Clinton freezes imported assault weapons [CNN]

Forwarded message:

>                   CLINTON FREEZES IMPORTS OF ASSAULT WEAPONS
>                                        
>      graphic November 15, 1997
>      Web posted at: 1:19 p.m. EST (1819 GMT)
>      
>      LAS VEGAS (CNN) -- President Clinton has ordered a four-month freeze
>      on the import of assault weapons while the administration and
>      Treasury Department officials develop a plan to permanently ban the
>      weapons.
>      
>      Clinton announced his executive order, issued Friday, in his weekly
>      radio address.
>      
>      "I'm not going to let people overseas turn our streets into battle
>      zones, where gangs are armed like they were guerrilla warriors
>      halfway around the world, if I could stop it," he told supporters at
>      a Democratic fund-raising dinner in Las Vegas on Friday.
>      
>      The freeze will keep an estimated 1.6 million weapons from coming
>      into the United States while Treasury officials review a ban passed
>      in 1994 as part of a larger crime bill. Clinton says overseas
>      manufacturers are taking advantage of a loophole in the law by
>      making cosmetic changes that enable the weapons to be imported for
>      "sporting" purposes.
>      
>      Clinton seems to be angered by a recent surge in the number of
>      permit applications for the modified weapons.
>      
>      Officials say firearms importers have obtained permits for the
>      shipment of nearly 600,000 altered guns, and that an additional 1
>      million permit applications are pending. Approximately 20,000 of the
>      weapons have already entered the country, officials said.
>      
>      No more will be imported until the Treasury Department's review is
>      completed. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms stopped
>      taking applications last month, the Washington Post reported on
>      Friday.
>      
>      The National Rifle Association says Clinton's order "shows more
>      hypocrisy and deception than ever before."
>      
>      "The guns Clinton wishes to ban from importation conform in every
>      way to the law Clinton wrote, signed, pledged would rid the streets
>      of violence in 1994, and trumpets to the press whenever his scandals
>      get out of hand," said NRA spokeswoman Tanya Metaksa.
>      
>      Correspondent John King, The Associated Press and Reuters
>      contributed to this report.

At 4:57 PM -0700 11/15/97, Jim Choate wrote:
>Forwarded message:
>
>>                   CLINTON FREEZES IMPORTS OF ASSAULT WEAPONS
>>
>>      graphic November 15, 1997
>>      Web posted at: 1:19 p.m. EST (1819 GMT)
>>
>>      LAS VEGAS (CNN) -- President Clinton has ordered a four-month freeze
>>      on the import of assault weapons while the administration and
>>      Treasury Department officials develop a plan to permanently ban the
>>      weapons.

It's what I've been saying here! The ban is coming.

>>      The freeze will keep an estimated 1.6 million weapons from coming
>>      into the United States while Treasury officials review a ban passed
>>      in 1994 as part of a larger crime bill. Clinton says overseas
>>      manufacturers are taking advantage of a loophole in the law by
>>      making cosmetic changes that enable the weapons to be imported for
>>      "sporting" purposes.

Translation: We passed some laws, importers found ways to fully comply with
the laws (at their expense). But now we're going to ignore the law, and
ignore their compliance, and take steps to force these importers out of
business.

Amerika is no longer a nation of laws. Even the draconian laws are ignored
for political grandstanding.

>>      The National Rifle Association says Clinton's order "shows more
>>      hypocrisy and deception than ever before."
>>
>>      "The guns Clinton wishes to ban from importation conform in every
>>      way to the law Clinton wrote, signed, pledged would rid the streets
>>      of violence in 1994, and trumpets to the press whenever his scandals
>>      get out of hand," said NRA spokeswoman Tanya Metaksa.

I quit the NRA a few years ago, feeling it was too wimpy and namby pamby
about basic rights.

They tried to bargain with the Administration, they tried to reach a
"compromise." This is what it got them.

There are obvious lessons for the crypto industry here. And for the efforts
by CDT, EPIC, and others to negotiate with politicians.

--Tim May

The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES:   408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^2,976,221   | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."