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Commentary on the Oklahoma City Bombing

By the Firearms Education Institute

Wednesday, April 19, 1995

1. We law-abiding firearms owners, including the NRA, condemn this violent crime just as we condemn and oppose all violent crimes.
   
   
2. Anyone who has seen our spokespersons on TV, or read our journals and pamphlets knows that we have never advocated violent crime against anyone, including the government. This is all a matter of the public record.
   
   
3. We are strong advocates of political action, not violence, and every politician recognizes that firearms owners including NRA members have substantial political power, so there is no need or motivation to use terrorism, which is often referred to as the voice of the politically powerless.
   
   
4. The November elections went our way. Many laws we view as favorable are being passed in numerous jurisdictions, and we are benefiting from fair hearings in Congress for the first time in nine years.
   
   
5. Firearm owners are known for their law-abiding nature and political astuteness--99.6% do not commit violent crimes, and firearms owners actively participated in successful political campaigns for the November 8, 1995 general election. At a time when the political momentum is going our way, the 100 million firearms owners in this country would scrupulously avoid doing anything which would be used by our opponents. The current situation is a good case to apply the "Cui bons" test -- who benefits from this situation?
   
   
6. The real issue in this case is the distinction between criminals and law-abiding firearms owners. Anyone in politics or the media who cannot or will not make this distinction can only be doing so because they are too ignorant to understand the problem or they are trying to frame the huge population of non-violent firearms owners. And if that is true, they obviously have no interest in stopping crime, catching the criminals, or punishing the guilty.
   
   
7. This crime was committed with a bomb, not a firearm, so any call to impose highly arbitrary and restrictive gun control is obviously irrational and unable to improve the situation.
   
   
8. There is nothing in the Second Amendment which prevents prosecution of criminals, so any call for repeal is unrelated to crime control. It is just an excuse to punish and harass non-violent, hard-working American citizens.
   
   
9. Any legislation or executive orders which disarm the citizens of this country can only help terrorists by restricting the ability of good citizens to defend themselves, their loved ones, and their communities. Shifting the balance of power to favor criminals and terrorists is a counterproductive strategy.
   
   
10. Blaming the 99.6% of firearms owners who are ordinary, nonviolent law-abiding people for a violent crime is like blaming the American Automobile Association (AAA) and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for promoting drunk driving.