Peter Ward wrote:
> As a Nevada libertarian/redneck, I'm in favor of the Second Amendment in principle--the government manifestly should not be trusted. But the reality is using shotguns to fend off Apache helicopters is hopeless in practice.
>
>
>> From: dhenwood at panix.com
>> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>> Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:17:54 -0500
>> Subject: [lbo-talk] the Bush style of clemency: love your gun
>>
>> Wall Street Journal - November 28, 2008
>>
>> Seeking a Presidential Pardon? Try Praising the Right to Bear Arms
>> Five Forgiven by Bush Share a Trait: They Really Missed Their Weapons
>>
>> By AMIR EFRATI
>>
>> A decade ago, Leslie Collier, a 50-year-old corn and soybean farmer in
>> Charleston, Mo., pleaded guilty to poisoning bald eagles. He says the
>> worst thing about his criminal record was that it meant he was barred
>> by law from owning a gun.
>>
>> So, after George W. Bush, a strong defender of the Second Amendment,
>> took office, Mr. Collier wrote to the president seeking a pardon,
>> saying he wanted to go hunting with his kids. He explained that he
>> accidentally killed the eagles while trying to poison coyotes that
>> were attacking wild turkeys and deer on property he farms.
>>
>> On the surface, the list of the 14 people pardoned by the president
>> this week shows few common denominators in terms of time served,
>> geographic location or even type of crime, except that the felonies
>> were non-violent. But a closer look at some of the newly pardoned
>> shows many of them are church-going, blue-collar workers from rural
>> areas (and ardent Bush supporters) who had little trouble finding jobs
>> after their convictions. There is another common thread: the important
>> role firearms once played in their lives.
>>
>> President Bush has pardoned fewer people -- 171 -- than any president
>> since World War II, with the exception of his father, who pardoned 74.
>> Presidents don't discuss their reasons for issuing pardons, with few
>> exceptions. Nor do they tell petitioners why their wish was granted.
>> The Justice Department's "pardon attorney," who reviews hundreds of
>> petitions a year and recommends candidates to the president, had no
>> comment.
>>
>> Coincidentally or not, at least seven of the 14 pardoned on Monday are
>> former hunters or shooting enthusiasts. In interviews, five of them
>> said they wrote in their petitions to the government that a desire to
>> win back the right to bear arms was a chief reason for wanting a pardon.
>>
>> Robert Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala., who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to
>> distribute marijuana and served a year in prison in the late 1980s,
>> wrote in his petition that he was concerned about his heritage. He
>> wanted to pass down his father's hunting rifles to his grandchildren
>> and teach them "the enjoyment of the outdoors." His felony record was
>> standing in the way.
>>
>> "That's what's wrong with the world today -- nobody knows how to
>> handle guns," says the 61-year-old retiree.
>>
>> The state of Illinois allowed Richard Culpepper to keep his shotguns
>> after he was convicted in 1987 of lying to the government in order to
>> receive unemployment checks. But in 2002, when he bought an English
>> Pointer hunting dog and tried to buy a new gun, he says he was
>> rejected and the state revoked his privilege.
>>
>> So, the 52-year-old retired locomotive engineer from Mahomet, Ill.,
>> says he applied for a pardon by explaining the situation and attaching
>> photos of Cartman, the dog.
>>
>> Another pardon recipient from Monday is Danny Pue, 64, of Conroe,
>> Texas, who pleaded guilty to illegal storage of hazardous waste and
>> got six months' home confinement in 1996. He wrote in his petition
>> that he was an avid sport shooter and wanted to enjoy weekly target
>> practice with his family again. "We live in the country and I felt
>> secure with my firearms," says the machine-shop employee.
>>
>> Convicted felons lose a host of civil rights, including the right to
>> vote, seek political office or bear arms. A presidential pardon
>> forgives federal crimes and restores basic rights.
>>
>>
>> LESLIE COLLIER
>> Many felons can win back some rights from their states after they
>> complete their punishment. But the right to possess guns can be
>> restored only by the president, says Margaret Love, a former pardon
>> attorney under the first President Bush and the first term of
>> President Clinton, who pardoned 396, mostly during his second term.
