Governor Patrick Accuses Lawful Gun Owners of "Fear Mongering"

 

In a May 4, 2007 State House News Service Story Governor Deval Patrick continues his attacks on lawful gun owners. In a speech given at the Boston Marriott in Copley Place on Thursday, May 3, 2007 the Governor expressed his views on the Bush Administration policies. In that speech he was quoted by the State House News Service as saying, "But the fear-mongering persists, you see,” he said. Noting his proposal to limit sales of guns to one per month to avoid bulk purchases hitting the streets, Patrick said, “Even in the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the gun lobby urges hunters and other law-abiding citizens to resist such measures as a threat to sport. Never mind that no one uses a semiautomatic to hunt birds.”

 

This is another clear example that the Governor has no knowledge of the issues or the legislation he has filed. In his speech, the Governor makes reference to his one gun a month bill (This bill is getting a new number H3991). In the same remarks he is quoted as saying, "Never mind that no one uses a semiautomatic to hunt birds." This is very confusing since his bill doesn't attack just semi-automatics, but it restricts the sale of every type of gun. The governor also does not know much about hunting, since many semi-automatic shotguns are used to hunt many types of bird.

 

In the speech, the Governor mentions the Virginia Tech tragedy. He is once again trying to confuse the public by using fear rather than rational discussion. According to the reports that have come out since the tragic incident, it is clear that a one a gun a month law would not have prevented the incident.

 

"If there is any fear mongering taking place surrounding this issue, it is clearly coming from the Governor. It is his bill that wrongfully places the blame for crime on lawful gun owners," said Jim Wallace Executive Director of Gun Owners' Action League. "The entire premise of the bill is to create an atmosphere of fear within the general public in regards to lawful gun owners. This is made evident in his latest hate speech by his use of the term "gun lobby" rather than civil rights lobby. Throughout the history of GOAL, we have worked to protect the rights of lawful citizens, but the Governor attempts to create an atmosphere of fear and disparagement by referring to us as a "gun lobby". This is a transparent attempt to dehumanize our work to protect the civil rights of  lawful gun owners."

 

GOAL urges all lawful gun owners nationwide to contact the Governor and demand an apology for his remarks.

 

Governor Deval Patrick

Room 360

State House

Boston, MA  02113

 

Ph: 617-725-4005

Fax: 617 - 727-9725

Email go to: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=Agov3_contact_us

 

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State House News Service - May 4, 2007

 

PATRICK CONDEMNS ‘POLITICS OF FEAR’
Condemning the “politics of fear,” Gov. Deval Patrick on Thursday night took aim at Bush administration policies and opponents of gay marriage, tighter gun control laws, and his plan to eliminate the tax exemption telecommunication companies receive in state. In a speech before 1,700 lawyers at the Boston Marriott in Copley Place, Patrick compared the lawyers who volunteered to take on the cases of the detainees in Guantanamo Bay as following in the tradition of John Adams, defending British soldiers implicated in the Boston Massacre. “It took real courage to take on those cases, because fear, fear as a device to manipulate and ultimately to govern is at large again in our times,” Patrick, who was applauded several times, said. The September 11 attacks disrupted the nation’s state of well being, but also represented “a catastrophic failure of human understanding,” he said. “In its wake, I believe we have been governed by fear. Fear drove us to round up people of Arab descent, many of them American citizens and to hold hundreds without cause or charge. Fear led us to turn our attention from a known enemy in Afghanistan and invade Iraq instead. Fear justified what I believe to be the greatest assault on personal freedoms – the Patriot Act – and the greatest aggregation of presidential power in recent time.” The use of fear isn’t limited to national security, he added, drawing a connection to the debate over gay marriage. Four years after the Supreme Judicial Court signed off on gay marriage, “the institution of marriage has survived. But the fear-mongering persists, you see,” he said. Noting his proposal to limit sales of guns to one per month to avoid bulk purchases hitting the streets, Patrick said, “Even in the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the gun lobby urges hunters and other law-abiding citizens to resist such measures as a threat to sport. Never mind that no one uses a semiautomatic to hunt birds.” The phone companies have also mounted a campaign to resist his proposal to eliminate their exemption from the property tax, saying rates will rise, he said. “My point is that fear – raw, emotional, and compelling - is the pervasive means today by which to ignore fact and to overlook our better values,” he said, calling on the lawyers to act as “citizen lawyers” and help democracy work. “By training, by profession, and by tradition, as the leaders in our legal community you can and must assume your special role in our democracy and use the power of reason to overcome the politics of fear.”