FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oct. 4, 2005
From: Alan Korwin, Author
Gun Laws of America
Full contact info at end

Where will Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers stand on guns?
PRIVATE GUN POSSESSION STILL BANNED--
Gun-Free School Zones Remain Intact

New maps disclose unexpected result of 1,000-foot bansResearch for 10th Anniversary edition of Gun Laws of America a shock.

Federal law makes it a crime to possess a firearm off your property and within 1,000 feet of a school, with a few narrow exceptions. When all gun-free zones were recently plotted for schools in two major cities (Phoenix and Cleveland), using computer mapping, it became apparent that virtually all public travel with firearms is now a violation of law.

Sandra Froman, president of the National Rifle Association, Chuck Cunningham the NRA's federal-law guru, leading politicians, and many others have asked me, somewhat skeptically, "Aren't there exceptions that basically make the law OK?" The short answer is no.

Six narrow exceptions are defined in the law, so for the record, here they are (the Gun Free School Zones Law is posted for review, including the changes enacted by Congress in 1996, after the Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional in the 1995 Lopez case).

SIX EXCEPTIONS:

1. On private property that isn't part of the school grounds.
In other words -- you're safe in your home until you step or drive off your property.

2. By a person duly licensed to possess firearms.
In other words -- the 1% of the public that have obtained a proper CCW government gun license are exempt; the other 99% of the public are subject to arrest and five years in prison. The idea that a government license exempts you from arrest for the exercise of a right is, well, you pick an adjective.

3. Unloaded and in a locked container or a locked firearms rack on a motor vehicle.
In other words -- if your gun is loaded, or isn't locked up and unusable,
you are subject to arrest and five years in prison. This "decommissioning" exemption, a favorite tool of anti-rights advocates, is particularly odious -- as long as a gun is locked up, unloaded and worthless, you're legal, but as soon as the gun is usable, you're subject to immediate arrest. This is how the Washington D.C. gun ban works. No exception for self defense or any other sort of actually bearing arms is allowed. It represents a nearly total abrogation of rights.

4. In a program approved by the school.
In other words -- since schools generally require expulsion for gun
possession, and generally forbid mere pictures of guns, and even speech about guns, this exception is virtually meaningless.

5. By a person under contract with the school.
In other words -- private guards or others specifically hired by the school to possess firearms, are exempt.

6. Unloaded, with the school's expressed permission, to cross school grounds to gain access to private or public hunting lands.
In other words -- virtually not at all.
In other words -- Travel with any operable firearm is banned in virtually
every populated place in America, with exceptions so narrow they apply to almost no one.

The portion of this law that bans guns in public must be repealed. This can easily be done while leaving the gun ban at schools intact (that's a whole nother issue).

I was taken aback to find authorities, lobbyists, and even gun-rights
advocates trying to squirm out of accepting that this law is as bad as it is Only one legislator has stepped up to the plate so far to offer to fix this travesty, and no action has been taken or even described yet. The
anti-rights crowd, through a round-about route, has won their ultimate goal -- gun possession is virtually banned by federal law.

As a surprising consequence, this actually demonstrates how it is not only a senseless approach, but there is no crime-fighting component in such a ban. Your representatives, both in and out of government, seem to figure it's OK and we can just ignore the problem.

Among the excuses I have been given:
A. "We would never use this law against regular people."
That seems to advocate selective enforcement of the law, and is grounds for removal from office.
B. "We would only use this law against criminals."
That seems to be grounds for arrest and removal from office.
C. "We do not have the resources to enforce this law."
That seems to be grounds to have never passed the law in the first place, and to repeal it immediately.
D. "We have far more important things to do than expend political capital repealing a worthless law." Removal from office and heads on pikes.
E. "We demand strict enforcement of all federal gun laws."
A frequent request from your members of Congress and the National Rifle Association.

My apologies if I wasn't more clear in my earlier message.
This law must die.

