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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2000)
I Vkla\. Si-mcmhiT l.^ddii Sunday ler any circumstances. Bui ivoided. friends, there’s added sig- >n's been a big part of the art of us winning a Super ball team with him here' j iiday, September 15, 2(XX) THE BATTALION Page tl ing with him ) pla against a year" — Brad Johnson |ton Redskins quarterback A call to arms Failure of gun control abroad should discourage similar domestic legislation F I o! illas at the start of the 199: on contract was the largesi , $51 million contract last d not to exercise their op They cut him June 2 and would have been guarae- another day. I-Pro seasons in five ya ger with Dallas and onto ,t rival. better under stand the effects of gun legisla tor a person can ook at other countries nth strict gun laws imilar to those being roposed in the Unit- id States. Unfortu- lately, the crime sta- isdcs after the laws’ enforcement are trocious. The American public should real- zethis and not support similar legislation icing proposed here. In 1996. Australia enacted strict gun- bntrol legislation, banning weapons, in- it mm. but lie's not,"Kirt- There’s still a lot of thing; lo yet, but the qualities c ‘ ink his work ethic isom- Here's a guy that 1 don: cxl to work — that’s •eiver does.” ork ethic could means, otball, and Fergusonsakli n one source, icntality of working hr: lat from no one else hum I erg list-ii said. “She Jie attitude.” ns on taking his no-dies m farther with the Agp earn. Ferguson wants rs T ccel on the offense, but:! ry his hand as a membei 1 Aggie defense, k I'd be a better defense ’erguson said. “I havenwi • defensive side of theW ’t really discussed ityelh ip. ii was one ofmydteffl r the Wrecking Crew/ eluding ,22s, assault rifles, hunting rifles and shotguns. Before these laws were enacted, crime in Australia was declining. From 1980 to 1995, the firearm-related death rate de creased 46 percent to its lowest level in the 16-year period. In addition, the firearm-re lated homicide dropped 63 percent. Then — in April 1996 — a tragedy changed the face of gun legislation in Aus tralia. A gunman killed 35 people and wounded 19 more in Port Arthur. Although . this was a deranged act by a single individ ual, many politicians were quick to blame “loose gun laws” for causing this tragedy. These old gun laws required citizens who wanted to own firearms — even air rifles — to pass a gun-handling course. Citizens were also required to carried a gun license with photo identification that must be pre- * sented even when buying ammunition. The end result of these old laws was a gun turn-in scheme that resulted in the de struction of more than 64(),()00 shotguns and hunting rifles when new legislation was enacted. All gun owners were first required to register all fireams with the government. Then, a taxpayer-funded buyback was insti tuted in which all automatic and semi-auto matic rifles and shotguns were collected and destroyed. This buyback extended to all semi-auto- tning An Was Well The Wait Controversial ; are truly worth the wait more so than my Aggie its are on the decade plan, ) years before I finally got at Texas A&M as the Class have the money to remain ultimate possession, the id me - but it was nevei ago I was able to return to I had enjoyed a full life of je, family and career, there ng missing. So my wife, e could manage our ranch mt animals, allowed me to am. In 1996 I earned my md my Aggie Ring. Ypu bet, but not too proud my eyes filled with tears Ring on my finger. I've ggie. Now I have the Ring he Aggie Network. perversion of Justice Imprisonment of Wen Ho Lee casts doubt on authorities I ■breac JiO xiation STUDENTS ^ceA/etuM/J Vggie Network /Oafs.tamu.edu, ght use it in an ig issue. 5-7514 ietwork.com hen the public learns of ibreach in na tional security, the hysteria coupled with the panic the average Ameri can family feels fuels a sense of shame and ur gency in governing bodies that ulti mately handle such situations. 6 The remedy, like a calming ■dative to the public and an ace in the hole for the government, usual ly involves burning someone’s rep utation at the stake. 1 In 1999 the public learned of Wen Ho Lee, the 60-year-old scien tist employed by the Los Alamos National Laboratories, who was ac- c|sed of downloading the crown jewels of American nuclear secrets with the intent of harming the Unit- ed States. The picture of Lee painted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Ener gy was shady. Lee apparently lied to his colleagues in order to get mounds of top-secret data from the ■cure computers in the Los Alam os labs to put onto tapes. I He had fishy contacts with Chi nese scientists while he was abroad, and he kept these contacts secret from American authorities, r; The director of nuclear weapons at Los Alamos testified that, if the data Lee downloaded fell into the wrong hands, it could “change the global strategic balance.” | Lee was indicted and jailed, where he was to await trial without bond. He was charged with espionage and faced a life sentence if convicted on all 59 counts. | The panic was presumably over. The piide of a country and the good names If the FBI aid the Department of Ener- fgy were restored—until recently. On Aug. 24, U.S. District Judge James Parker ruled that Lee should be released on bail, reversing his December decision to keep Lee de tained until trial. After hearing what he deemed conflicting views over the impor tance of the information Lee is ac cused of mishandling, the judge wrote in his initial order for release that the government “no longer has the requisite clarity and persuasive character necessary” to keep Lee jailed. Whatever Lee was in volved in, the govern ment's argument that it was espionage has taken a serious beat ing. Lee's release from prison two days ago verifies that. Two days ago, Lee pled guilty to only one of the 59 charges against him and was sentenced to time served. A key piece of testimony given by an FBI agent last December has since been proven false, influenc ing Parker’s decision to release Lee. The lies Lee supposedly told his colleagues were apparently fab rications and misinterpretations made by an FBI agent. That same agent, Robert Messemer, who claims his errors were “honest mistakes,” now ac knowledges that Lee did file re ports of his meetings with Chinese scientists. Lee was also threatened with the death penalty during one interview, and the fates of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg was brought up in what can only be considered a bully tac tic in an effort to extort a confes sion. Is the public to assume this was an innocent slip of the tongue or are they to endorse the border line criminal behavior the FBI ap pears to have used to nail Lee? The fact remains that Lee did commit a crime by downloading secure information. The defense has never disputed that. Whatever Lee was involved in, the govern ment’s argument that it was espi onage has taken a serious beating, however. Lee’s release from prison two days ago verifies that. Speculation about Lee’s motive in downloading the material has varied. The prosecution even claimed in its court papers that Lee might have wanted to impress po tential employers during a job search. There is, however, no evidence that Lee was in contact with anyone about a job. The potential danger of the downloaded material, should it fall into the wrong hands, is now be ing questioned. The accusation made by the FBI that Lee intended to distribute the information is also being more closely examined. The result of this is that the bur den of proof is proving to be a tougher match for the government than initially anticipated, and the noVel concept of justice has emerged as an obstacle — tripping up the organization who claims to be after it. One can only wonder if the em barrassment felt by the federal or ganizations involved played a big ger part in Lee’s arrest than the facts did. Words like “perjury” and “false testimony” come to mind when one wonders how the FBI managed to keep a 60-year-old man locked up for eight months in solitary confinement. Luke McMahan is a senior industrial engineering major. matic weapons and .22 caliber plinking guns. The supporters of this ban, including those here in the United States, actively promote this legislation’s crime-fighting benefits. However, the crime statistics do not back up these alleged benefits. Violent crime in every category except murder went up from 1997 to 1998 in all Australian states. Some of the highlights from the Australia Bureau of Statistics Website show that attempted murder went up 20 percent, manslaughter went up 26 percent, and armed robbery went up 20 per cent. Essentially, crime is going up across the board in response to the new legislation. The citizens of America should learn that gun control simply takes per sonal protection — a free dom guaranteed by the Constitution — away from law-abiding citizens. It is increasing partly because of the loss of a deterrence factor. The police commis sioner for South Australia, Mai Hyde, was even quoted as saying, “the environment is more violent and dangerous than it was some time ago.” Increased gun-licensing laws, similar to those found in England, are another type of law many politicians promote in America. On Jan. 16, The London Times published an article about the current increase in gun crime. The writer discussed that there are an estimated 3 million unregistered guns in the country — therefore, in the possession of criminals. As well as confirming the obvious fact that no criminal will bother to register his or her weapon with the police, the article stated that fatal shootings in London more than doubled, while overall armed crime rose 10 percent between 1998 and 1999. According to a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “For most U.S. crimes ... the latest crime rates (1996) are the lowest recorded in the 16-year period from 1981 to 1996. By comparison, English crime rates as measured in