Gun Mail

Two Co-workers Jumping the Gun

To: JSavino, Svenska
From: Allen, Chris

Charles Laquidera from WXLX played a tastless song parody of the Beatles "Warm Gun" this morning and it totally infurisated me so I just sent this message......
-----Original Message-----
From: Allen, Chris
Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 1999 8:10 AM
To: charles@wzlx.com
Subject: comment

Charles - apparently you are too senile to realize that the tragedy that occurred in Colorado should not be material for song parodies. Playing Warm Gun as an intro into that story is amazingly irresponsible. You are a joke...that's why BCN let you go and you're current show is the shortest morning stint going. You showed why this morning. You've made a living out of doing something that requires no skills and now you are a pathetic display of an aging man hanging on to youth. It's too late to retire gracefully, so I would just suggest that when ZLX cans your ass for being boring, don't hook on with yet another struggling morning program looking to make jokes out of everything.

Christopher Allen
Boston

From: Savino, Jeff
To: charles@wzlx.com
Cc: Allen, Chris
Subject: FW: comment

Charles......didn't have the good fortune to hear you off color comedy routine this morning, however, never liked you when you were with BCN, like you even less now. Stick to your Jordan Furniture commercials.......that's about your speed.

From: Svenska
To: charles@wzlx.com

GET WITH THE PROGRAM!!! YOUR STATION IS PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH OUR CHILDREN TODAY. A FRIEND OF MINE JUST E-MAILED ME AND SAID YOUR STATION PLAYED A SONG ABOUT THE MASSACRE IN COLO. SHAME ON YOU. PEOPLE DIED, HAVE YOU NO FEELINGS FOR THEIR FAMILIES?????? LETS HOPE WHEN A FAMILY MEMBER OF YOURS DIES SOMEONE MAKES A BIG JOKE ABOUT IT IN THE NATIONAL MEDIA.

To: Jeff, Svenska
From: charles@wzlx.com

Jeff and Svenska:
Well, thanks a lot for judging me based on 2nd hand hearsay - sent to you by one of your mindless, opinionated co-workers - who, by the way, totally missed the fact that the lyrics, the meaning and the POINT of the parody song we played was a swipe at the horrible mindset that caused yesterday's nightmare in Colorado.

First of all (and I'm probably wasting my time and yours by even attempting to explain here) if you know the lyrics to the original Beatles song, "Happiness is a Warm Gun", you know immediately that it wreaks of sarcasm and disgust at the horrendous state of gun-control in the U.S. vs. the rest of the civilized world. It is in fact, a parody song that sends a poignant, albeit cynical message to millions of listeners throughout the world.

Jeff - You say you didn't have the "good fortune to hear [my] off-color comedy" (and Svenska, you as well) - since both of you just casually chose to write these judgmental letters of hate -- I guess that probably puts you each in a category about two layers higher than some of the pond scum out there that are causing all the rage, hate and violence in our society. (I say the word "probably"in a kind way, because I don't want to go down the same road you guys did when you judged me personally without knowing any of the facts, or without even having heard the bit on the radio).

Anyway, read these letters you all wrote again, and tell me what great character and integrity you all have; what fine role models you must be, both to your families, and to the people you are supposed to inspire and influence every day.

Shame on you - luckily this wasn't the Wild West -- you all would have had my ass strung up on an elm tree without even knowing why you were tying the rope, because you bought the bullshit from your friend Allen, who probably can't even tell you two lines from the song - go ahead - ask him.

From: Svenska
To: charles@wzlx.com

Shame on you for refering to us as "pond scum". I hold a Masters Degree and am a wonderful mother of two children who are both honor students in their private schools. I feel that your reply holds you no higher if not lower than the "scum" you decided to call the other person and myself. Take responsibility for your actions and just say your sorry. Is that so difficult? My young children realize their mistakes quicker than you. Well, at least I know my young ones find you repulsive and I gain great pride in knowing they have good taste! Have a great life!