Any act of legal self-defense against a mortal threat or felony assault is a five-year federal crime if it occurs in the ubiquitous gun-free zones.
Bearing arms while traveling is a five-year federal offense under most
circumstances, for most citizens. If any law needed fixing, this is it. The
time is now.

After six years of Republican control of both houses and the Oval Office, we have not seen ANY pro-rights legislation for individuals. The time is now. Ask your legislators to support the simple-language repeal of the Gun Free School Zones 1,000-foot gun ban. Guns remain banned on school property under this common-sense plan.

In addition to repeal of this gross infringement, I asked people at the
recent Gun Rights Policy Conference to suggest laws (and repeals) that might help restore balance on the gun-rights issue. I will circulate their
suggestions shortly, and I welcome any suggestions you may have.

And finally, at the risk of being (accurately) labelled a red-blooded
free-market capitalist, we have a new full-color 16-page catalog coming out soon, packed with amazing new books and DVDs, free to anyone who sends us a mailing address.

Sincerely,
Alan Korwin, Author
Gun Laws of America

###

[Backgrounder: Bloomfield Press is the largest publisher and distributor of gun law books in the country, founded in 1988. Our website, gunlaws.com, features a free national directory to gun laws and relevant contacts in all states and federally, along with our unique line of related books and DVDs. Gun Laws of America for news media review is available on request, call 1-800-707-4020. Authors are available for interview, call us to schedule. Call for cogent positions on gun issues, informed analysis on proposed laws, talk radio that lights up the switchboard, fact sheets and position papers. As we always say, "It doesn't make sense to own a gun and not know the rules "]

Contact:
Alan Korwin
BLOOMFIELD PRESS
"We publish the gun laws."
4718 E. Cactus #440
Phoenix, AZ 85032
602-996-4020 Phone
602-494-0679 FAX
1-800-707-4020 Orders
http://www.gunlaws.com
alan@gunlaws.com

Call, write, fax or click for a free catalog.
Encourage politicians to pass more laws... with expiration dates.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Background from our first news release on this subject:
The study was included as part of a ten-year review of all federal gun law by gunlaws.com, for the Tenth Anniversary edition of Gun Laws of America, the unabridged guide to federal gun law. Published by Phoenix-based Bloomfield Press, it has just been released.

Without realizing it, and by an unexpected route, anti-gun-rights advocates have achieved their primary goal -- gun possession is effectively banned by federal law. A five-year federal prison sentence attaches to every crossing into a school zone, and the zones overlap virtually citywide. The public commits countless millions of gun violations by simply moving around. No effect on crime has been reported.

Members of Congress and even the NRA are on record calling for strict enforcement of current federal gun laws. How that policy and the school zones measure can co-exist is not clear. Additional maps and the dataset are posted at gunlaws.com

"This near-total gun ban is simply unenforceable, and was never intended to criminalize everyone who bears arms," said Alan Korwin, author of Gun Laws of America. "We would have to place half the public in prison to comply with this law. It shows the folly of such legislation, perhaps the most ineffectual feel-good gun law ever enacted, and it needs to be repealed," he said, adding that it must be humiliating to the bill's original sponsors. Where would Justice Roberts stand on this issue, and what was Sen. Feinstein really asking at the judiciary confirmation hearings?" Many politicians are quietly aware of the ban.

The simple act of buying a gun and bringing it home, taking one to the range going hunting, or carrying one for personal safety would subject most people to arrest and a permanent criminal record under this law, originally enacted by President Bush's father, President Bush, in 1990.

The Gun-Free School Zones law was struck down in 1995 by the U.S. Supreme Court, in the now-famous Lopez case, referred to today by Sen. Feinstein, a staunch anti-gun-rights advocate. For the first time in decades the Court ruled that Congress had overstepped its powers to regulate states under the Commerce Clause. There were more than 121,000 local schools at the time. Congress responded by swiftly reenacting the entire law, under President Clinton in 1996, with a few small changes it believed bypassed the Court's concerns. No new case has been brought to test the new version, so it stands.