Mauser: Columbine dad speaks out in D.C., arrested later

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Harry Tuttle

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Columbine dad speaks out in D.C., arrested later
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columbine/article/0,1299,DRMN_106_3678205,00.html

By Joe Rominiecki, Scripps Howard News Service
April 6, 2005

WASHINGTON - Tom Mauser, whose son, Daniel, was killed at Columbine High School, joined gun industry opponents on Capitol Hill Tuesday to denounce a bill to protect gun manufacturers and sellers from certain lawsuits.

Later, he traveled to the National Rifle Association headquarters in suburban Fairfax County, Va., where he was arrested on a trespassing charge and released, he said

Members of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence held a news conference and unveiled a television ad that urges Congress to reject the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

It has been on the Senate calendar since February for a possible vote. Sponsored by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., it has 53 co-sponsors in the Senate and 199 in the House.

Supporters and opponents disagree about the effect of the bill.

"To give blanket immunity to people who have repeatedly sold guns to criminals is an outrage that most Americans would not accept," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

Kelly Hobbs, spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, said that the bill does not provide a "blanket immunity" against lawsuits.

"That is absolutely not true," she said. "If a firearm is defective, or if a manufacturer or dealer breaks the law, a victim will still be able to file suit."

Several families of victims of gun violence spoke, including Mauser.

"I'm outraged at the nerve of the gun lobby and some members of Congress," he said. "I'm here because I'm a victim of gun violence who doesn't like to have his rights taken away."

Mauser said he went to the NRA headquarters in hopes of receiving a response to a letter he wrote to the group shortly after his son's death. He arrived to locked doors and no response from anyone at the property.

He said he remained there, carrying a sign with a picture of his son and the words, "My son Daniel died at Columbine. Why hasn't the NRA answered my letter?"

After about 30 minutes, Mauser said, Fairfax police arrived and arrested him for trespassing. He was later released. Fairfax police could not be reached late Tuesday.

It was similar to his visit to the NRA headquarters on June 13, 2001. Charges for trespassing that day were dropped two months later.

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you know the wheels have come off yer jihad,
when the Washington Post ignores your arrest at the NRA HQ
 
My mama taught me that if I didn't have anything nice to say about someone. . . . :banghead:
 
I corresponded a bit with Tom Mauser a couple years ago. He was really the epitome of the clueless true believer.
 
If you perceive all firearms as evil or tools of evil, then it is easier to convence yourself that the demand for guns for illegitimate uses far exceeds the demand by legit buyers (to them, hunting and LEO). Those who don't want to take the time to think about it (or most anything else but getting to the next soccer practice), they accept this perception fed to them by the media as reality.

Given that view, these folks think that gun companies are turning a blind eye to "flood the market" with far more guns than the legit demand, thereby knowing that they are going directly or indirectly via a short course into criminal hands (or "on the streets"). If you accept this falsehood as reality and mix in a heavy dose of emotion, as this guy has, then you will think that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in [Evil] Arms Act is a bad thing. Fortunately, this myth is easy to dispell to reasonably intelligent people willing to listen and think about it. The hard part is convencing them that they should care enough to voice their opinion to their congresscritters (who read the biased media also).

Still, it's good to know that this misguided guy's arrest was not even considered news by the "mainstream."
 
There they go throwing around that "victim of gun violence" thing again.
A more appropriate term would be "victim of psychopath violence."
Sigh.
 
I seem to recall that those guns were bought through a "straw purchaser", and that said 3rd party got his hienie in a wringer over it. So how would that be the manufacturer's fault?
 
I guess the manufacturer should have known from looking at the gun on the assembly line that it'd be used in a crime, and rightfully disposed of it. Completely erasing the crime from history.
At least that's the vibe I'm getting.
 
In all fairness, I've got two sons, and I don't know how irrational I might get if someone murdered them.

Insulting Mauser isn't going to help. The point is that the man is entitled to his grief and his irrationality, but not entitled to set policy based on grief and irrationality.
 
True dat...

but one does wish he'd at least listen to SOME rationality, rather than paint us gun owners with such a wide brush.... having read some of his writings over at DU, I do think that he's rather unfair in the way he portrays gun owners.
 
I feel bad for him that he lost a son. No one should have to go through that. Sympathy ends when he starts blabbering about taking away my rights. :rolleyes:
 
Sympathy ends when he starts blabbering about taking away my rights.

I have no doubt the leftist extremists have him on the payroll. I'd be surprised if he's getting checks from the Democratic (sic) party, but some limousine leftist is diverting $50,000 to $150,000 a year to encourage him to keep weeping in public.

I'd consider that carrion feeding.
 
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