call to arms”; NRA Action, Sept. 1992.
40. “The NRA works with gun owners and lawmakers to enact preemption laws in the few states that still permit local ordinances more restrictive than state law. To ensure uniform firearm laws throughout your state and to guarantee equal rights for all, support statewide firearms preemption.” National Rifle association, “Firearms Preemption Laws,” NRA-ILA Fact sheet, Dec. 16, 2006, www.nraila.org/news-issues/fact-sheets/2006/frearms-preemption-laws.aspx. Clinton alluded to the NRA campaign in 1991, saying the issue wasn’t one of gun control, but local government control, and was being pressed by the NRA. “They have a chart up on the wall in their Washington office with a check after the states that pass this,” he said. “showdown Brews as Clinton, NRA Duel over Gun Bill,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, Feb. 2, 1991.
41. “Clinton Vetoes Bill to Ban Local Laws on Gun Control,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, Mar. 30, 1991.
42. NRA Action, Sept. 1992.
43. “Clinton Looking into System to Check Histories of Gun Buyers,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 14, 1991.
44. For an overview of the rise and regulation of semiautomatic assault weapons, see Tom Diaz, Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America (New York: The New Press, 1999), 120–34.
45. “Clinton Vetoes Firearms Bill: He Calls It ‘Unwise Encroachment’ on Local Governments,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Mar. 22, 1989.
46. “Governors Want More Road Money,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Feb. 6, 1991.
47. “Schaefer Lobbies Governors for U.S. Ban on Assault Weapons,” Washington Post, Aug. 17, 1991.
48. Ibid.
49. See, e.g., “Assault Weapons Ban OKd—by the Narrowest of Margins; House Vote Is Stunning Victory for Clinton,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 6, 1994; and “Brandishing a Loaded Symbol: Clinton Uses Police Officer’s Death to Push Assault Weapon Ban,” Washington Post, May 3, 1994.
50. “The Great Gun Divide,” National Journal, July 22, 2000.
51. Paul Waldman, “The Myth of NRA Dominance Part I: The NRA’s Ineffective Spending,” Think Progress, Feb. 9, 2012, http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/02/09/421893/the-myth-of-nra-dominance-part-i-the-nras-ineffective-spending.
52. Christopher Kenny, Michael McBurnett, and David Bordua, “The Impact of Political Interests in the 1994 and 1996 Congressional Elections: The Role of the National Rifle Association,” British Journal of Political Science 34 (2004): 331–44. “This article would not have been possible without the co-operation of Tanya Metaksa, former Director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Affairs [sic], and Paul Black-man, research director for the NRA. Ms. Metaksa made available the data on ratings, endorsements and membership numbers used in the analyses. The authors accept responsibility for interpretations made with these data” (331fn).
53. Ibid., 332.
54. Waldman, “Myth of NRA Dominance Part I.”
55. Ibid.
56. Kenny, McBurnett, and Bordua, “Impact of Political Interests,” 344.
57. See “Swimming with Sharks,” Indiana Public Media, http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/swimming-with-sharks (“If remoras could talk, they would calmly explain something called commensalism—a relationship where one species benefits from proximity to the other without harming or helping the other species. In this case, remoras benefit from riding on sharks without doing the sharks any harm”).
58. Waldman, “Myth of NRA Dominance Part I.”
59. Tom Rosenstiel, “Political Polling and the New Media Culture: A Case of More Being Less,” Public Opinion Quarterly 69, no. 5 (special issue 2005): 699, 706.
60. See, e.g., Christopher Preble, “Ike Reconsidered: How Conservatives Ignored, and Liberals Misconstrued, Eisenhower’s Warnings About Military Spending,” Washington Monthly, Mar. 1, 2011 (“Whereas the Keynesians thought this a useful by-product of a large national security state, Eisenhower vi
ewed it as a threat to the Republic. Later scholars would call it the Iron Triangle.”); and Shane Harris, “Own the Sky,” Washingtonian, Nov. 2010 (“The Air Force would get its planes. Members of Congress would score a win for their constituencies and American industry. And Boeing would be saved. The three points in the ‘iron triangle’ of the defense business were all satisfied.”).
61. Lawrence R. Jacobs and Robert Y. Shapiro, “Polling Politics, Media, and Election Campaigns,” Public Opinion Quarterly 69, no. 5 (special issue 2005): 640. The “golden triangle” business is lucrative. A 1996 article in the Chicago Tribune, for example, detailed how Bill Clinton’s “unpaid” political consultant Dick Morris, the pollsters Penn & Schoen, and the media firm of Squier Knapp & Ochs carved up commissions of $4.25 million from just one year’s worth of “media buys.” Morris’s share was an estimated $1.5 million. This amount did not include fees for other services, nor did it include more commissions from later media buys. “Clinton’s ‘Unpaid’ Political Whiz Is Really a Gun for Hire,” Chicago Tribune, Aug. 25, 1996.
62. Rosenstiel, “Political Polling and the New Media Culture,” 701.
63. Ibid., 701–3.
64. Ibid., 707.
65. Andrew Kohut, “But What Do the Polls Show?” Pew Research Center, Oct. 14, 2009, http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1379/polling-history-influence-policymaking-politics.
66. “Most of Fiske’s Whitewater Legal Staff Won’t Serve Under Starr,” Washington Post, Aug. 31, 1994;”Fiske Ousted in Whitewater Case: Move Is Surprise,” Los Angeles Times, Aug. 6, 1994.
67. “Democrats Glum About Prospects as Elections Near,” New York Times, Sept. 4, 1994.
68. “Shooting in the Dark,” National Journal, Feb. 12, 1994.
69. “Experts Doubt Effectiveness of Crime Bill,” New York Times, Sept. 14, 1994.
70. “Prevention Plans Seen as ‘Mush,’” The Oregonian, Aug. 16, 1994.
71. “ ‘Pork’ Attacked by GOP Predates Current Debate,” Washington Post, Aug. 18, 1994.
72. Peter J. Boyer, “Whip Cracker,” New Yorker, Sept. 5, 1994, 38–39.
73. “Crime Bill Fails on a House Vote, Stunning Clinton,” New York Times, Aug. 12, 1994.