Debbie Schlussel

Sticking to my Guns

http://www.jewishworldreview.com — AT YEAR’S END, we learned the Mars probe is almost certainly lost. But, Ann Reiss Lane? she?s lost for sure.

Lane, a former member of the Los Angeles Police Commission and chairwoman of something called ?Women Against Gun Violence? protested actor Charlton Heston?s performance of readings at the Skirball Cultural Center, a Los Angeles Jewish cultural institution. Lane claimed it was inappropriate for a Jewish center to invite Heston ? who?s also president of the National Rifle Association (NRA ) ? in light of the August shooting at the San Fernando Valley Jewish Community Center (JCC).

I?m not sure whether or not Lane is Jewish ? and as a Jew, I sure hope we don?t have to claim her as one of our own ? but regardless of that, her position on Heston?s appearance was ludicrous. I?ve previously written about last year?s JCC shooting and how the terrorist responsible chose the JCC for his attack because other Jewish institutions were well armed and protected.

I also wrote about my late grandfather, Isaac Engel, a Holocaust survivor who always carried his guns ? guns which saved his life several times after the Holocaust, guns which he wished he and other Jews had during the Holocaust. If that were the case, there is no doubt more Jewish lives would have been saved. A case in point: Jewish militias, groups like the Bielski Brothers and the Jewish Maquis led by Robert Gamzon and the Organization Juive de Combat (O.J.C.). They successfully saved Jewish lives and hampered the efforts of the Nazis with the few stolen guns they could get their hands on. The former in Bialystok and central Byelorussia. The latter two in France.

Heston accurately portrayed Lane?s protest as ?entirely irrational.” Noting that he was merely doing a series of readings of literary masters, — Shakespeare, Byron, Shelley, Frost — he observed that his efforts have absolutely “nothing to do with what she is talking about.?

But Lane wasn?t the only village idiot in 1999, especially if you care about freedom. After all, don?t forget ?1999 was the Year of the Gun Maker . . . to be sued.

Yes, in 1999, the preposterous idea that gun makers should be held liable for any killings resulting from a gun ? regardless of fault, regardless of the fact that they are still legal in this country ? came to fruition. The NAACP, Democratic Attorneys General from several states, liberal local prosecutors, and ? not to be excluded from this litigation circus ? Mr. Hillary (Clinton) all announced plans to prosecute gun manufacturers, threatening to put them out of business or, at least, make the cost of guns prohibitive to the average Joe.

But Lane?s protest, the JCC shooting, and threatened lawsuits against gunmakers were last year (though I suspect we haven?t heard the last from any of these yahoos). And in this new year, I?m using them as inspiration.

Heston
If Lane can boycott Heston for wanting to preserve and protect my Constitutional right to defend myself, if liberal prosecutors and attorneys can use our courts to try to put the means of gun production out of business, then I can fight fire with fire . . . and so can anyone else who believes in preserving freedom of choice to protect him — or herself.

I can support those who support my right to own a gun, and a la Lane, boycott those who want to take my choice away. That?s why, even though I detest director Oliver Stone, I went to see his latest flick, the football epic ?Any Given Sunday.? It features Heston as the NFL Commissioner, and to spite Lane and her cohorts, as a consumer I?m going to support Chuck as much as I can.

And when ABC?s ?NYPD Blue? starts up again, this week, I?ll be watching. Because ?Blue? star Rick Schroeder stands up for his belief in the Second Amendment. So does actor Brad Johnson.

I would boycott films by the actors who support gun control, but most of them are washed up and haven?t appeared in anything to speak of in years, anyway. Some of them might be dead. But just in case they do appear in anything, you can call me Debbie McCarthy, because, this year, I?m naming names.

I won?t be paying the price of admission or video rental for anything featuring any of these: Michael Douglas, Paul Newman, Mariette Hartley, Jack Lemmon, Gregory Peck, Hal Holbrook, Michael Gross, Marsha Mason, Steve Allen, Lauren Bacall, Ellen Burstyn, Hume Cronyn, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Lloyd Bridges, Rod Steiger, or Eli Wallach. All of these actors, as well as playwright Neil Simon and bigwig superagent/mogul Michael Ovitz, strongly support gun control . . . so much so, that they?ve lent their names to the national boards and advisory panels of Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI), and Ceasefire, Inc., the gun control lobbies.

