Shall We Tell the President? (22 page)

‘In our discussion about this bill, we have
side-stepped a critical, perhaps the most crucial, consideration. And that is
the principle of Federalism. For the past fifty years, the federal government
has usurped many of the powers once wielded by the states. We look to the
President, the Congress, for answers to all our problems. The Founding Fathers
never intended the central government to have so much power, and a country as
wide and diverse as ours cannot be governed democratically or effectively on
that basis. Yes, we all want to reduce crime. But crime differs from place to
place. Our constitutional system wisely left the business of crime control to
state and local jurisdiction, except for those federal criminal laws which deal
with truly national matters. But crimes committed with guns are of a local
nature. They ought to be legislated against and enforced at the local level.
Only at the state and local levels can the attitudes of the people and the
specific characteristics of the crime problem be understood and dealt with by
public officials.

‘I know that some of my colleagues will
argue that, since we require registration of cars and drivers, we ought also to
register guns. But gentlemen, we have no national car- or driver-registration
law. These matters are left to the states to determine. Each state should be
allowed to decide for itself, taking into account the interests of its people,
what is reasonable and necessary.’

Senator Dexter monopolised the floor for
twenty minutes before yielding to the Chair, occupied today by Senator Kemp,
who recognised Senator Brooks. When Brooks had finished his preliminary
remarks, he launched into a prepared speech:

‘. . . have consistently decried the
killing in the Middle East, in Africa, in
Northern
Ireland
, in
Chile
. We ended the bloodshed in
Vietnam
. But
when are we going to confront the killing that takes place in our own
communities, our own streets, our own homes, every day of every year?’ Brooks
paused and looked at Senator Harrison from
South Carolina
, one of the leading opponents
of the bill. ‘Are we waiting for another national tragedy to compel us to take
action? Only after the assassination of John F. Kennedy was Senator Thomas
Dodd’s Handgun Control bill taken seriously by a Senate committee. No
legislation was passed. After the
Watts
riots
of August 1965, in which purchased, not looted guns were used, the Senate held
hearings about control of handguns. No action was taken. It took the slaying of
Martin Luther King, before the Judiciary Committee passed legislation,
controlling interstate sale of handguns as a rider to the omnibus Crime Control
bill. The Senate approved the bill. The House concurred after Robert Kennedy
was murdered too. In response to the violence of 1968, we enacted the Handgun
Control act. But the act, gentlemen, contained a huge loophole - it did not
regulate domestic production of these weapons, because at that time eighty per
cent of available handguns were manufactured overseas. In 1972, after George
Wallace was shot with a Saturday-Night Special, the Senate finally acted to
close the loophole. But the bill died in a House Committee. ‘

Now, some twenty years or more later,
having disregarded the fact that President Reagan was seriously wounded in 1981
by a man wielding a handgun in the streets of
Washington
,
even with all that history someone in
America
is killed or injured by
gunfire every two minutes, and we are still without an effective gun control
law. What are we waiting for? Someone to try again to assassinate the
President?’ he paused for effect. ‘The American people favour gun control
legislation. Every poll indicates that this is the case, and it has been true
for a decade. Why do we allow the National Rifle Association to manipulate us,
to persuade us that they and their views are compelling when in fact they are
hollow? What has happened to our capacity for the clear weighing of
alternatives, and for outrage at the violence in our society?’

Mark, along with many other observers, was
aston
-
ished
by this impassioned
outburst. His impression from informed political journalists was that Brooks
would not support the President as, quite apart from personal animosity, he had
been a key figure on a number of constitutional issues and in the fight against
two of Kane’s Supreme Court appointees,
Haynsworth
and
Carswell
.

Senator Harrison of
South Carolina
, an urbane, quietly
distinguished man, asked to be recognised. ‘Will the distinguished Senator from
Massachusetts
yield?’

Brooks nodded to the Chair.

Harrison addressed his colleagues in a
soft, firm voice. ‘This bill completely negates the concept of self -defence.
It asserts that the only legitimate reason for owning a handgun, a shotgun, or a
rifle is for sporting purposes. But I would like to ask my distinguished
colleagues from the urban states to consider for moment - just a moment - the
plight of a family on a farm in
Iowa
or on a
homestead in
Alaska
which needs a gun in the house to protect itself. Not for sport, but for
self-defence. In my estimation, they have a right to take that step. For what
we face in this country, in urban as well as rural areas, is increasing
lawlessness. That is the root problem - lawlessness - not the number of guns in
circulation. Increased lawlessness means more crimes involving guns, to be
sure. But guns do not cause crimes, people cause crimes. If we want to fight
crime, we should investigate its root causes instead of trying to take guns
away from people who would use them legally. As many a bumper sticker in this
great land proclaims, “If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns”.’

Senator Thornton of
Texas
, thin and gaunt, with greasy black
hair, whom Mark remembered from Mr Smith’s Restaurant, had only just begun to
express his agreement with the views of Senator Dexter and Senator Harrison
when six lights around the numbers on the clock at Mark’s end of the chamber
came alive. A buzzer sounded six times to signal that morning business was
concluded. The ‘morning hour’ on the floor of the Senate, from midday until no
later than 2:00 pm, was set aside for the presentation of petitions and
memorials, reports of standing and select committees, and introduction of bills
and resolutions.

Senator Kemp looked at his watch. ‘Excuse
me, Senator Thornton, but it is noon and now that morning business is over, a
number of us are expected to appear in committee to debate the Clean Air bill
which is on the calendar for this afternoon. Why don’t we reconvene at 2:30? As
many of us who can get away from the committee at that time can meet back here
to discuss this bill. It’s important that we move as quickly as possible on
this legislation, as we are still hoping to vote on it in this session.’

