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Liz Michael for United States Senate

Dial 911 and Die
by Richard W. Stevens

Dial 911 and Die is a book that will open your eyes and possibly even save your life, or the life of someone you love. It should be required reading for anyone who doesn't realize that he has primary, if not sole, responsibility for protecting and defending himself. And it's a wonderful resource for those of us who have accepted that responsibility in the face of overwhelming hostility from the uninformed and politically correct. ... Do the police have the obligation to arrest someone who repeatedly violates a domestic violence protective order? No. Can the police ignore an emergency call for assistance in order to do paperwork? Yes. Do the police have the obligation to respond to a 911 call for help? No. What if they promise that "help is on the way"? Do they then have an obligation to respond? Still no. If the police witness a crime in progress, must they intervene to protect the innocent? No again.

Boston's Gun Bible
by Boston T. Party

see larger photo

Columbine Victim Richard Castaldo's Father Gives Congressional Testimony

http://www.house.gov/judiciary/cast0406.htm
04/06/00 Committee on the Judiciary - Castaldo Statement

Mr.Chairman and Members of the Committee,

I thank you for the opportunity to come before you and speak about my
support of H.R. 4051, "Project Exile: The Safe Streets and
Neighborhoods Act of 2000."

On April 20th of last year, my son Richard was having lunch with a
classmate, Rachel Scott, outside the Library of Columbine high
school. Richard was shot eight times and is now paralyzed from the
chest down. Rachel was not so lucky; she died while lying next to my
son.

Rachel's father testified in this very room shortly after the
incident. Like me, he does not blame the guns. I believe that there
are a number of factors and cultural influences that affect young
people today. Mr. Scott spoke of the loss of faith and the
denigration of God in some circles of modern America. Many of us
speak about the influences of the media, music and movies on our
teenagers. Many of our political leaders ignore the effect that these
influences have on young people and continue to blame this behavior,
like Columbine, solely on guns. This, in my opinion, is clearly
wrong. It is the failure to identify and address the root cause of
this behavior that I find dishonest. Our President has stood up and
proclaimed, "If only congress would pass my gun legislation, our
children would be safe." I find this personally offensive. That the
President of the United States can blame the lack of gun laws, of
which there are already 20,000, for a tragedy like Columbine, is
ludicrous.

Shortly after the Columbine shooting, my son Richard, while in
intensive care, asked me how many laws were broken. I was told by the
district attorney that there were at least seventeen federal laws
broken. I could not even count the vast number of state laws that
applied. Richard had been asked, by members of the media and some of
our elected officials, about his position regarding "gun control."
His response showed that the wisdom of youth frequently exceeds our
own. "What good would a few more laws do?" he asked. "What causes
kids to do something like this?"

There have been a number of high profile crimes over the past few
years. But who can blame the Oklahoma City bombing on the
availability of diesel fuel? It is equally illogical to blame
Columbine on a gun.

Recently, in Michigan, a six-year-old murdered a classmate with a gun
he brought to school from the crack house that he lived in. The
little boy had a history of problems that we will never know about
because of privacy concerns. Although there are a number of social
programs, child welfare agencies, and laws against dealing drugs,
possessing guns illegally, and abusing or neglecting children, this
little boy still lived in a home infested with drugs, illegal
weapons, and no adult supervision. It appears that a number of public
agencies knew about his situation and did nothing. Yet, the only
outrage that we saw from some of our elected officials was directed
at the gun. President Clinton went so far as to suggest that even
people in a crack house would have used a child safety lock, thus
preventing the little girl's death. Do Americans really believe that
drug dealers would use child safety locks on illegal weapons, or are
we so callused to the barrage of rhetoric from our elected leaders
that we do not care anymore? No matter, that headline is gone,
another will be here tomorrow.

Another recent headline involves a felon, turned down for a gun
purchase under the Brady Bill, who went out, got an illegal gun and
killed more people. If that man had been put in jail where he
belonged for violating the law, those people would be alive today.
This man broke a federal law, why didn't our Attorney General, or her
designee, prosecute him? Where is the outrage over that? Why doesn't
the media care? Why doesn't Congress, my elected officials, hold the
Executive branch accountable? Should we just pass more laws outlawing
guns to placate the public, creating a façade for political
benefit?

During my son's four month hospital stay, he and I talked at length
about what has gone on in our country today that contributed to
Columbine. We came to the conclusion that this is a difficult and
convoluted question. One issue that we have resolved amongst
ourselves is that more laws will change nothing. It was not normal
behavior that two teenagers would construct a number of bombs, gather
up weapons, and set siege to their school. Thank God that their bombs
didn't go off. Thank God that more children didn't die. Thank God it
wasn't worse.

So what do we do now as rational Americans? My suggestion is rather
straightforward. We should consider the causes. By that I mean we
should ask the following question: What on Earth causes two upper
middle class students to concoct and carry out such a plan? For all
practical purposes, these boys had intact households, after school
jobs, good grades, and caring parents. However, they were intent on
doing their fellow students harm. Why?

Was it the treatment by fellow students that they received, being
taunted, being disparaged, being outcasts? Was it the solace they
found in Internet chat rooms, visualizing death for their tormentors?
Was it the violent video game "Doom" that they mentioned throughout
their infamous videotapes? Was it the constant messages in the music
they listened to? Why didn't the Sheriff's department act on the web
site information they had? Why didn't the school think it odd that
two students would produce a video about murdering fellow students?
Was it within their freedom of speech? Has this contributed to the
perverse, permissive behavior? These are all difficult and
controversial problems to address.

It is far easier to blame it on guns. It makes it simple to sell on
TV.

So how do we send a message to criminals? How do we communicate to
the public that we are serious about solving the crime problem? One
way is clear: swift and tough prosecution of laws that we already
have in this country.

In New York City, thanks to a tough, "law and order" mayor, violent
crime is down over thirty percent. This alone accounts for a
substantial drop in the U.S. crime rate. The President has taken
credit for the drop in violent crime in the U.S., but I give the
credit to the governors, attorneys general, mayors and prosecutors
who have taken a renewed look at prosecuting the people who break our
laws. Nothing could be more simple, and nothing has had more of an
impact in crime. Many would take exception to enforcing laws; perhaps
it is a philosophical difference between what we call the left and
right in this country. I call it cleaning up the criminals.

In Virginia, where I have lived for eight years, Project Exile has
worked what I consider miracles in Richmond. I have visited my
State's capital a few times. And I must admit, I did not stay in town
after dark. I no longer worry about heading home at dusk. Homicides
are down over 40%. Gun crimes over 50%, assaults are down, and all
this because people are being put in jail for breaking the law. What
a novel idea. How many people in jail are not now on the street to
commit crimes?

Finally, in Washington D.C., where there are some of the most
stringent gun laws in the nation, gun-related crimes continue, many
by repeat offenders. Does our lax enforcement contribute to the
mentality that would be criminals develop? "So what if I break the
law," they say. "I'll get a slap on the hand and go about my way." Do
our children take on these attitudes? I suspect they do.

In closing, I would like to say that criminals will not change their
behavior until we change ours. Let's eliminate the possibility that
lax enforcement breeds contempt, and support mandatory sentences for
criminals who use guns.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for introducing this bill which will give
States the incentive to broaden this program which has already
provided meaningful results, and thank you for allowing me to testify
today.