both victim surveys and police statistics have all risen since 1981.” Also, the U.S. murder rate, while higher than England’s, has been declining, while the rate in England has remained the same. The belief that foreign countries such as England, Japan and Italy have much less crime than other, less-strict countries is a common gun-control myth. Crime rates are actually the same in Switzerland, Israel and Norway, which all have relatively mild gun control, as in the three previously named countries. “Italy’s gun law, ‘the most restrictive in Europe,’ had left her southern provinces alone with a thousand firearm murders a year, 30 times Switzerland’s total,” said au thor Richard A.I. Munday. In Switzerland, most citizens are mem bers of a national defense force and are is sued fully automatic rifles and ammunition that they keep at home for national emergen cies. Crimes with these guns are almost un heard of. Japan also has a crime rate that is continuing to rise, despite severe gun laws. From this, the citizens of America should learn that gun control simply takes personal protection — a freedom guaran teed by the Constitution — away from law- abiding citizens. Criminals will not register their guns lawfully, should any type of national regis tration be enacted. Nor will they carry prop erly licensed firearms or buy their guns through legal outlets, which already require a background check. If an individual already lives outside the law, what difference does it make to him or her if stronger gun control laws are passed? The myth of other countries’ legislation working here in America can be best dis pelled by a quote from noted civil rights lawyer Don B. Kates: “In any society, truly violent people are only a small minority. We know that law- abiding citizens do not commit violent crimes. We know that criminals will neither obey gun bans nor refrain from turning oth er deadly instruments to their nefarious pur poses. In sum, peaceful societies do not need general gun bans and violent societies do not benefit from them.” Andrew Stephenson is a sophomore environmental design major. Bull Board Good Bull — Since the Bush School opened in Fall 1997, students with political sci ence and economics classes in the building have been struggling to get to lectures on time. The University has tried to cope with the distance students have to travel by incorporating ex panded bus services, but getting to Bush from main campus is of ten a 30-minute adventure. Starting this semester, class es at Bush have been staggered so that students have more time between classes to commute to main campus. Not only does this give stu dents a realistic amount of time . to travel between classes, it also makes it impossible for them to foolishly schedule classes back to back at Bush and main cam pus buildings. No matter how fast a student rides a bicycle, few people can pedal from Bush to the Zachry En gineering Center in 20 minutes. Now, students do not have to. Best of all, the early morning classes at Bush start at 8:35 — an extra half-hour of sleep in the morning is definitely good bull. Bad Bull — Shame on the media for assuming the majority of Americans are anti-Semitic. When Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore selected his running mate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, media coverage of the selection focused on Lieber- man’s Jewish heritage. Within hours of the announce ment, CNN conducted a poll asking viewers whether they are comfort able with the notion of a Jewish vice president. Pundits and ana lysts on every major network gave their opinions on how Americans would react. One even went so far as to ask, “What if a national crisis happened on Saturday?" When is the last time a mem ber of the press asked how a Christian candidate would react on a Sunday? Has Christianity be come such a foregone conclusion in politics that the press feels comfortable setting a double standard when it comes to candi dates’ religions? The media can continue to drum Lieberman’s religion up as an issue, but Americans are refus ing to bite. Good Bull — Two of the major powers in Asian politics, Russia and Japan, finally seem to be ready to bury the hatchet and end their countries’ formal partic ipation in World War II. Although the second World War ended 55 years ago, the two nations never signed a peace treaty, meaning they are techni cally still at war with one another. All that stands in the way now are four small Japanese islands seized by Soviet troops during the war. Right-wing groups in Japan are adamant that the islands must be returned to Japanese control before a treaty can be signed. Russia, stil) reeling from a se ries of incidents that gave its leadership back home a black eye, cannot afford to further anger its populace by giving the islands back now. The important thing is that the two sides are talking. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori have, agreed to meet at least once a year until the issue is resolved. — Nicholas Roznovsky