The NRA has been saying "that on November 7, Americans will be casting the most important votes of their lifetimes -- to save the Second Amendment for future generations. As hard as it may be to believe, it is the official position of the Clinton-Gore Administration that an American citizen has no individual right under the Second Amendment to own any firearm."   What they fail to state is that not only has the Supreme Court and eight United States Courts of Appeals uniformly held that the Second Amendment does not extend firearms rights to individuals; this position has been accepted by all Administrations at least since Nixon's, who's Department of Justice wrote to  George H. W. Bush "... it must be considered settled that there is no personal constitutional right, under the Second Amendment, to own or to use a gun."  Obviously this omission is designed to misinform not only what the law of the land is and has been for many decades, it also fails to note that position has been accepted by successive Republican and Democratic Administrations. Indeed, although scholars can still debate the issue, simply put, if the Second Amendment's "right to bear arms" was unlimited extended to individuals, the prohibition against machine guns and grenade launchers, and the provision for background checks, could all be challenged.
These misrepresentation are intentional, designed not to inform but to incite.

"From my cold dead hands."  NRA President Charlton Heston, ending his address to the 2000 NRA Convention.
"While Heston may have spoken symbolically, a number of gun owners, perhaps millions, literally will fight to preserve their Second Amendment rights.  James Bass, Columbus Dispatch Letters, 6/2/00
"I've come to believe that he [President Clinton] needs a certain level of violence in this country.  He's willing to accept a certain level of killing to further his political agenda and his vice-president too."  Wayne LaPierre arguing that the Columbine tragedy was acceptable to Clinton since it strengthened the case for gun control.
"Mr. LaPierre said Ricky Birdsong, former coach of Northwestern University, would not have been shot if the administration had prosecuted the killer for gun-law violations after he was turned away from a gun store because of his criminal record and later bought a gun from an unlicensed dealer.  'That death is on the president's hands.  If he had prosecuted, he would have prevented the death.  The key question here for the president is has he looked into the eyes of Ricky Birdsong's family, because that blood is on his hands.'  State officials, not federal ones were responsible for the background checks in Illinois, and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and firearms was not informed about the failed background check until after he had killed Mr. Birdsong.  The real question is why the NRA has fought against having background checks on all purchases, and why they fought the checks in the first place.  And what happened to their standard response that is only Mr. Birdsong had been armed he would not have died?"  NYT 3/16/00
"Just because a gun law won't make all the difference doesn't mean it won't make any difference."  B. Clinton
"The president's intent actually seems to be to lessen violence in America, whereas the NRA's gibberish sounds like the big lie strategy -- the corrupted logic and bizarre exaggeration associated with doomsday cults, the Montana Freemen, Aryan Nation types and other single issue anti-government crazies who rely on apathy, sloganeering and fear to force their points into prominence."  Richard Ford, Hunter NYT 3/12/00
The NRA lost getting a concealed carry law in Missouri despite calling it "the last great gun battle of the 20th century" and outspending opponents 5 to 1.  Of course it was a referendum, voted on by voters, rather than a bill voted on by legislators.
On average, more people are killed in a week with guns in the US than in all of Western Europe in a year
According to the American Medical Association, gun violence costs $2.3 billion a year.  NYT 5/5/00
The 6 year old boy who shot Kayla Rolland is so young he will not be charged with any crime, and the school rules only allow a maximum suspension of 80 days.  "I'm dying."  Kayla's last words to a classmate after being shot in the chest.  Rushing to the hospital, Kayla's mother expected a broken arm or some school yard injury.  When told her daughter has passed away, she hugged her dead child begging "Please wake up."
"I don't think he understood that pulling the trigger kills."  Prosecutor Art Busch after speaking to the 6 year old killer.
"That poor defenseless little schoolgirl... If only she'd had a gun of her own... "  Caption beneath a cartoon showing an NRA member shedding a tear... Wright in Palm Beach Post reprinted in Newsweek 3/13/00
Guns don't kill people; first-graders kill people.
One-third of 8-year olds said they could get a gun if they wanted one.  Dr. J. Garbarino, NYT 3/2/00
"Is there any other nation in the world where a 6-year old guns down another 6-year old in school?  Our national pathology of gun violence has reached such extreme levels that perhaps the more moderate members of the gun lobby will finally admit that something must be done.  After all, their kids may be next."  J. Rosen, Newsweek Letters 4/3/00
"My son is scared to death to go back to school.  He's just terrified.  He says "Mom, what if it happens to me?' I don't know what to tell him.  Lori Lafond, whose son was a classmate of Kayla.
"I don't like thinking about how loud the guns might be.  You could probably hear them through the whole school."  8 year old Brandon Marsh, on fears of potential gun violence in his school in Worthington, Ohio
"I choose to own a gun because I am a good mother.  If you care about your children, you should make sure you have the ability to defend them."  Maria Heil, coordinator of the Second Amendment Sisters.  NYT 5/22/00
"Since the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado, high schools all over the United States have been affected.  Security is maximized, metal detectors are installed and money spent on new locks instead of new books.  Everyone is asking, 'Can we ever trust high-school students again?'  It's a matter that should not be taken lightly.  As a freshman I have seen the effects of Columbine on my own high school.  We can't carry book bags from class to class.  We can't wear our coats indoors.  We have drills in case of an intruder.  ... The no book-bag rule may discourage some people from bringing guns to school, but not many.  Purses are large enough, and so are cargo pants."  Tricia Ready Cols. Dispatch Letters 10/17/00
Teachers have been told that in the event of an intruder with a gun, they should write the number of students in the room on a piece of paper and put in the window for law enforcement officers to see.
"Gun ownership was not widespread in America until after the Civil War.  Colonial militias had few guns and the ones they had were generally ineffective.  Later as the nation moved westward, the wild West was not so wild -- cattle towns had stringent gun control laws with guns consistently being confiscated in many, including Dodge City. " G. Willis in A Necessary Evil
When gun sales declined in the 1970's, small powerful handguns became the lifeblood of the industry; cheap pistols not only commanded greater sales but profits of 40% or more.
Rampage killings were fairly consistent from 1976 to 1989 averaging about 23 a year.  But from 1990 to 1997 the number rose to an average of 34.  This increase coincides roughly with the availability of more lethal weapons as semiautomatic pistols overtook the production of revolvers in the late 1980's.  Indeed the rate of deaths per incident suddenly increased in 1993.  "That means you can shoot more rounds faster and easier, what they call 'spray and pray."  Other factors for the increase appear to be a "copycat element," with many killers being aware not only of prior incidents, but the number of killings "to beat."  "Something that was inconceivable to many people suddenly becomes conceivable."  S. Messner, SUNY.
Do not put a sword in a madman's hand.  English Proverb
"There are no words to convey how sorry we are for the pain that has been brought upon the community as a result of our son's actions.  The pain of others compounds our own as we struggle to live without the son we cherished."  Parents of Dylan Klebold
Many states routinely require hunters to pass hunters safety course before going  into a field with a gun.
Under current federal law, nearly any adult without a felony conviction can buy a handgun without ever having touched one before, much less having fired one -- and without knowing how the gun works, how to operate any safety features, or how to handle and store it safely.
"Our citizens must get licenses to fish, hunt and to drive.  Certainly no less should be required for the possession of lethal weapons that have caused so much horror and heartbreak in this country."  LBJ  quoted by Bob Herbert NYT 3/16/00
A new Ohio law mandates a five-day waiting period for purchasers of five or more kegs of beer.