To: Svenska
From: charles@wzlx.com

Forgive me for referring to you as pond scum (I believe I said you were actually two levels higher) but it doesn't matter if you have 200 Masters, Bachelors and Doctor's degrees, and your children are all valedictorians; if you judge ANY one on hearsay - without even knowing the facts - you are not much of a role model to yourself, to your children or to society.

Stop wasting my time and yours by writing all this hate mail to someone you don't even know, and with no facts or information except misinformed hearsay to back you up. You sound really silly.

Now can't we just get along?

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Cowboys in the Middle

To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Rich Aucoin

Charles,
You are your own worst enemy. No wonder the gun folks are pissed at you. When you say things like the Stones' song "Heartbreaker" is an anti-gun song, you ask for their wrath. That interpretation is quite a stretch. The song is about assholes who kill, not about guns. One verse happens to depict the use of a gun. The other verses depict other means of killing. I.e. "Shootin' needles in her arm."

Why not conclude the song is anti-drug pusher??? Your passion for gun control is evidently clouding your judgement. You are seeing what you want to see, and hearing what you want to hear. And you therefore do your cause more harm than good. Those of us in the middle, whom you could be swaying to your side with non-heated, reasonable arguments, are getting more heat than light from your rhetoric, Charles. And it's a turn-off.

To: Rich Aucoin
From: charles

Funny, Rich, but somehow I don't believe you're "in the middle" as you like to claim...unless you're talking about "in the middle between Charlton Heston and Ted Nugent" ...then you are right. (like WAY right)

Anyway, FYI: mail and phone calls from gun owners are running ten to one in favor of what I said and did today. Give it up: Make guns legally safer, legally harder to get for the unqualified, and more easily traceable -- then you won't have to apologize (or start with the moronic "guns don't kill people" slogans) every time some asshole blows away a school, a cop or even himself by accident.

Also, please stop referring to "those people out there who are pissed at me" as "gun folks".

The "gun lobby" and the "gun nuts" are upset with me -- not the gun owners (I am one of those) who are in the majority. If you haven't already done so, read Charles-osophy on my web page.

c.
By the way, you are correct- the song Heartbreaker IS anti-drug pusher- and anti-gun.

To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Rich Aucoin

This morning's radio reporting of the new gun laws on WBZ and NPR was amazing. The basic theme:
Anyone opposed to the new gun laws is (of course) in favor of seeing brain and bone tissue splattered on trenchcoats in schools across America. Yes, some woman actually said that! (With no opposing view to counter her...) Then there was Al Gore saying that we have to act quickly to remove the horrible specter of gun violence in our schools.

Hollywood is on board too. Last week's daytime Emmy Awards show was full of self-important actors, ala Rosie O'Donnel, saying: "Thank you for the award (and call your legislator to save the children from guns)." Since when is Hollywood a source of Constitutional scholars! Or any other kind of scholars! Take Sharon Stone for example: She comes forward to tell every criminal in the country that she's turning over her guns to "the authorities." How's smart is that? Why not just wear a bullseye on her back? All emotion, no common sense. But that's the typical mentality of those who favor (imagined) safety over (real) Liberty. The Constitution is up to its neck in this cowardice. And Sharon is just one "stone" tied to its waist.

RPA

To: Rich Aucoin
From: charles

Rich:
Please stop writing to me about your pro-gun views. I like having you as a listener; and I might even like you as a friend to go shooting with on weekends. But I do not want to take part in your anti-gun control dialogue.

I am totally in favor of gun control. I am proud to be a gun owner who wants the killings, senseless murders and accidental deaths to end. The gun lobby is now my enemy - even more than the kooks out there who obtain guns because of that lobby. Stop sending me this stuff.

Thanks buddy,

c.

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Sasquatch Calls for Reinforcements

To: charles@wzlx.com
From: "Sasquatch"

>We need to solve this violence problem, which btw, is not any worse in the
>US non-black, non-hispanic demographic than in those European countries.
>
>Good talking point. Can you direct me to likely sources for the
>supporting
>numbers?
>
>Len

Yes, and right out of Boston. But first, a note from our sponsor:

[1] U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics,
"Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 19[xx]".

