by J.R. Labbe
Reprinted from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The Second Amendment isn't the only item in the Bill of Rights that irritates members of the Citizens Coalition to Ban Gun Shows in Fort Worth Facilities; they aren't too thrilled with the First, either.

Coalition member Gwen Marlin told the audience at Tuesday's public hearing on the future of gun shows in city facilities that she decided to visit one to see if they were "as bad as I'd heard."

When Marlin went inside, she said, it was worse than she had imagined. The firearms and ammunition were bad enough, but the bumper stickers, T-shirts and books available for purchase were "appalling." The violent, vulgar and sexist messages offended her, she said, and the anti-government statements -- aired inside a government building -- "would be considered treasonous in some countries."

Gee. David Letterman's opening monologues would qualify as treasonous in some countries, but this isn't one of them. This isn't a nation that forbids people from criticizing the government or elected officials. This isn't a nation in which free enterprise, represented in the form of a public gun show, is viewed as a subversive, dangerous activity.

At least it didn't used to be. But then, what do I know? I'm a regular attendee at gun shows. According to one speaker, that makes me part of the "lunatic fringe of the political spectrum."

Wow. We've reached the point where some people think that believing in the Constitution is lunacy.

Marlin at least deserves credit for going to a gun show before commenting on them. The same can't be said for City Councilwoman Wendy Davis, the driving force behind the move to ban the shows. Davis said on the Charley Jones radio show this week that she's never been to one but that "common sense" tells her that they are a fertile ground for illegal gun sales.

Davis' sense, common or not, comes without one iota of proof about shows at the Fort Worth Convention Center and the Will Rogers complex. Davis and others who spoke in favor of the ban cited only a national Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms report and a San Antonio study about the number of times that firearms purchased at gun shows end up at crime scenes.

Davis admitted that we don't know the degree to which this is happening in Fort Worth, but, she countered, we don't know that it's not happening, either.

Never mind that the police chief said he's never been alerted to a problem resulting from the sales at local gun shows, that the BATF has never been called to investigate problems associated with Fort Worth shows, and that show promoters have never been notified of a problem.

The terminology used during the hearing was equally frustrating. One speaker talked about wanting to keep bad people from selling bad guns to other bad people. "Bad guns"?

Excuse me, but these are inanimate objects we're talking about -- not some dog that just soiled the dining room carpet. What makes a gun "bad" isn't how it looks or the capacity of its magazine, but the intent of the person whose finger is on the trigger.

Then there was the repeated reference to "unlicensed dealers," the ultimate oxymoron in the firearms trade. "Unlicensed dealers" are already against federal firearms laws. Anyone who makes a living buying and selling guns -- a dealer -- must file the required paperwork, go through the mandated background checks, notify the local police of his storefront and pay a hefty licensing fee. If there is evidence of unlicensed dealers working the Fort Worth gun shows, the BATF should be on them like flies on a honey wagon.

Davis left the hearing early, busting the quorum and eliminating a chance for a committee recommendation. But don't for one minute think that the gun show ban died there. If five council members agree to bring an issue before the full council, they don't need no stinkin' committee recommendation.

In other action Tuesday, the council passed an ordinance that puts strict limitations on the types of noncommercial message signs that Fort Worth residents can display on their private property.

Funny, but Wendy Davis was the driving force behind this ordinance to restrict free speech. Or maybe it's not so funny. One of the five votes that Davis garnered for that ill-advised measure came from Councilman Ralph McCloud, who said during the gun show hearing that "we must be ready to give up our rights for the safety and good of the community."

Fort Worth voters, are you listening?

Jill "J.R." Labbe is senior editorial writer and columnist for the Star-Telegram. She can be reached at (817) 390-7599.

Send comments to jrlabbe@star-telegram.com

Reprinted from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
© 2000 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth