Getting a Lesson in Gun Control 101 By Izzy Lyman February 21, 2003 "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." (italics added) - Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution No doubt about it. The lecturer for the firearms law class sounds like a bombastic radio talk show host. "Same idiot judge in San Francisco ... he believes that an individual doesn't have the right to carry," exclaims Ed Fleury, Pelham's police chief, who is referring to Stephen Reinhardt, who sits on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Chief Ed Fluery, Pelham PD, believes that "the average person who wants to defend himself is penalized" by the Massachusetts gun laws.

Reinhardt is one of two judges of a three-member panel that ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional.

Last December, the 9th Circus, as Rush Limbaugh calls it, unanimously upheld the state of California's ban on assault weapons by claiming that individuals do not have the right to bear arms. "The historical record makes it equally plain that the (Second) amendment was not adopted in order to afford rights to individuals with respect to private gun ownership or possession," wrote Reinhardt.

"It's quite clear what the Second Amendment is meant for. You've got to be an idiot to not acknowledge that 'people' means people," ripostes Chief Fleury.

The Chief's shoot-from-the-hip remarks are a sign that this basic firearms safety course won't be a dud. Good thing. Since the passage of the Massachusetts Gun Control Act of 1998, new applicants for a gun license are required to receive such instruction. Chief Fleury, along with his sidekick, Sgt. Kevin Fournier, teach 6 or 7 of classes a year, and attract about 30 people per class.

Several women from the Mount Holyoke College chapter of the Second Amendment Sisters on the firing range.

In the session I attend, there's no shortage of visual aids - everything from a cowboy pistol to a double-barreled shotgun. And Pelham, which abuts Amherst, has an exotic past when it comes to guns. Captain Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran, settled in this little town after the war. He found fame as the leader of an armed uprising of tax-burdened farmers that became known as Shays' Rebellion. Tonight the student body is learning about the provisions in the state law that affect not just gun dealers and manufacturers, but the commonfolk. Chapter 180 of the Acts of 1998 is maddeningly unconstitutional.

There are criminal penalties for not safely storing firearms, and there's the establishment of a four-year time limit on FID (Firearms Identification) cards. Local police chiefs have great powers in deciding the suitability of a citizen to carry a gun. The law also prohibits the sale of junk guns, known as Saturday Night Specials.

But "banning a certain type of gun," as the Chief observes, "doesn't make crime go away." In fact, as he also points out, where citizen ownership of guns has been severely curtailed, such as in England and Australia, violent crime has skyrocketed.

In Massachusetts, in order to obtain an LTC (License to Carry), the applicant must be fingerprinted and pay a fee. To obtain a large capacity weapon (those guns which can hold more than ten rounds of ammo), he must have a Class A LTC. Then, there's the ineffectual and nonsensical regulations of guns with 'ugly features' (those with flash suppressors, bayonets, collapsible stocks, etc.).

After listening to section after section of the law explained, I have an unoriginal thought: Felons are already banned from possession of all firearms, so any new restrictions only result in disarming the good guys, correct? Ed Fleury doesn't disagree. "The average person who wants to defend himself is penalized because of these little brats that misbehave. Because they are frustrated with their socio-economic status, they act out, and we suffer for it." Sgt. Fournier vocalizes the irony, "People who obey the law will follow every law that's put down, whether they agree with it or not."

Christie Caywood, the Mount Holyoke co-ed who made national headlines last year when she broadcast the fact that the school's campus security did their work unarmed, test drives a machine gun.

In spite of the many hurdles to becoming a card-carrying gun owner in Marxachusetts, the team of Fleury and Fournier remain enthusiastic about seeing the citizenry, especially women, learn to confidently handle firearms. Several of the co-eds from the Mount Holyoke College (in nearby South Hadley) chapter of the Second Amendment Sisters have attended their gun safety classes, as well as participated in a Machine Gun Shoot and Show in Westfield, MA that was organized by the Chief. Indeed, the Chief and the Sergeant are fans of Christie Caywood, the Mount Holyoke co-ed who made national headlines last year when she broadcast the fact that the school's campus security did their work unarmed.

"An old-fashioned girl who does the needlepoint stuff tends to be a better target shooter than a big burly guy," says the Chief warming to the chicks-with-a-piece theme. And an armed, elderly female, with a steady hand, is no match for a predator, he could add. The Hadley-based organization known as L.A.R.G.O. (Lawful and Responsible Gun Owners) reports that a then 81-year-old woman prevented a burglar from raping her when she shot the scumbag with her late husband's .38.

Chief Fluery and Sgt. Kevin Fournier teach about 6 or 7 classes a year. These co-eds are very much at home on the firing range.

Criminologist Gary Kleck has found that there are over two million defensive gun uses (DGU's) per year in the United States, whereby a legally-armed individual (often a female) saves lives by stopping a violent crime. But to Bay State lawmakers, apparently, trying to prevent a very small number of gun accidents is worth more than allowing a semi-full of violent crimes. The National Safety Council reports that accidents resulting in child mortality occur in association with firearms at a lower rate than those caused by swimming pools and bicycles. But, so far, the feminists at the Boston Globe aren't mounting a national anti-swimming pool movement or organizing a ban-the-bikes crusade.

As basic as freedom of speech and religion is the American right to bear arms. Yet the state where the "shot heard round the world" occurred has what some describe as the "toughest" gun control laws in the country. After attending Chief Fleury's seminar, I think that is no exaggeration. Perhaps the new Republican governor - Mitt Romney - won't cave to the demands of to the zealots who comprise the gun control lobby. That is, if Massachusetts citizens use their First Amendment right to complain that their Second Amendment right is being trampled. Meantime, where's Daniel Shays when you need him?