Bell Campaign / MMM news and plans

[Jeff Thomas]

Becoming more anti-self defense everyday, the Bell Campaign is now the 'Million Mom March'. They want to identify, license and register every sidearm and every owner. Read of their plans below:

----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2000 11:27 AM
Subject: MMM Happy Anniversary!


>
> Dear Mothers and Others,
>
> Happy Anniversary! It is June 14 and exactly one month today since
> we stunned our naysayers and even ourselves with our gigantic turnout
> in Washington and at our rallies across the nation. The final count of
> marchers was about 820,000 (some say more) for the millions of moms
> across America. Moms marched in Juneau, Alaska, and Jackson,
> Mississippi, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, just to name a few.
>
> And now the Million Mom March marches on...
>
> The first big news: Shortly after the March, the Board of Directors
> for the Bell Campaign, the fiscal sponsor for the March, voted to
> merge completely with the volunteer grassroots operation of the
> Million Mom March and adopted its name. The Bell Campaign is
> now providing the staffing that is so urgently needed to help
> manage this incredible volunteer force that is taking
> the gun violence prevention movement by storm.
>
> We have 129 MMM chapters in formation across the United States. 129!
> And more applications are coming in every day. We've had interest
> from every single state. The most active states have been New Jersey
> and
> Maryland. There's also been a lot of organizing in Pennsylvania,
> Texas, Florida and California. And we've only just begun.
> By this time next year, we hope to be a force as effective
> as Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
>
> Many of you are anxious to get moving to flex the Million Mom March
> muscle. You'll be happy to hear that our MMM legal team is
> busy completing IRS paperwork to turn the Million Mom March
> into a grassroots lobbying organization.
>
> To explain how the Million Mom March will march on, we will be
> holding a series of workshops for MMM chapter organizers. The
> workshops are taking place in New York, Chicago, San Francisco,
> Atlanta, and just outside Washington, DC. If you want to start a
> Chapter, please call us at 1.800.746.4464, or send an email to
> national@millionmommarch.com or snailmail us at MMM,
> SF General Hospital, SF, CA 94110. All members and
> potential members should contact us for more information.
> This is a critical step to help create a sustainable organization
> that will serve us well in our educational and advocacy work
> in the months and years ahead.
>
> So we all stay on the same page and speak as one voice,
> please note that our main national policy is the licensing of
> handgun owners and the registration of their handguns.
> This is just a basic common sense policy that would treat
> handguns much like automobiles. There is a huge misconception
> that we already have this policy when, in fact, most states do not
> have even the most basic laws in place to keep guns from the
> wrong hands, particularly those of children and criminals.
>
> Since the March, Senators and Members of Congress are
> seriously and openly talking about licensing and registration.
> Our March greatly increased the dialogue on Capitol Hill, and
> we're working to make sure that legislation moves toward
> our policy goals and that lawmakers know that America is
> watching what they do on this issue.
>
> Our great website has been updated. You can now click
> on "Mother's Day 2000" and read many of the memorable
> speeches made on that historic day. And even more web
> updates are underway. Please give us your thoughts and
> please, please encourage your friends to log on and register
> with the MMM. The more names we can gather, the more
> seriously we will be taken as a force for creating meaningful
> and effective gun violence prevention policy in this country.
>
> Artists, musicians and others have offered their creative
> services to us. The incredible volunteer editor of our website
> tapestry, Rene Thompson, has been asked to edit a book
> of the woven words of the Million Mom March tapestry.
> Also, lots of documentaries are in the works. We'll keep
> you posted on broadcast dates. If you hear about national
> shows doing Million Mom March segments or anything
> related to us you think we might care about, please let
> us know so we can watch or set our vcrs.
>
> And speaking of video, tapes of the Million Mom March
> are available through C-Span for about $60.00. But, we're
> making several videos ourselves right now, so you might
> want to wait for our own great tapes. Stay tuned. If you
> can't wait, you can reach C-Span at 1.877.662.7726.
> The Million Mom March item identification number is 157045.
>
> Last week, for the first time ever, Michigan legislators had more
> phone calls, emails and faxes from people like us than from the
> NRA. Some stalled gun safety legislation suddenly got
> un-stalled in the days immediately following the march.
> In New Hampshire, two dozen people wearing Million Mom
> March t-shirts watched as the State House passed a bill which would
> punish gun owners who allow children easy access to their firearms.
> In New Jersey, the Republican controlled State Senate passed a
> childproof handgun bill. Both bills have a way to go, but suddenly
> our elected officials are listening to us and not the NRA.
>
> The DC area moms are a feisty bunch, keeping an eye on Congress for
> us. Lillian Pubillones-Nolan reports that Minority Leader Tom Daschle
> had to shut down the Senate for 24 hours in order to get a vote on
> a non-binding Sense of the Senate resolution praising the Million
> Mom March. It passed by one vote, 50-49 !!! Senate Majority
> Leader Trent Lott introduced a meaningless resolution, restating
> the right to bear arms and asking for enforcement, yada, yada, yada,
> which passed 69-30. The Senators who voted to praise the
> moms were all the Democrats (minus Baucus from MT), plus five
> Republicans (Chafee from RI, Warner from VA, Rockefeller
> from WV, Jeffords from VT, and DeWine from OH).
>
> >From the hypocrisy department, Mandy Katz, one of the DC
> area moms who attended the Senate vote, noted that to
> protect Congressmen, pro-gun and otherwise, she had to pass
> through no fewer than three separate metal detectors before
> entering the Senate chamber. Our defenseless children do
> not enjoy such protection in the classrooms where they spend their
> days.
>
> T-shirts are back for sale on our site. They were a hot item in
> Washington, as many of you know too well, and we quickly ran out.
>
> We're actively reaching out to young people to join the Million Mom
> March. You can get more information on youth involvement on our
> website.
>
> On a sad note, a car accident recently took the life of the
> three-year-old daughter of Kim Fox-Gunderson who was
> recently hired to be the MMM Director of Victim Resources
> in San Francisco. All of us here at MMM have Kim
> and her family in our thoughts and prayers and are searching
> for ways to support them.
>
> SOME DATES TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR
>
> June 14 -- A vigil will be held at 6pm to honor child victims of gun
> violence. House Democrats will join parents, members of the Million
> Mom March and other gun control advocates in calling on Congress to
> take
>
> up reasonable gun safety legislation. Poster-sized pictures of sixty
> children who died from gun violence will be displayed at the vigil
> and in the halls of Congress until the end of June. Call Congressman
> Gephardt's office at 202.225.0100 or go to
> www.democraticleader.house.gov
> for more information.
>
> June 18 - Please be sure to call your Congressman, wish him Happy
> Father's Day and remind him to support licensing and registration.
> You can call the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives
> at the same number: 202.224.3121.
>
> July 29 -- On the eve of the Republican Convention, Silent March
> activists from around the nation will lay out 30,000 pairs of shoes
> representing the number of people killed in one year from firearms.
> The shoes will be displayed in front of the Liberty Bell Pavilion,
> and the rest will be nearby in Independence Mall. Tom Mauser,
> whose son was killed in the Columbine massacre, will receive
> an Advocate of the Year award from the Silent March.
> For more information go to www.silentmarch.org or call 516.247.9101.
>
> July 30 -- "SLAM the NRA" concert in Philadelphia co-sponsored by HCI
> and SLAM Records.
>
> July 31-August 3 -- Republican Convention in Philadelphia. We'll be
> there.
>
> August 14-17 -- Democratic Convention in Los Angeles. We'll be
> there, too.
>
> August 17 -- One year anniversary of Donna Dees-Thomases
> submitting first permit application to march on Washington for
> Mother's Day--just nine months away. On the permit
> application line asking for estimated number of participants,
> Donna put down 10,000! We had that and more in both
> Chicago and Denver, the two largest demonstrations sites
> outside of the centerpiece event in Washington, DC.
>
> August 24 -- The 80th Anniversary of the Ratification of the 19th
> Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Not having
> email, or a website, it took the suffragettes 76 years to get the
> amendment ratified. Tennessee delivered the crucial 36th vote
> necessary for final adoption of the amendment. Thedeciding
> vote within the Tennessee legislature was cast by a 24-year-old
> legislator Harry Burn who changed his "nay" to a "yea" at the
> insistence of his elderly mother. In honor of Mrs. Burn,
> please be sure to register to vote if you haven't already.
> The League of Women Voters will helpyou out
> at: www.lwv.org/voter/getout.html. You can download voter
> registration forms and doublecheck the registration deadlines in your
> state.
>
> September 4 - Labor Day -- The one year anniversary of the first news
> conference by the founding 25 mothers (and one honorary mom, i.e. a
> man) announcing plans to march on Washington to demand common
> sense gun laws.
>
> September 15-17 -- The first annual Million Mom March conference in
> Denver.
>
> October 2 -- First Monday 2000: United to End Gun Violence is a
> national campaign promoting education and action geared toward
> reducing gun violence. Hundreds of events will occur on campuses
> and in communities on or near the first Monday of October.
> For more information go to their website:
> www.firstmonday2000.com/index.html.
>
> November 7 - Election Day. The New York City Chapter of the MMM has
> officially adopted for their chapter the slogans, "Million Mom
> March.. . to the polls!" & "Mama says, Vote!"
>
> My heartfelt thanks to each of you for your dedication in marching
> forward to prevent the needless gun deaths and injuries that are too
> common in our country. We have the attention of not only our
> nation, but the entire international community as well. We are going
> to be
> powerful. We will be a major force for common sense gun laws.
> It is a privilege to be marching with you. March on!!!
>
> Mary Leigh Blek,
> President and Chairmom of the MMM

