April 6, 2009

Brady Campaign’s long record of dishonesty and questionable fundraising practices
by Bill Levinson

Like a hungry ghoul salivating over a fresh grave, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is exulting over recent murders that provide an excuse to disarm law-abiding American citizens. The Brady Campaign argues that gun laws will prevent violent criminals and Mexican drug gangs from obtaining firearms. The success of such laws, including handgun licensing and registration as advocated by the disgraced Million Mom March, in keeping weapons out of the hands of the individual who killed more than a dozen people in Binghamton NY, speaks for itself. In New York, where it is almost impossible to own a handgun legally much less carry one for self-protection, Jews live in terror of the possibility that militant “Muslims” will commit a mass shooting in a synagogue if Israel takes action against Iran. The Brady Campaign’s policies will, if enacted, enable terroristic violence and mass murder throughout the country.

Consider, for example, the recent murder of three police officers by a deranged maniac in Pittsburgh, PA. (Note that, while the suspect in custody is only an alleged killer until proven otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt, it is a fact that the police officers were homicide victims–if not of the suspect in custody, then of a deranged maniac who is still at large.) This is, incidentally, a good place to mention that gun control advocate and convicted criminal Bobby Rush (D-IL) once belonged to an organization that was known for killing police officers.

Carrying weapons openly and making threats against police officers, for example, chants like “The Revolution has co-ome, it’s time to pick up the gu-un. Off the pigs!” ["Kill the police!"] helped create the Panthers’ reputation as a violent organization.

Bobby Rush, who as a convicted felon is not allowed to own firearms, and the Brady Campaign might argue that the gun laws they support might have saved the three Pittsburgh police officers. Suppose, however, that not one shooter but a trained death squad of three or four–and militant “Muslims” are indeed engaging in paramilitary training in the United States–go house to house to kill entire infidel families, or decide to shoot up a Passover Seder or Good Friday church service. This is not a hypothetical situation, noting that the Ma’alot school shooting was perpetrated by a group of militant “Muslims,” and Islamic supremacist terrorists often work in groups. Today, a shooting rampage of that nature would probably come to a quick end in Pittsburgh, where the terrorists would soon be greeted by shotgun blasts, pistol fire, or hollow pointed bullets from somebody’s hunting rifle; nobody is obliged to use Hague Convention ammunition on common criminals and terrorists.

How many people could a team of four or five terrorists kill, though, in a disarmed society before a SWAT team could take them out? The recent massacre in Mumbai, India–which has exactly the kind of gun laws the Brady Campaign supports–provides a pretty good answer. If the militant Islamic terrorists break into a synagogue during Passover or the High Holidays, or a church during Easter services, they could probably kill or maim everyone present by the time the police arrived. If even ordinary police security is present, for example one or two officers, the militant “Muslims” would just kill the cops first. On the other hand, if even a few people in the congregation have concealed weapons, the terrorists’ shooting spree is likely to come to an abrupt stop.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, like any other nonproducing organization that offers nothing of tangible value to society but must nonetheless pay its staff, needs to create phony issues or exploit violent incidents to raise money from donors. We do not need an organization that exposes its members and supporters to identity theft, solicits donations under false pretenses, diverts 501(c)(3) tax exempt money to political campaigning, and files what can be charitably described as a highly creative Form 990 tax return to the Internal Revenue Service–all of which were done by the Million Mom March, a project of the Brady Campaign–to tell us what kind of weapons we should be allowed to own for defense of our homes, families, and country.

(1) The Million Mom March exposed prospective members to identity theft by requesting personally identifying information including driver’s license number, date of birth, and Social Security number over an insecure Internet collection.

(2) The Million Mom March solicited donations under the false pretense that it wished to promote “gun safety” when it actually spent money to promote House candidates and, later, Al Gore’s Presidential campaign.

(3) The Million Mom March used 501(c)(3) tax exempt money to promote House candidates and, later, Al Gore’s Presidential campaign.

(4) The Million Mom March filed a Form 990 tax return that denied any efforts to influence legislation, even though its Web site and public statements told the public that its purpose was to demand “common sense gun laws” from Congress.

Million Mom March says it spent no money to lobby or influence public opinion on a legislative matter

The Million Mom March, a project of the Brady Campaign, tells us pretty much everything we need to know about that organization’s character, integrity, and ethics. Meanwhile, let us take a look at the Brady Campaign’s enablers and political allies.

(1) Convicted (pardoned by his friend Bill Clinton) white collar felon Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL)
(2) Convicted violent gun felon Amy Fisher, the “Long Island Lolita” who shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco
(3) Convicted violent gun felon Eric Kaplan (D-FL, “F”-rated by NRA voter guide, convicted of attempted murder of the wife of his NRA-”A” rated opponent)
(4) Convicted criminal Bobby Rush (D-IL), former member of an organization known for killing police officers. “The Revolution has co-ome, it’s time to pick up the gu-un. Off the pigs!” We don’t need a friend and associate of actual cop killers to tell us how to reduce violent crime in this country or any other.
(5) Convicted white collar felon Mario Biaggi (D-NY) who said that only police officers should be allowed to own handguns. Biaggi, a civilian Member of Congress, had to surrender two handguns when he was convicted of a felony.
(6) Impeached and indicted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich argued for a ban on so-called “pocket rockets,” or concealable heavy-caliber pistols. His objections were that they were concealable (even though it is poor judgment and in some places illegal to display a firearm that you are otherwise carrying legally) and of high caliber, i.e. suitable for stopping violent assailants. This is the same individual who allegedly tried to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat for personal gain.
(7) Common Cause President Scott Harshbarger (the same Harshbarger who was involved in the notorious Amirault case in Massachusetts).
(8) Although nobody can prove that Ted Kennedy (D-MA) killed his passenger while driving drunk (vehicular homicide or equivalent), there is substantial evidence that he was in fact drunk when he drove off the bridge with Mary Jo Kopechne.
(9) Washington Post columnist Carl Rowan, who shot a trespasser with a “warning shot” from a handgun he possessed in defiance of Washington DC’s strict gun laws. (In most jurisdictions, it is illegal to use or threaten deadly force against somebody who is committing what is at most a misdemeanor like trespassing.)
(10) Governor Jon Corzine (D-NJ) whose reckless speeding–far enough over the limit to be a misdemeanor and not merely a violation in neighboring New York–endangered other motorists before causing a high-speed crash. (A NJ State Police trooper was actually at the wheel, but he was acting under Corzine’s orders.)
(11) Vice President Joseph Biden, who used his Senate Web site to propagate defamatory information about a private citizen’s deceased father: the act of a coward (since it is not legally possible to libel a dead person), a liar, and a bully (use of Senate resources against a middle-class individual and non-public figure).
(12) Terrorists who threaten to send anthrax through the U.S. Mail

We think that the Democrats have by now realized that gun control loses elections, as was made quite clear in 2000. Al Gore’s support for gun control, and for carbon taxes on coal, doubtlessly lost Democratic West Virginia and his home state of Tennessee. As with any other form of malignancy or disease, though, the Brady Center must be slapped down whenever it tries for a comeback. We encourage our readers to get in the faces of the Brady Campaign and its allies like Bobby Rush (convicted criminal and friend of cop killers-IL) whenever they even twitch the wrong way to prevent them from enabling the militant “Muslims” who are even now engaging in paramilitary training for unknown purposes on our own soil.