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Show The Paper That Dares To Take A A Stand PLEA FOR AMERICA Continued from page 10 Sovereign remedies December 18, 1975 The Utah Independent Page ONE ALTERNATIVE TO GUN CONTROL Concluded from last week for our diseases The violent crime rate in the have not yet reached the diseases that are destroying United States at the time of the our political, social, ei momic, and religious lives, Mapp decision was 156.9 crimes not reached, destroy our civilization, per 100,000. By 1973 the violent which has been thousands of years in building. crime rate had grown to 414.3 Furthermore, we shall not reach the diseases till we get back to the crimes per 100,000, an increase of precepts of Sinai and the teachings of Christ our Lord. There is no 160 percent. If the notion of the adother way than this. And here we may return to the words of Jesus to vocates for gun control were the Pharisee: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, accepted, that is, firearms are the and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and principal tools of criminals and can great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love be removed from criminal hands, thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the then perhaps we could expect the law' and the prophets. elimination of all serious crime. 15.47 percent of all These are the sovereign remedies for the diseases that are now eating However, only 1973 involved the in violent crime away the vitals of our political, social, economic, and religious lives misuse of guns. Perhaps the gun and destroying our civilization. control advocates can explain the increase in crime in an About the author: Ezra Taft Benson was sustained as President of remaining equally simplistic fashion. Gun the Council of the Twelve Apostles in The Church of Jesus control does not equate with crime Saints on December 28, 1973, after thirty Christ of Latter-da- y control. The adoption of gun conyears service as a member of the Twelve. He has previously served trol in any form will not prohibit in the Church in many capacities, including stake president the judicial system from exercising in Boise, Idaho, and Washington, D.C. Prior to his call to the the Exclusionary Rule of evidence, Twelve in October 1943, he was executive secretary of the which permits the releasing of National Council of Farmers Cooperatives. He was Secretary criminals back into society. of Agriculture in the Cabinet of President Dwight D. Eisenhower Prior to the courts use of the from 1952 to 1960, and is the recipient of eleven honorary degrees. Rule, law enExclusionary A Acknowledgements: In preparing this material the author, in addition to his own material, has drawn upon statements of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints, and from President Spencer W. Kimball, current President of the Church, and the late President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., who served in the First Presidency from 1934 to 1959 and prior to that was Undersecretary of State in the United States government. 11 forcement was effective at a substitute for the Exclusionary Rule while providing for public protection. Britain and Canada do not exclude evidence obtained in an unauthorized manner and their legal systems are highly regarded. One alternative to the exclusion of evidence would involve the use of an existing remedy. The court could officially admonish the officer for his conduct and bring the matter to the attention of the employing agency for disciplinary action. A complaint by a citizen alleging a violation of Fourth Amendment rights might be handled in the same manner. The Departments disciplinary response might range from an admonishment to termination, depending upon the totality of circumstances. Such a modification in the Exclusionary Rule would also provide the officer with an opportunity to receive additional training in the law. The important point is that the criminal would be punished without penalizing the public for the officers technical abuse. In essence then, people on both sides of the gun control issue have voiced disgust at the rising crime rate. It is generally accepted that regardless of the number of police officers or prosecutors, little can be done to curb the rise in crime without the creation of a favorable judicial environment. The removal of the Exclusionary Rule will ensure punishment of criminal offenders and ensure the safety of the general public. If. on the other hand, the major issue for the proponents of gun control is not the suppression of crime or the prevention of criminal use of firearms, but the abolition of guns from citizens, then they might want to reject this proposal and continue their present course through history. The course they have chosen will bring about tyranny. gathering evidence and presenting a case for the trier of fact. The courts themselves were less involved in a complex decisionThe primary making process. concern at that time was public safety and with the guilt or innocence of the accused. Both the courts and the police are charged Printed by Permission with the responsibility of protecAvailable in pamphlet form from ting the community and enforcing Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake Since the full imthe law. City, Utah 84110. of the courts plementation Exclusionary Rule, the justice system has been preoccupied with the conduct of the arresting officers and seemingly less concerned with the crime or with the suffering of When a devotee of private still remain: Just what would you the victim. This is not to imply that property, free market, limited cutout? However, if the principles members of the justice system government principles states his of limited were themselves are government preoccupied with position, he is inevitably confronted understood and accepted, then, by the officers conduct, but rather to with a barrage of socialistic cliches. not all activities Failure to answer these has definition, point out one of the major faults of a be eliminated. would effectively silenced many qualifying the Exclusionary Rule itself. spokesman for freedom. The limited government concept: Ideally, the system should properly Here are suggested answers to the should Government defend The effectiveness of gun consome of the most persistent of the balance the rights of the accused Cliches of Socialism. These are lives and property of all citizens with the rights of society. Yet, trol laws and crime rates has been not the only answers or even the equally. This means protecting under the the the object of study for well over a Exclusionary Rule, best possible answers; but they may willing exchange and restraining suffers and the criminal decade. However, the proponents help you or others to develop better unwilling exchange: suppressing public punishment on a for gun control are unable to point explanations of the ideas on liberty and misrepresenfraud, penalizing that are the only effective technicality. The law itself loses to any evidence which clearly ininfor tation, the practices: empty predatory displacement dicates that gun control is effective integrity when criminals are afof socialism. under common promises voking a justice forded an easy method of avoiding in preventing or controlling crime. Foundation for Economic written law; and keeping the punishment. In fact, there is a great deal of Irvington-on-HudsoInc., Education, records incidental to these When legal integrity is lost, evidence to indicate that it may New York Government's functions. chaos results. The criminal who eshave the opposite effect. Cities and Too much government? Just legitimate purpose is to codify and commits further States with the strictest gun laws capes punishment what would you cut out? then inhibit all destructive actions illegal acts and further victimizes appear to have the most serious while leaving all creative and the It a seems that crime problem. It is submitted that community. This familiar question, raised actions including higher social value is placed on if firearms were the principal cause productive by those who are uncritical of welfare, charity, security, and protecting the rights of the of crime, more than half this nation government-guarantee- d welfare, citizens to acting prosperity criminal than in protecting the would be criminals. If laws , security, and prosperity, has bafcriminal from acts. privately community voluntarily, abolishing private gun ownership fled many a student of libertarian cooperatively, or competitively as Perhaps this accounts for the inarc passed, that statement will be a ideals, often leaving him speechless choose. they freely crease in crime and the real fear of fact. Few people will be willing to and humilitated. The concept of government victimization shared by the public. part with their gun at a time when And well it might; for any inoutlined in the Declaration of Ironic though it may be, some their personal security and the dividual would find it virtually imIndependence holds that man is enof the same persons and groups security of their family is being the list even to certain with Creator his dowed possible by pushing for gun control are the placed in serious jeopardy. They multitudinous activities of the unalienable rights, among them the same ones using the Exclusionary will continue to hide in their homes federal government, not to menright to life and the right to liberty. Rule to the benefit of their criminal adding another aggressor to their tion those of the 50 state Thus endowed with freedom of clients. Many of them know that list, namely, government. governments and the more than choice, each individual is presumed the criminal will not discontinue Some people talk about gun 120.000 regional, district and local responsible for his own life and the his rampage against the public registration laws as the best no of his potenCertainly governments. development because of some gun law. They are method of keeping guns away from less the audience, much tialities within the limits of questioner, criminals. Well, discounting for equally aware that the would wait fora discussion of these noninterference with the equal public will be the only ones affected the moment the ease by which manifold activities. The immensity rights of every other peaceful by such a law. The criminals will criminals get guns, the United of such a task is reflected in this Personal accountability continue to have the opportunity States Supreme Court in 1968 person. fact: To give one hours confurther presumes responsibility tor to utilize the Exclusionary Rule decided that a felon could nto be sideration to each S .000.000 in the the products of ones creative efand other technicalities to excape tried for failing to register a gun, 1960 Federal Budget alone would forts the means by which life is punishment. The criminal has because to do so would violate his consume all of a persons working sustained and establishes a basis effectively removed the publics right against time until about 2000 A.D.! for the private ownership and confreedom to pursue happiness. Felons, therefore, are excluded Even if such a chore could be with Consistent of trol An alternative to these past from registration laws (Haynes v. property. the ideals of completed, the real question would United States, 390, U.S. 85). practices is desperately needed. Continued From Page 8 Hopefully, one that would provide Further, registration has never well-train- CLICHES OF SOCIALISM ed law-abidi- ng es-cap- es n, law-abidi- ng 1 on. or an individual prohibited militant group from obtaining a handgun, rifle or machine gun. We have laws prohibiting certain acts and defining them as crimes, but that hasnt stopped murder, robbery, burglary, rape, or auto theft. Crime cannot be legislated It must be dealt with away. strongly, effectively and without compromise. Our nation does not have a gun problem, it has a crime problem. Crime must be attacked within the confines of an effective criminal justice system. The power of the criminals must be diminished and integrity must be returned to our system of justice in order to insure the protection of our citizens. Rather than celebrate this becentennial in a negative way by abolishing gun ownership as was advocated by General Gage at two hundred Concord years ago lets reded icate ourselves to the principles of freedom and liberty for the majority of our citizens while providing proper penalties for abuse. Rather than punish the public, lets a provide proper atmosphere for the criminal. If and when a person is judged guilty, lets find the necessary intestinal fortitude to impose a penalty which will save the public from further victimization. In tracing our history, it can be observed that our founding fathers sought to create a government which would provide some commonalty without compromising individual liberties. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights provide the basic structure for this philosophy. The ultimate power law-abidi- ng and responsibility for this government still rests with the people. It was wisely intended that way and so it shall remain. Two hundred years after the first attempt at gun control we find a group of individuals attempting to pelas bargain our liberties. This attempt should be answered with Patrick Henrys caution to the If you Virginia Convention intend to preserve your unalienable rights you must have the most expressed stipulation; for, if implication be allowed, you are ousted of those rights. If people do not think it necessary to reserve them, they will be supposed given We must, therefore, be ever up. vigilant of our liberties; for if we forget, we will lose them. Portugals Red Influx Just as in the early days Chile under Allende, revolutionaries are pouring into Portugal to strengthen the Communists grip on in that country. French security services estimate that in the past 6 months some 3,000 foreign radicals have taken up residence in Portugal. Ages range from 20 to 40, and all receive funds regularly from unidentified sources. Over a thousand of these radicals are engaged in political and strategic revolutionary courses near Lisbon. Others are being given commando training in isolated parts of the country to form the nucleus for an international brigade. The Review Of The News - |