The Senate floor was cleared in a minute.
The actors had said their lines and left the stage. Only those who had to get
the theatre ready for the afternoon performance remained. Mark asked the guard
which was Henry
Lykham
, the other staff director he
had to see. The doorman in the official blue uniform of the Senate Security
Staff pointed to a short fat man with a thin moustache and a jolly open face
sitting firmly in a large seat at the far side of the gallery, making notes and
checking papers. Mark strolled over to him, unaware that a pair of eyes behind
dark glasses was following his every movement.

‘My name is Mark Andrews, sir.”

‘Ah, yes, the graduate student. I’ll be
free in a moment, Mr Andrews.’

Mark sat down and waited. The man in dark
glasses left the chamber by the side door.

‘All right, Mr Andrews, how about some
lunch?’

‘Great,’ replied Mark. He was taken to the
ground floor, to G-211, the Senators’ Dining-Room. They found a table at the
side of the room. Mark chatted convincingly about the hard work a committee
staff director must have to do, while others get the praise and publicity.
Henry
Lykham
readily agreed. They both chose their
meal from the fixed menu; so did the man three tables away, who was watching
them both carefully. Mark told the committee staff director that he intended to
write his thesis on the Gun Control bill if it became law, and that he wanted
some interesting inside information that the general public wouldn’t get from
the newspapers. ‘Therefore, Mr
Lykham
,’ he concluded,
‘I have been advised to speak to you.’

The fat man beamed; he was duly flattered,
as Mark had hoped, and he began.

‘There is nothing I can’t tell you about
this bill or the bunch of politicians involved in it.’

Mark smiled, he had studied the Watergate
hearings in an elective seminar at Yale and he recalled a particular remark of
Anthony
Ulasewicz
, a retired NYPD detective. ‘Why
bother to bug the place? Politicians and officials will tell you anything you
want to know, over the phone, they’ll even want to send it to you in the mail,
whoever you are.’

Senator Sam Irvin of
North Carolina
, the committee chairman, had
reprimanded him for treating the committee lightly and turning the matter into
a joke. ‘It’s no joke - it’s the truth,’ was
Ulasewicz’s
reply.

Mark asked which of the eleven senators on
the committee were for the bill. Only four of them had been present at the
morning discussion. From his research, Mark was fairly certain about the
opinions of most of them but he wanted his assessments confirmed.

‘Among the Democrats, Brooks, Burdick,
Stevenson, and Glenn will vote for the measure.
Abourezk
,
Byrd, and Moynihan are keeping their own counsel, but will probably come
through in support of the Administration position. They voted for the bill in
committee.
Thornton
is the only Democrat who may vote against it. You heard him start to speak in
favour of Dexter’s states’ rights position. Well, for Thornton, young man, it’s
not a matter of principle. He wants it both ways. Texas has a strong state gun
control measure, so he can claim that his stance means that states can take
whatever action they deem necessary to protect their citizens. But
Texas
also has a number
of firearms companies - Smith and Wesson, GKN
Powdermet
,
Harrington and Richardson — which would be seriously affected by a federal gun
control act. The spectre of unemployment again. As long as those companies can
sell their wares outside
Texas
,
they’re okay. So
Thornton
fools his constituents into thinking they can control guns and manufacture them
at the same time. Strange games are being played by that particular man. As for
the Republicans, Mathias of Maryland will vote for the bill. He’s a very
liberal guy — I’ll never understand why he stays in the GOP.
McCollister
of Nebraska is against, along with Woodson of
Arkansas. Harrison and Dexter you heard. No question where they stand.

‘Harrison despite being a Democrat knows
damn well that his constituents wouldn’t tolerate gun control and will vote him
out if he goes with it. Hard to tell if he’s been brainwashed by the National
Rifle Association, because he seems to be sincere when he talks about the idea
of self-defence. He’s a strange guy. Everyone in this place regards him as a
dyed-in-the-wool conservative, but no one really knows him. He hasn’t been here
all that long. He succeeded Sparkman when he retired — bit of an unknown
quantity.’

Mark let him talk on.
Lykham
was enjoying the role of the expert, the man who knew everything. Normally, he
sat for hours in the hearing room, unable to say a word, listening and making
notes and occasionally whispering a suggestion in the ear of the chairman. Only
his wife listened to his opinions and she never understood their significance.
Lykham
was delighted to have found an academic who had come
to him for the facts.

‘Dexter talks a good game — smooth
character, that one. He beat the guy who was appointed to fill
Ribicoff’s
term when Abe was picked by the President for a
roving ambassadorship. Surprise winner. Wouldn’t have thought that
Connecticut
would be
represented by two Republicans. Guess all those rich New Yorkers moving to
Stamford
are making a
difference. Anyway, just between the two of us, Mark, I have my suspicions
about the purity of his principles. Do you know how many gun companies there
are in
Connecticut
?
Remington, Colt, Olin,
Winchester
,
Marlin, Sturm-
Ruger
. Now, that never stopped Senator
Ribicoff
from voting for gun control, but Dexter ... well,
he owns a big slice of one of them, that’s no secret. Something’s biting him at
the moment, he’s as grouchy as hell, and he hasn’t missed a session yet.’

Mark had a sick feeling in his stomach. My
God, Elizabeth’s father? He just didn’t want to believe it.

‘So you think the bill will be passed?’
said Mark in a conversational tone.