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M
odern
P
atriot
C
hronicles
An Eleventh Commandment Free Zone
Vol. 2, Issue 3
February 18, 2003
By Craig Dawkins
Kris Steele and 2nd Amendment Lawsuits
Iraq and Oklahoma City
Copyright@2003, All Rights Reserved.
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SURVEY! SURVEYS! SURVEYS! SURVEYS! SURVEYS!
Oklahoma safety Brandon Everage was arrested on a misdemeanor possession of marijuana complaint. If the charge proves true, is Everage a threat to society?
Yes or No.
Go to
www.ModernPatriot.net
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War Protestors
"Pacifism is objectively pro-fascist. This is elementary common sense. If you hamper the war effort of one side you automatically help out that of the other."
- George Orwell
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Kris Steele and 2nd Amendment Lawsuits
A curious event occurred during the campaign for Senate District 17 between Republican Kris Steele and Democrat Charlie Laster. Steele's curious campaign strategy involved attacking Laster for simply being an attorney. A strategy that, in hindsight, proved to be inadequate. But in doing some last minute research on both candidates, I came across an interesting 1987 lawsuit involving Kris Steele, his mother and legal guardian, Kay Steele vs. Daisy Manufacturing Company and OTASCO.
First let me reiterate that Kris was a 9-year old child at the time of the accident. But the lawsuit is VERY significant for those concerned with 2nd Amendment rights. According to Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals case number 65532, Kris and a friend were playing "war games" and Kris was accidentally shot with a "Daisy Power Line 880 pump-up air rifle." The court document states that his playmate's father had given his son Derek (age 7) the air rifle. "He read the instructions and showed them how to use the rifle. The day of the accident, the father had given the boys permission to shoot birds with the rifle. However, the boys opted for a more exciting activity. They decided two of the boys would hide and the other two would hunt for them. As the two boys started to run away, Derek, who was carrying the rifle, jumped back and the rifle accidentally discharged."
The undisputed evidence showed that the rife carried the following warnings:
The front page of the operation manual gave the following warning:
"CAUTION: Not a toy. Adult supervision required. Misuse or careless use may cause serious injury or death. May be dangerous up to 292 yards (267 meters). See manual for actual shooting distance. This is a highpower air gun intended for use by those sixteen (16) years of age or older. Read all instructions before using. The purchaser and user should conform to all laws governing the use and ownership of air guns."
A tag attached to the trigger guard of the gun stated:
"CAUTION: This is a highpower air gun intended for use by those sixteen (16) years of age or older. Misuse may result in death or serious permanent injury, particularly to the eye. May be dangerous up to 292 yards (267 meters). Read all instructions before using. The purchaser and user should conform to all laws concerning use and ownership of air guns."
On the box in which the air gun was packaged was the following warning:
"CAUTION: Not a toy. Adult supervision is required. Misuse or careless use may cause serious injury or death. May be dangerous up to 292 yards (267 meters). This is a highpower air gun intended for use by those sixteen (16) years of age or older. Read all instructions before using. The purchaser and user should conform to all laws concerning the use and ownership of air guns."
The operation manual, under "Proper Gun Handling" stated:
"Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
Be sure you know your companions are well clear of the target before you shoot. Ninety percent (90%) of the air gun related accidents occurring in this country are caused by (1) careless handling of the gun . . . (3) shooting at improper targets."
In an interview, Steele said that he was unaware of any lawsuit against the parent of the unsupervised child who accidentally shot him. Suing his playmates parent would seem a natural course of action given the warnings on the air gun. However, he stated that the gun in question did in fact malfunction and that the case never made it to trial as it was settled out of court. I asked whether he felt his anti-lawyer campaign stance was a contradiction considering his past history of using lawyers. He said, "My campaign message was that too many attorneys in the Senate allows attorneys to gear the laws to themselves." I would agree.
Maybe Steele needed to point more to frivolous lawsuits brought by people looking for a payday against innocent companies that go out of their way to instruct and prevent irresponsible behavior with its products. Had the parent followed the warnings on the gun, the accident may have never have occurred.
Kris Steele's campaign ads pointed out that trial lawyers are hurting and running businesses out of Oklahoma. The irony is that OTASCO (Oklahoma Tire and Supply Co.) is no longer in business and Steele himself (through his legal guardian) was involved in suing them before their demise. How was OTASCO responsible? The only way OTASCO could have prevented this type of lawsuit was to not carry guns at all. Which is exactly what the anti-gun lobby wants.
Go figure…..
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Clinton vs. Reagan?
"Shrewdness in public life all over the world is always honored, while honesty in public men is generally attributed to dumbness and is seldom rewarded."
-Will Rogers
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Iraq and Oklahoma City
"Revenge is a dish best served cold." - A Sicilian Proverb
The debate of whether to go to war with Iraq seems to have turned on the question of probable cause. Some argue that Iraq hasn't been given the time needed to comply with United Nations resolutions. Some argue that Iraq is a sovereign nation and we have no solid evidence that Iraq played a role in the New York World Trade Center terrorist attack. Some argue that we should just "give peace a chance." Some argue that "W" wants a war as a personal payback for Iraq's role in an assassination plot directed at his father and former President George H.W. Bush. I believe toppling Saddam Hussein is in our national interest. But I might even have a better reason.
As an home grown Oklahoman, I can favor war with Iraq on the basis of what happened in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. Iraq's role in the Oklahoma City bombing has been reported by several news outlets. One such story was written by Kenneth R. Timmerman who is a senior writer for Insight magazine. In the article titled, "Iraq Was Involved In Oklahoma City" (see link below), Timmerman recounts an interview done with ELMINA ABDUL, widow of EDWIN ANGELES, one of the cofounders of the ABU SAYYAF GROUP (ASG), and deep cover agent for the Defense Intelligence Group (DIG) of the Department of National Defense (DND), of the Republic of the Philippines, taken on March 10, 2002.
Here is an excerpt of the interview performed by DORIAN ZUMEL SICAT. News Correspondent for Manila Times /Omega News Service (USA) Investigative Liaison to Law Office of John Michael Johnston Robert Bickel, Sr. (See link below titled "Death Bed Confession." For entire interview.)
Dorian Zumel Sicat: "Did he ever talk to you about meetings with Arabs or Americans?"
Elmina Abdul: "Yes, once he had met with some Arabs and Americans in 1994, in Davao (City), or General Santos (City)."
DZS: "Did he tell you who they were?"
EA: "Does the name Ramsey Yousef mean something to you Mr. Sicat?"
DZS: "Ahmad Hassim. Does that mean something to you?"
EA: "He had met with them. And an American who he called Terry or the Farmer, and another American whom he did not name."
DZS: "Was the American he named as Terry, Terry Nichols?"
EA: "He did not mention the surname. Only Terry."
DZS: "Did he tell you why and how many times they had met?"
EA: "They met almost every day for one week. They met in an empty bodega (warehouse). They talked about bombings. They mentioned bombing government buildings in San Francisco, Saint Louis and in Oklahoma. The Americans wanted instructions how to make and to explode bombs. He (Edwin) told me that Janjalani was very interested in paying them much money to explode the buildings. The money was coming from Yousef and the other Arab."
DZS: "Did he tell you when the bombs would explode; when they exploded?"
EA: "He told me that the Americans exploded one bomb in Oklahoma in 1995, after he was arrested and after we first met."
DZS: "Did he ever tell you who was supplying the money for the bombing of the building, I mean who Yousef was working with or for?"
EA: "Mr. Sicat, you are the mediaman. Do you not know that Yousef was representing Iraq and Saddam Hussein? Do you not know that?"
DZS: "Did Edwin tell you that?"
EA: "Not only Edwin, but others that were close to us, before he was killed. One time, a soldier (Philippine Army) and Edwin were talking secretly. I was there because Edwin demanded. The soldier ordered Edwin never to tell anybody about the Iraqis."
Recently the FBI and ATF acknowledged that it had been given information regarding a plan to bomb federal buildings through informants prior to the bombing of the Murrah building. (See "The Carol Howe Mystery" link below.)
One might ask why, if the government has information connecting Iraq to the Oklahoma City bombing, would they not bring this information forward as an added incentive to rally the public against Iraq?
There are three answers to this question. First, can you imagine the reaction from the world community if the U.S. government suddenly came forward with new evidence connecting Iraq to the OKC bombing? The U.S. government has spent the last eight years trying to sell the idea that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols did this entirely on their own. To come forward now with a different story would not be credible in the eyes of the world.
Second, if the U.S. government came forward with this information, the Department of Justice would have to do a full scale investigation of what it knew and when. In other words, open up another investigation into the OKC bombing. It would have to acknowledge that evidence relevant to the trials of both McVeigh and Nichols was withheld. This action would once again elevate concerns that the Justice Department, the FBI, and the ATF isn't being honest with the American people. Which leads to reason number three.
If elements in the U.S. government knew that credible evidence existed pointing to Iraq as a likely partner in the bombing of the Murrah building and did nothing or worse yet even sought to cover up links to Iraq for whatever reason; our political structure could suffer a crisis of confidence. Many would ask how America could be knowingly attacked by a foreign power and do nothing? The Oklahoma City bombing case that in many ways has turned into Murphy's Law, would once again surface to the forefront. Any temptation the Bush Administration might have to further justify the removal of Saddam Hussein by offering new evidence of his involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing, would be overwhelmed with the reality that doing so would cause a huge problem. There's just no upside for the administration here.
The American public knows who committed the terrorist acts in New York that killed so many people. All the players have been named, the groups have been fingered. The people in Oklahoma City have yet to be given a credible explanation of all the events that led to the senseless slaughter of the innocent. Attacking Iraq may not give us the information I seek, but it will cause this Okie to celebrate the demise of
"Others Unknown."
("Others Unknown" was written by Stephen Jones who served as Timothy McVeigh's Chief Defense Counsel. I highly recommend Chapter 7.)
Iraq Was Involved In Oklahoma City
Death Bed Confession
The Carol Howe Mystery