cuchulainn
October 22, 2003, 09:51 AM
from the Indianapolis Star
http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/8/085349-1108-021.htmlDan Carpenter
Fortified for a fight for life
October 22, 2003
The irrepressible Michael Moore's oration at Butler University last week was wide-ranging in every possible sense of the term, but no topic struck his local audience more deeply than that of guns.
The firebrand who torched Oscar night with his anti-Bush acceptance speech for "Bowling for Columbine" was a shot in the arm for all three sponsors of the Clowes Hall pep rally -- Butler's Visiting Writers Series; the Plowshares Collaborative of Earlham, Goshen and Manchester colleges; and Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence.
For the last group in particular, he raised morale as well as profile.
"The beauty of Michael Moore is, he gets people talking," said Kathleen George, president of Hoosiers Concerned. "As you know, guns are a very polarizing issue. That's public discourse at an end."
She and her allies found that out first hand a few years ago when they started trying to figure out what could have been done to save Michael and Linda Holmes.
The couple were Kathy George's friends and fellow parishioners at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. They were at home with their two youngest children on the evening of Aug. 25, 1992, when their 18-year-old adopted son, Steven, walked in and shot them to death with a rifle. It was far from the only firearm he owned, and legally he could buy the weapons cash-and-carry at any gun store because he was over 17.
Gun deaths and gun availability seemed a connection the community should make, so an organization was born. The founders were not prepared for the reception. Wherever they went, the National Rifle Association followed. The worst meeting for Kathy George was at St. Thomas.
"In the sanctuary where the double funeral was held, to have NRA folks shouting at us . . . One guy pulled out a Bible and said Jesus wanted us to have guns. I thought 'What's the use? We may as well all get assault weapons and have at it.'
"But we have grown stronger since then. The national groups have helped. We have to get stronger still -- and more vocal."
Michael Moore made that point very vocally: Liberals are too nice for the nation's good. But if they're being out-yelled and outspent by the other side, they're not necessarily being outworked.
Hoosiers Concerned, along with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and kindred groups, has been battling all summer against federal legislation that would give the gun industry, uniquely in American business, immunity from legal liability for lethal misuse of its products by their purchasers. In other words, gun makers and sellers would be liberated from many lawsuits that have been filed around the nation, asking judges and juries to determine whether they could have done more to keep their goods out of the wrong hands.
The lawsuits have had mixed results. One that's pending was filed by the city of Gary, whose mayor, Scott King, will address the annual meeting of Hoosiers Concerned at 10 a.m. Nov. 8 at St. Thomas, 4600 N. Illinois St.
Overall, it has been a war of attrition at the federal, state and city levels, George says. But Moore's heartily received and well-publicized appearance was a flashy sign of quiet progress as she sees it.
"As the issues come out and as the lawsuits reach the discovery stage, we see changes in thinking. Meeting after meeting, we are gaining support."
Carpenter is Star op-ed columnist. Contact him at 1-317-444-6172 or via e-mail at dan.carpenter@indystar.com .
http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/8/085349-1108-021.htmlDan Carpenter
Fortified for a fight for life
October 22, 2003
The irrepressible Michael Moore's oration at Butler University last week was wide-ranging in every possible sense of the term, but no topic struck his local audience more deeply than that of guns.
The firebrand who torched Oscar night with his anti-Bush acceptance speech for "Bowling for Columbine" was a shot in the arm for all three sponsors of the Clowes Hall pep rally -- Butler's Visiting Writers Series; the Plowshares Collaborative of Earlham, Goshen and Manchester colleges; and Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence.
For the last group in particular, he raised morale as well as profile.
"The beauty of Michael Moore is, he gets people talking," said Kathleen George, president of Hoosiers Concerned. "As you know, guns are a very polarizing issue. That's public discourse at an end."
She and her allies found that out first hand a few years ago when they started trying to figure out what could have been done to save Michael and Linda Holmes.
The couple were Kathy George's friends and fellow parishioners at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. They were at home with their two youngest children on the evening of Aug. 25, 1992, when their 18-year-old adopted son, Steven, walked in and shot them to death with a rifle. It was far from the only firearm he owned, and legally he could buy the weapons cash-and-carry at any gun store because he was over 17.
Gun deaths and gun availability seemed a connection the community should make, so an organization was born. The founders were not prepared for the reception. Wherever they went, the National Rifle Association followed. The worst meeting for Kathy George was at St. Thomas.
"In the sanctuary where the double funeral was held, to have NRA folks shouting at us . . . One guy pulled out a Bible and said Jesus wanted us to have guns. I thought 'What's the use? We may as well all get assault weapons and have at it.'
"But we have grown stronger since then. The national groups have helped. We have to get stronger still -- and more vocal."
Michael Moore made that point very vocally: Liberals are too nice for the nation's good. But if they're being out-yelled and outspent by the other side, they're not necessarily being outworked.
Hoosiers Concerned, along with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and kindred groups, has been battling all summer against federal legislation that would give the gun industry, uniquely in American business, immunity from legal liability for lethal misuse of its products by their purchasers. In other words, gun makers and sellers would be liberated from many lawsuits that have been filed around the nation, asking judges and juries to determine whether they could have done more to keep their goods out of the wrong hands.
The lawsuits have had mixed results. One that's pending was filed by the city of Gary, whose mayor, Scott King, will address the annual meeting of Hoosiers Concerned at 10 a.m. Nov. 8 at St. Thomas, 4600 N. Illinois St.
Overall, it has been a war of attrition at the federal, state and city levels, George says. But Moore's heartily received and well-publicized appearance was a flashy sign of quiet progress as she sees it.
"As the issues come out and as the lawsuits reach the discovery stage, we see changes in thinking. Meeting after meeting, we are gaining support."
Carpenter is Star op-ed columnist. Contact him at 1-317-444-6172 or via e-mail at dan.carpenter@indystar.com .