BARRETT TAKES ON NRA

[Editor's Note: -- The following posting was written immediately after a City Hall news conference on illegal firearms. At the time none of the participants were aware of the shootings at Virginia Tech which have enhanced, however tragically, Mayor Barrett's message. --Ed.]

By Michael Horne
As mayor, Tom Barrett says he "shares responsibility for the safety of the community," and is disturbed by the "tide of illegal guns in the city." Last year, according to Barrett, there were over 700 shootings in a city that lacks even one Federally licensed firearms dealer. Still, handguns, often bought by "straw purchasers," find their way into the community, and threaten what Barrett calls "our hometown security." His solution: state legislation requiring background checks for secondary sales of handguns in Wisconsin. This might be an imperfect solution, since most guns on the streets are not from dealers, but the lack of a proper chain-of-custody of a firearm could be a prosecutable offense, giving law enforcement another tool in combating crime, the theory goes.
Barrett made his remarks in a news conference this morning at City Hall where he was joined by Ray Schoenke, the president of the newly founded American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA). The association, formed in 2005, is taking on the National Rifle Association, arguing that "ASHA will never sell out the interests of hunters and shooters to give politicians cover for policies that hurt outdoorsmen." Schoenke, a former professional football player and businessman, owns Holland Point Farm, a corporate hunting retreat in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay.
Schoenke is on a cross-country tour to promote his organization, which he kicked off last Thursday in Cincinnati in the presence of 15 Ohio and Kentucky mayors, along with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, all members of the non-partisan Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition.
(Tom Barrett is the featured mayor in a video clip on the website of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns.)
Schoenke told the Milwaukee press conference that it was time to "put common sense back in the gun debate." He said he is disturbed by the NRA policies favoring "unfettered access to guns," and its opposition to regulation of "armor-piercing bullets." The NRAs "extreme stances alienate and frighten communities. ... The NRA has tarnished the interest of hunters." The gun group, he says, "Fights for big business and mostly for themselves."
The NRA, for its part, says "AHSA has no political credibility and never will," citing Schoenke's support of "myriad liberal causes," including past donations to Al Gore, Barbara Boxer, Bill Clinton, Diane Feinstein, Edward Moore Kennedy and John Kerry. Schoenke also ran for Governor of Maryland in 1998 as a Democrat, so it's not like he's hiding anything. Still, the NRA sees enemies around every corner, and with good reason.
The NRA calls AHSA a front for the anti-gun lobby, which is slowly chipping away at the Second Amendment while waiting to foist its hidden agenda upon the American public, and suggests it is a tool the Democratic Party uses to make itself amenable to hunters.
Schoenke and Barrett said it is not their intent to destroy the Constitution. "If you are a hunter or a sportsman, I'm not interested in your gun," Barrett told the press conference. That's quite believable, since the idea of Barrett-as-sportsman is a hard one to conjure. "The effort to stop illegal gun trafficking should not be confused with an agenda to take guns from law abiding citizens or to shut down legitimate gun dealers. Let me be clear -- if you are a hunter, or a sportsman, I don't want your gun. This is not about the Second Amendment. This is about saving young lives and futures in cities like Milwaukee." Still, the mayor said, "I'm a freedom fighter too," adding he is "fighting for the right of a grandmother to sit on her porch," or the right of "kids to be on a playground without getting caught in the crossfire of people 150 yards away fighting over a cell phone."
"No teenager should have a handgun," he said.
The NRA held its convention in Milwaukee last year, and Barrett invited its leadership to discuss illegal gun issues with him. The offer was rebuffed.
[Update -- 2 p.m. Monday, April 16th 2007 -- It is an irony of the darkest and most despairing sort that as Mayor Barrett and Schoenke held their press conference on illegal guns the largest gun massacre in United States history was taking place on a Virginia campus with at least 30 dead. It is not known at this time what type of weapon was used, but it almost certainly was not an upland game hunting rifle loaded with birdshot. These incidents usually wind up involving weapons quite unsuited for hunting pursuits, such as military-style assault rifles or handguns. We shall see.--Ed.]
[Update -- 3 p.m. Monday, April 16th 2007 -- Fox News is reporting that 9 mm handguns are believed to be the weapons involved in the incident.]

ABOUT OBAMA

At his news conference, Mayor Tom Barrett was asked about his forthcoming appearance with and endorsement of Barack Obama at an event to be held this evening. "Why Obama? Why now? Is it an attempt to curry favor with the African-American voters?" Barrett said he was uncomfortable discussing partisan politics in a public building. (You never know if Steve Biskupic might be listening.) But he did say this: "Obama is from the Midwest, he's bright, a lawyer, a family man with federal experience and state experience.
"I would like to think that applies to me as well."
[Update: 2:40 p.m. Monday April 16th 2007 -- The campaign of Barack Obama issued this statement today: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those affected by the tragedy." Expect Obama and Barrett to discuss the Virginia shooting this evening at the campaign rally.]
The third week of April holds many tragic historical associations. The bombing of the Oklahoma City Murrah Federal Building was on April 19th, 1995, two years after the deadly raid on the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, Tx. in 1993. The Columbine High School massacre took place on April 20th, 1999, which is also the anniversary of Hitler's birth in 1889.
--Michael Horne