[Monkeyleg]

"most states do not have even the most basic laws in place to keep guns from the wrong hands, particularly those of children and criminals."

Really? My 15 year-old nephew can go to the gun store and buy a .45? And the gangbangers a couple of blocks from me can, too, even though they've got sheets on them? Heck, it took me days to take delivery of my shotgun because the FBI computers were down. What country do these "moms" live in? Maybe it's easier to buy guns there.

Dick

[ernest2]

The million moms march strengthened by the Bell Foundation which has now taken over control of the march plots our
downfall and destruction and we sit behind
our monitors bickering as usual.

I was particulary dismayed by several posters to the 50 million round march
thread who advised against us sending in our
targets to our legislaters because they thought the targets could be concieved as a threat.

And people like them sit back and watch our civil and constitutional rights disappear,
a slice at a time.

While these members of the firearms community are being neglegent to
their duty to protect the constitution,
the mmm is placing pictures of victims of
criminal violence through out the halls of congress to remind congress men to vote for
federal registration of all firearms and licensing of all firearms owners.

Their has yet to be a single instance where
federal registration and licensing has not lead to confiscatuon.

I wonder....on just who's side these people who advise inaction are really on???

Anyone can join the firing line. Anti gunners
socialists can join the firing line and await their moments to ill advise us.

[Monkeyleg]

Ernest, I'm going to send a target to my congressman along with a polite note. Will it do anything? Don't know, he's an anti anyway.
As long as we don't get balanced media coverage, their emotional spin goes on every story. They've been plotting this for a long time. It's only because of the school shootings that they've been able to gain traction. Of course, the media helps by giving coast-to-coast coverage every time a kid even brings an empty case to school. Somehow, someway, we have to get the media to report defensive uses of guns. Otherwise, we're going to be overrun. We can talk about the 2nd, natural rights, God-given rights, English commonlaw precedence and everything else, but without public sentiment on our side, we lose. Check out the story I posted from today's Milwaukee Urinal. These stories _have_ to get out there.

Dick

[dZ]

BTT