These groups support the elimination of gun ownership, possession, manufacture, and sale, and they don?t just support restrictions on automatic weapons. They support restrictions on all firearms. It?s clear that these has-been and never-been actors and celebs have been living in the safe environs of their ritzy Hollywood neighborhoods too long. But, unfortunately, they?re not alone.

I?m too hip to listen to the singing of Andy Williams, another has-been from my Dad?s day. But even if he were hot today, I wouldn?t be buying his CDs ? or is that record albums? And I won?t even be listening to the hip, White rap/rock stylings of Kid Rock, a.k.a. Bob Ritchie, even though his manager, Steve Hutton, is my homey and law school friend. Not after Kid Rock posed for publicity photos with Bill Clinton for an anti-handgun campaign being used by gun control groups. It?s no shock that Kid Rock, one of today?s hottest recording artists, posed with Slick Willie, though.

They?re two of a kind. After all, Kid Rock styles himself as the ?Pimp of the Nation? and ?White Trash on Dope.? Well ?unlike Clinton? at least Kid Rock admits it (and dresses the part, to boot). But he and his record company won?t get one penny from me.

Love
And no Courtney Love movies, concerts, CDs, or whatever else she spews, for me. Love founded and funded Ceasefire, Inc. after her husband, rocker Kurt Cobain of the group ?Nirvana? blew his brains out. Too bad for her the evidence strongly hints that she caused him to commit suicide, not the gun. Think she?ll be founding/funding CeaseCourtneyLove, Inc. anytime soon?

It?s a good thing I?m too young to have ever seen any Walter Cronkite newscasts. He, too, is on the ?Advisory Panel? of Ceasefire, which pushes the idea that ?gun ownership is a public health threat? and ?a threat to family and friends.? No, I think listening to Ms. Love?s band, ?Hole,? and her singing is the larger public health threat..

No more Revlon make-up for me, this year, and probably no clothes from ?The Gap,? either. The respective President and CEO of these companies, Ron Perlman and Millard Drexler, are also on the Ceasefire Panel. Ditto for any toys from Hasbro or consumption of anything owned by Disney/ABC (except Schroeder?s show). The CEOs of these companies, Alan G. Hassenfeld and Michael Eisner?yep, they?re in on Ceasefire, too. Same goes for Time Magazine, or Rolling Stone, too?Chairmen Reginald Brock and Jann Wenner, they?ve lent their names to Ceasefire, also. And even though I?m a part of the ?MTV generation? and grew up on cable, I don?t want my MTV (or VH-1, Nickelodeon, TV-Land, etc.) anymore, nor do I want to shop QVC or watch USA Network. MTV Networks Chairman Tom Freston and Silver King Communications(USA) Chairman Barry Diller round out the Ceasfire gang.

No, I?ll be listening to rocker Ted Nugent, a strong gun-rights advocate who believes that I?not some sheltered celebrity?should have the right to decide whether or not I?m going to be packing some cold heat. Ted and I testified to that effect before a Michigan Senate committee in 1998. That?s why Uncle Ted?s my man.

If I decide to cook from a recipe book, it?ll be from a chic gourmet tome, but I won?t be taking any instruction from Julia Child. It?s not just that the worn-out, fattening fare of the plump octogenarian Child doesn?t fit with my health-conscious life. It?s that she, too, sits on the National Board of HCI.

Instead, I?ll be playing ?Tomb Raider,? the Playstation video action game by Eidos?the game that shows us girls with guns do have more fun. Lara Croft?even if she is only an animation?is the hottest female action figure living or not, as she battles all sorts of evil with her two GUNS. Maybe that?s why Details Magazine reported that the inanimate Lara gets tons fan mail from males and females all over the world, including proposals from 30-year-old guys.

Forget Ann Reiss Lane, forgot all of these has-been actors and hoity toity CEOs who want to take away my choice to protect myself, while they live in their well-to-do, fancy neighborhoods with all of the protections in the world. Charles Heston and the NRA are more in touch with my life?they want to stay out of it and let me protect myself.