WASHINGTON, April 17 - The Immigration and Naturalization Service could not account for hundreds of weapons it owned ... a government audit has found. ...

The agency, with 32,000 employees, operates under the Department of Justice and is in charge of citizenship requests, border patrols and the deportation of illegal immigrants. [Agency spokesman Greg] Gagne said agency employees who enforce immigration laws needed to carry firearms. ...

Among items that may have been lost or stolen ... was a gas-grenade launcher at the San Diego border-patrol office. Thirty-nine automatic rifles or machine guns were among the 539 missing weapons, many from headquarters in Washington and an agency training site in Glynco, Ga.

... [T]wo guns had been used in armed robberies, one confiscated in a raid on a drug laboratory and two others during arrests. One was being held as evidence in a homicide investigation. ...

Source: "Agency Is Said to Lose Track of Its Weapons" (AP), 4/18/01

[Thanks to Charles Curley for the article! -- ed.]

Looking for fine software and/or web pages? http://w3.trib.com/~ccurley

SARAH BRADY VOWS TO FIGHT CANCER 'IN THE SAME WAY I'VE FOUGHT FOR A SAFER AMERICA'

Washington, D.C. - Sarah Brady, Chair of Handgun Control, issued this statement today, following an interview Friday night on CNN's "Larry King Live," in which she revealed she is undergoing treatment for lung cancer.

"I want to thank all those who have wished me well. Your good wishes and prayers mean more to me than you'll ever know. I am feeling fine and Jim's humor is helping keep my spirits up. I've fought many tough battles before, and I'm going to fight this one in the same way I've fought for a safer America. ..."

[I've heard that even now she 'can't' quit smoking. So, in fact, her statement is quite literally true: she's fighting lung cancer the same way she 'fights' guns -- through denial, illogic, and willful evasion of the facts. -- ed.]

Source: http://www.handguncontrol.org/press/release.asp?Record=285

From: "Curt Howland" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: for Libbits
Date: Sunday, April 22, 2001 11:54 PM

check this article out:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nb20010423a1.htm

excerpt:

1. All government services can be delivered by the private sector.

2. Political will is very important in successful privatizations and outsourcings.

3. Competition for delivering services produces great savings (and improved customer service).

end excerpt

Curt-

WE'RE TOUGH, BUT WE'RE ... TOUGH

Clarifying the extent of police power in roadside stops, the Supreme Court held that officers can arrest and handcuff people even for minor offenses punishable by a fine. The justices ruled against a driver who was arrested and handcuffed for failing to wear a seat belt.

Such arrests do not violate the constitutional protection against unreasonable search, the court declared Monday. In the 5-4 ruling, which could affect anyone who drives a car, the justices said such an arrest does not violate the Constitution's Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable seizures. ...

Source: "Court OKs Arrest for No Seat Belt", (AP) 4/24/01 http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010424/ts/scotus_arrest_6.html

MISPLACED PRIORITIES?

Timothy McVeigh considered assassinating former Attorney General Janet Reno, a federal judge and an FBI agent before deciding instead to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the condemned killer told Fox News.

"I considered, among other things, a campaign of individual assassination", with "eligible" targets to include: Federal Judge Walter Smith [Waco trial], Lon Horiuchi [FBI sniper at Ruby Ridge] and Janet Reno [making her accept "full responsibility in deed, not just word"], McVeigh states in a handwritten note to Rita Cosby, senior correspondent for the Fox News Channel.

McVeigh, 33, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 16, said he considered the assassinations, and later the bombing, after waiting for the American justice system to "correct the abuse of power" by the federal government in incidents like the raid on Ruby Ridge and Waco...

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,17501,00.html