Justice Statistics Clearinghouse/NCJRS
U.S. Department of Justice
User Services Department 2
Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20850

This is an extremely comprehensive book. Just about any statistic, broken down by all kinds of factors (race, religion, rural .vs. suburban, big .vs. little city, and so on).
* * *

From:
Newsgroups:
Subject: Homicides vs. race, age
Date: 27 Oct 1993 15:15:51 GMT

Here is a breakdown of homicides committed by males nationwide (reported by police) vs. age and race. Graph reprinted in the January 31, 1993 NYTimes pA26. Source is James A. Fox & Glenn Pierce of Northeastern University (wherever that is). Numbers are per 100,000 of that particular group of people (+/-2 from my guess from the graph):

year --> 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 91
White males:

14-17 yrs 6 6 7 6 6 8 8 12 14
18-24 yrs 14 18 21 15 15 18 14 20 22
25 + 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 4.5

Black Males:

14-17 48 46 50 45 30 50 62 100 112
18-24 130 130 145 118 87 112 125 175 212
25 + 73 70 74 62 50 53 45 40 38

As an aside, the % of these homicides committed with a gun has remained nearly 70% since the 1920s! (1992 = 68% US FBI 1993).

* * *

From:
Newsgroups:
Subject: Re: "Demo Gun Control" (Was: democratic platform)
Message-ID: <149570020@hplsla.hp.com>
Date: 10 Aug 92 23:22:31 GMT
Organization: HP Lake Stevens, WA
Lines: 43

[My postings to alt.politics.* fall into the bit bucket, so someone else
may wish to repost these figures to the relevant groups.]

Re: Seattle-Vancouver homicide comparison

Long ago, I posted some data from this study. Here it is again.

Table 1. (Last half)
Ethnic and racial groups(%) Seattle Vancouver
White (non-Hispanic) 79.2 75.6
Asian 7.4 22.1
Black 9.5 0.3
Hispanic 2.6 0.5
Native North American 1.3 1.5


Table 4. Annual age-adjusted homicide rates and relative risks of death by homicide in Seattle and Vancouver, 1980 through 1986, according to the race or ethnic group of the victim.* (homicide rates are number/100,000)

Relative Race of ethnic group Seattle Vancouver Risk 95% CI
White (non-Hispanic) 6.2 6.4 1 0.8- 1.2
Asian 15.0 4.1 3.5 2.1- 5.7
Excluding Wah Mee murders 9.5 --- 2.3 1.4- 4.0
Black 36.6 9.5 2.8 0.4-20.4
Hispanic 26.9 7.9 5 0.7-34.3
Native North American 64.9 71.3 0.9 0.5- 1.5

[Total homicide, Table 3: 11.3 6.9 1.63 1.38-1.93]

*CI denotes confidence interval. The relative risks shown are for Seattle in relation to Vancouver.

The very small Black and Hispanic populations in Vancouver suffered a single homicide each over the entire seven year study period.

The study is "Handgun Regulations, Crime, Assaults, and Homicide: A Tale of Two Cities", Sloan, Kellerman, Reay, Ferris, Koepsell, Rivara, Rice, Gray and LoGerfo, NEJM, V. 319 No. 19, November 10, 1988, p. 1256-62.

* * *

Non-numeric, but as an admission from an anti-gun source, convincing.

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF c. 1996 N.Y. Times News Service

MORGES, Switzerland - Relaxing at a firing range where the thunder of dozen submachine guns threatens to set off avalanches in the snow-capped Alps above, Frederic Oguey comes across as just another 13-year-old with sandy hair,a toothy grin and his own assault rifle. ``Dad gave it to me when I was 11 years old,'' Frederic said shyly, beaming as he spoke of his Swiss Army gun with a 20-bullet clip. ``I shoot about once or twice a month.''

This is a country, after all, where the government issues a machine gun and bullets to most men in their late teens. The puzzle is that the Swiss have guns galore and yet, in contrast to Americans, they shoot at targets, not at each other.

Japan is the opposite extreme. It comes as close as any industrialized country to being a gun-free society. No one may keep a handgun at home, not even police officers, and illegal possession of a gun and ammunition is punishable by 15 years in prison.

As Americans fret about crime and debate gun control, these two countries stand out as intriguing models. What is striking about them is that they have crime rates that are among the lowest in the industrialized world, and yet they have diametrically opposite gun policies.

Interviews across a swath of Switzerland and Japan suggest that, to Americans of all political complexions, the experiences of the two countries can be troubling.

For Americans who favor gun control, Switzerland offers a discomforting reminder that ubiquitous guns do not necessarily mean soaring crime. Instead, social factors - such as the presence of an economically frustrated underclass - may be more important in explaining crime levels.

To gun enthusiasts, the contrasts are also troubling. The spread of guns may not always affect overall crime levels, but they do seem to mean significantly more suicides and more killings within families.

[snip]

Still, one common argument made by the American gun lobby - that if guns are restricted, criminals will still have them - does find a measure of support in foreign countries.

Japan, as an island country, is in an unusually good position to control illegal gun imports. Yet gangsters still have guns, and a robber can easily buy a Chinese-made military handgun for the equivalent of $1,500.

If Japan, despite the toughest gun laws in any democracy, cannot stop guns from being available and affordable, it is possible that no country can.

[snip]

Another possible lesson from other countries is that although many Americans have put a good deal of effort into restricting assault rifles, those weapons may be less threatening than their image. They are almost never used in robberies in Switzerland, police say. Such rifles, though far more lethal than handguns, are not easily
concealed. Swiss criminals, with access to both kinds of weapons, choose convenience over firepower every time.

[snip]

Although there appears to be a link between national gun ownership and violent death, social factors are also at work. Despite different gun policies, Japan and Switzerland share many features that help explain their similarly low crime rates.

Police and scholars say that one of the most important is that, unlike the United States, neither has an underclass that feels excluded from society. Yet the groups in both countries that come closest to an underclass are responsible for a disproportionate share of crime. In Japan ethnic Koreans and the hereditary outcasts known as burakumin are discriminated against and form the shadow of an underclass, and they dominate the criminal gangs known as Yakuza.

In Switzerland foreign laborers also make up a frustrated subculture, and many play a major role in the country's drug trade and commit just over half of the murders there.

Japan and Switzerland also have in common strong social and family traditions. People often live in the same area for much of their lives and they care what their neighbors think.

``Our biggest city by far is Zurich, and it's got 350,000 people,'' said Rudolf Wyss, vice director of the federal office of police. ``That's nothing on an international scale. Most of Switzerland is still small towns, where the social network is strong and where people don't feel as anonymous or as lonely as in big foreign cities.''

22:05 EST MARCH 9, 1996
NYT-03-09-96 2013EST

To: Sasquatch
From: charles

Sasquatch:
Enough is enough! I'm getting carpal-tunnel syndrome from just reading your stuff. Let go - they're not going to come take away your toys: you've already opened the floodgates, so that they never could recover them all -- every 11-year old in the country can get a gun (one way or another now) -- thanks to your lobby.

Sleep well...

To: charles@wzlx.com
From: Sasquatch

>----- Original Message -----
>From: R.Swartz
>
> This is in response to the DJ thread:
>
>I ran across a relevant passage in Lott's _More Guns, Less Crime_, p.113.
>
> "...Worldwide, there is no relationship between gun ownership and crime
> rates. Many countries, such as Switzerland, Finland, New Zealand, and
> Israel,have high gun-ownership rates & low crime rates,while many other
> countries have both low gun-ownership rates and either high or low crime
> rates. [example deleted] Yet, making a reliable comparison across
> countries is an arduous task simply because it is difficult to obtain
> gun-ownership data both over time and across coutnries, & to control for
> all the other differences across the legal systems and cultures across
> countries. International comparisons are also risky because polls
> undderreport ownership in countries where gun ownership is illegal, and
> they are conducted by different polling organizations that ask questions
> in widely differing ways. How crime is measured also varies across
> countries."

To: Sasquatch
From: charles

Dear Sasquatch:
I have already figured out that we are wasting valuable time and energy here. As I have already said, neither of us is going to change the other's mind, so let's call it a draw. (Oops, sorry - Did I get your adrenaline up there for a sec?)

Please don't send me any more propaganda that helps you guys sleep better. Deal?

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The Buck Stops Here

reprinted from Sports Illustrated Oct 12,1999
-columnist Rick Reilly


America's deer came up losers again this year on opening day of hunting
season, getting trounced 11,476 to 1. The lone victory for the deer came
outside Stump, Ohio, when a 33-year-old accountant was accidentally shot 17
times by his friends despite wearing an orange hat, vest, pants and boots
plus a sandwich board that read, IT'S ME, STAN.


Joining us now to discuss the defeat, general manager and coach of the deer,
John Doe.


Coach, welcome.


Good to be here. Hell, it's good to be anywhere. I could be sitting on a
plate next to a vegetable medley.


What frustrates you the most about your squad's performance in the season
opener?


Well, we can't keep losing at home like this. Something's gotta change. To
tell you the truth, I'm not sure we're competing on a level playing field
anymore. We're gonna bring it up at the league meetings in Palm Springs this
winter.


What will you ask for?


We've gotta have some help from the competition committee. I mean, we've got
some good speed, but we don't have anybody that can outrun an Ultra Light
Arms rifle with a 20X scope and 24-inch stainless-steel barrel, you know
what I'm sayin'? Plus these hunters keep coming at us with more and more
stuff. They've got solunar tables and laser sights and night goggles. We
don't even have decent teeth! Put it this way: My grandpa didn't have to
dodge a bunch of yahoos riding a damn six-passenger ATV and using a Global
Positioning Satellite.


But this was such a lopsided loss, Coach. Is it purely a question of
technology?


Well, they're fightin' dirty now. Used to be, we could sniff 'em out before
they could get close enough to sever our family ties. But now hunters are
taking chlorophyll pills that mask the human scent. They're using spray
scent shields. Some guys are bathing with baking soda. Others are burying
their clothes for a month in the backyard before they go hunting. I mean,
get a life, huh? Hell, I read about hunters who douse themselves with
powerful "deer attractant." You know what that is? Deer urine! Now what are
we supposed to wear on dates?


Cruel.


Tell me about it. You know, I hear all these guys talking about the "sport"
of hunting. I heard a guy say he never apologizes after he fills one of my
guys with a bucketful of lead, but he always remembers to "thank the deer
for the contest." Wait a minute. What contest? This ain't a contest anymore
than the Exxon Valdez versus shrimp was a contest. Hey, you hunters want a
contest? Hunt us with spears or knives. Hell, we'll give you rocks, too! I'd
love to see one of these Stay Puft marshmallow men comin' at me with a Ginsu
in each hand. My old lady would be cookin' humanburgers for a month!


Coach, there have been rumblings in your locker room about needing a change
of leadership. What's your reaction to that?


Look, I'm not trying to pass the buck, but I can't think for our guys.
Hunters are out there trying to pattern us-you know, keeping notes on where
we hang out, where we eat, where we like to rub the old forehead now and
again-and our guys are lettin' 'em do it! A lot of our guys are in a rut.
What we need to do is pattern them. You know, follow a guy around. Where
does he play golf? Where does he work out? Where does he stop off on the way
home from work? Surprise one of these sonsabitches outside the old corner
tavern with a 12-pointer right in the keister, the rest of 'em will think
twice about coming into our backyard, I'll guarantee you that!


Any chance for a comeback?


We're not totally out of it yet. It's a long season. I'll tell you
something, though. It would help our morale a damn sight if you guys would
cut us a break once in a while.


Who?


The media. Do you know how depressing it is to pick up Field & Stream and
read about hunting "success rates"? I mean, success is kind of a sticky
word, ain't it? And talking about the deer "harvest"? Harvest? Hey, I know
lots of farmers, and I ain't seen one of 'em yet use a gross of .280 shells
to bring in the corn, you with me?


All right then, we'll close on a high note. How about that lone opening day
win? Is there at least some satisfaction in that?


Well, it was kinda lucky. But ol' Stan'll look good over the fireplace at
the union hall, won't he?

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Last updated Monday, August 30, 2004