>> (Felons are allowed to possess certain antique guns, she says.)
>>
>> Before applying for a pardon, an individual must wait five years after
>> serving prison time or home confinement and must have finished
>> probation or supervised release. The president can exercise his or her
>> clemency powers at any time, even if the felon hasn't formally applied.
>>
>> Petitioners must show they've led an upstanding life since their
>> conviction and accepted responsibility for their actions with remorse,
>> according to the Justice Department.
>>
>> The whole process can take years, and the odds are long. Through the
>> end of October, President Bush had pardoned 7% of applicants during
>> his term, department statistics show. There is a backlog of several
>> thousand applications.
>>
>> President Bush still has more than 50 days left in his term, and
>> December is his favorite month for granting clemency, says P.S.
>> Ruckman, Jr., a political science professor at Rock Valley College in
>> Rockford, Ill., who tracks presidential pardons.
>>
>> The White House declined to address whether President Bush was trying
>> to aid people who sought to restore their gun rights. "The president
>> carefully considered recommendations for pardons and commutations on a
>> case-by-case basis and made his determination. He will continue to
>> review clemency requests," a spokesman said.
>>
>> In a pardon petition, the applicant must explain the criminal offense,
>> give employment and residence history and other biographical
>> information, and the reasons for seeking pardon. If the petition
>> succeeds, an official in the pardon attorney's office calls the pardon
>> recipient by phone to convey the good news.
>>
>> According to the Justice Department, if a case looks promising, the
>> pardon attorney often asks the FBI to conduct a background
>> investigation. Bureau agents collect information by interviewing the
>> applicants and their friends, neighbors and sometimes former teachers
>> and coaches, and assess their reputations in the community. The pardon
>> attorney and deputy attorney general, the No. 2 official in the
>> Justice Department, give a positive or negative recommendation before
>> an application goes to the White House for the president's
>> consideration.
>>
>> Most pardons receive scant attention because they involve ordinary
>> citizens with no connection to the president. Others grab headlines,
>> including President Clinton's controversial pardon of tax-evasion
>> fugitive Marc Rich, whose wife donated money to Mr. Clinton's
>> presidential library.
>>
>> So far, President Bush's pardons have been low-risk politically. The
>> pardonees were one-time offenders who got very little or no prison
>> time for crimes that occurred long ago. That includes 47-year-old
>> Brenda Helmer, who says she "discovered" guns when she dated a police
>> officer at age 18. "Ever since then I was hooked," she says.
>>
>> Mrs. Helmer, who helps run her husband's dentistry practice, says she
>> occasionally hunted doves but mostly kept her hobby to target
>> shooting. She lost her gun rights after her conviction in 1998 for
>> having knowledge of a felony fraud and not reporting it to authorities.
>>
>> In 2004, she wrote in her pardon petition that she was worried the
>> felony might cause delays when she traveled to do missionary work. She
>> also wrote that she was a life member of the National Rifle
>> Association who wanted her gun rights back.
>>
>> When the Fort Worth, Texas, resident received the fateful call from
>> the Justice Department, she "couldn't talk, or breathe," and spent a
>> few moments regrouping before informing her husband, who was by her
>> side. "Prayer works," she says.
>>
>> As for Mr. Collier, the Missouri farmer, he picked up one of his old
>> rifles from his parents' house a few hours after receiving the news
>> and went into the forest with his 22-year-old son. It was the last day
>> of deer season.
>>
>> ---
>>
>> "Ever since I was old enough to remember, my dad and uncles took me
>> hunting. Goose, duck, deer, turkey, rabbit and squirrel hunting,
>> mostly. It was tradition and about the only recreation we had ... . I
>> would like to be able to teach [my children] the proper way to hunt
>> and handle firearms ... .I am a good citizen in the community, serve
>> my church, love my country, and pay my taxes. I would greatly
>> appreciate getting this resolved."
>>
>> -- Lesie Collier, in his application for a pardon (Read the full
>> application and the pardon later issued by the White House)
>>
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