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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (73587)	11/14/2000 12:43:09 AM
From: Thehammer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

I agree about the video games as well. Most folks can handle it, but reality alludes a few. We see so much graphic violence that people become desensitized to the inhumanity of it. Rosie in my mind is somewhat of a hypocrite in her stance on guns. Prior to knowing her political stance I did not care for her, although I thought she did a good job in "Out of Their League". After she did the hatchet job on Tom Selleck, I lost respect for her. Not nice to be rude to your guests!

To: Mr. Whist who wrote (73587)	11/14/2000 12:52:22 AM
From: Mr. Whist	Respond to of 769670

Sen. John McCain helped win passage of gun-check initiative in Oregon. Yet another example of where the people of the state picked up the ball after the state assembly was too chicken to do so. Following story from the Eugene, Ore., newspaper: Firearm checks at shows on target By GREG BOLT The Register-Guard Supporters of Measure 5 outgunned opponents at the ballot box Tuesday, winning approval for criminal background checks of anyone who buys a gun at a gun show. Early returns had the measure passing statewide, 60 percent to 40 percent. In Lane County, where a signature effort helped get the measure on the ballot, the measure was passing by a similar margin. "It was our belief all along that the Legislature did not fulfill the will of the people in session," said state Sen. Ginny Burdick, the measure's chief petitioner and sponsor of a similar bill that failed in the Legislature last year by one vote. "Our presumption all along was that Oregon favored it, and that was borne out by the election results tonight," Burdick said. Eugene resident Dan Close, who helped lead the Lane County petition drive and watched results come in at the Lane County Fairgrounds, said the measure succeeded because of support from gun owners. He gave much of the credit to a series of television ads featuring Arizona Sen. John McCain, who called on voters to back the measure. Close said McCain helped convince gun owners that Measure 5 was a reasonable response to gun violence and not a threat to privacy or liberty, as opponents claimed. "Our biggest challenge all along was whether gun owners would support us, and it appears they have," Close said. "We do believe that the John McCain ads were pivotal." Burdick also said the win shows that the National Rifle Association can't claim to speak for all gun owners. "It shows that gun owners are not represented by the NRA, that gun owners are just as reasonable as other Oregonians and just as much as other Oregonians want to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and children," she said. Opponents of the measure were disappointed, but said they weren't surprised by the results - especially after billionaire Andrew McKelvey poured millions into the Oregon measure and a similar one in Colorado that also passed. "One man who's not an Oregonian bought the passage of Measure 5, and that's a special interest," said John Hellen, a leader of the gun rights group, Oregon Gun Owners. Opponents of the measure argued that it was an unwarranted invasion of the privacy of legitimate gun owners. They objected in particular to a provision allowing Oregon State Police to keep a record of gun sales for five years as well as to the $10 charge for a background check through the state police computer system. Hellen said gun rights groups will consider challenging the measure in court, saying the records retention issue could provide an avenue for a lawsuit. He also said they may try to convince the Legislature to eliminate the records provision for rifle and shotgun sales, something that even some Measure 5 supporters favor. In addition to requiring criminal background checks for all gun show sales, Measure 5 also requires that background checks for rifles and shotguns be done through the state computer system. Checks for those guns currently are done through a federal computer system, which takes longer and checks fewer records than the state system. But checks through the federal system are free, and records are kept no more than 90 days. With the state system, the $10 fee applies, and all records - handgun and long gun - are kept for five years.