European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 16, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday december 16, 1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 17 George f. Will the Indiana judge with the brio of an abstract artist and similar results improvised. A i did t want to Send them to jail a he said of the criminals whose crimes were two misdemeanours obstructing pedestrian traffic and trespassing during protests at two abortion clinics. A but i did want them to do something that would make them uncomfortable make them think about what they re  to Fine tune their thoughts this judge sentenced them to sit quietly in an Abor Tion clinic for eight hours. But advanced artists often encounter unappreciative audiences. Staff members at the clinics said the Mere presence of the punished protesters might intimidate clients. The protesters said their presence would violate their consciences and might get them excommunicated from their churches. So the a judge sentenced the protesters to sit through a planned parenthood seminar but with a right of rebuttal. Planned parenthood complained about he rebuttal saying the aim was supposed to be punishment not balance. So the judge dropped the rebuttal provision. The protesters then appealed to the state supreme court which will sort this out. _ extremism in Pursuit of right to life protesters including those who Are not extremists is no vice according to extremists on the other Side. Florida a supreme court recently upheld an injunction that in effect bans sidewalk counselling by right to lifers of persons approaching an abortion clinic unless those persons have a invited  imagine similar restrictions in the 1960s on civil rights protesters outside segregated facilities or War protesters outside military recruitment offices. The . Supreme court has considered whether the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations act can be used against right to life protesters. The court has hitherto held that the aim of the act is a to remove the profit from organized crime by separating the racketeer from his dishonest  turning Rico against social protests that do not have economic motive would be a travesty. Some anti abortion protesters break local Laws. All conscientious practitioners of civil disobedience accept the penalties As part of the Cost of trying to change society a mind. Some anti abortion sex from its have resorted to violence. Such acts Are of course crimes under state Laws. But last month Congress never letting pass an Opportunity for grandstanding came up with clinic Access  the Federal government has become what it is a an overreaching underachiever a partly because so Many legislators seem to believe that every Good  should become a Federal program and every bad  should become a Federal crime. Fortunately Congress attempt to federalize the subject of abortion protests resulted Only in comic Relief. The House and Senate drafted similar Bills to impose severe penalties on abortion protesters and Only on them not merely for acts of criminal violence but even for passively obstructing Access to a clinic or for a interfering with Quot or a a intimidating anyone a however those terms might be construed. If right to lifers were to continue using some tactics made familiar by civil rights and War protesters they would be subject to a year in jail and $100,000 fines for a first offence. For a second three years $250,000. No other protest group a labor environmental feminist animal rights a would face similar penalties for similar acts. But a funny thing happened to the clinic Access legislation on the Way to an end of session White House signing ceremony. A few weeks ago on a tuesday sen. Orrin g. Hatch a Utah inserted a Small amendment extending to places of worship the same protections the Bill extended to places of abortion. House supporters of the Access Bill had hoped to accept the Senate Bill thereby avoiding a time consuming conference to Iron out differences. But the Gay rights lobby weighed in. It opposed hatches amendment which would extend severe punishment to protests of the sort militant homosexuals direct against churches. So the House passed a clinic Access Bill without a Hatch Type amendment. Sen Edward m. Kennedy d-mass., tried to bring up the House Bill in the Senate. But he needed the unania Mous consent of the Senate to do so and he could not get it. He acc both Bills died. That is All that prevented Congress from making for the first time in 143 years peaceful civil disobedience on behalf of a single cause a Federal felony. It has not done that since 1850 the fugitive slave Law. C tit Washington Post gun court m the Long Island train carnage has got the whole country thinking about crime and ways to frustrate it. On one Point most people Are Clear namely that amp violent culture cannot beget a peaceful culture without something of a National Lobotomy and these Are very hard to program. They tend to happen Only after spells like world wars or National prohibition. But on dec. 8, the Day after Long Island attack i ate lunch with a new yorker of aggressive turn of mind Ana expression who had a program never before heard in this Quarter and very much Worth ruling Forward As a thought  at is the dispensation under which the political analyst Charles Murray put out his Book losing ground in which he wondered whether we might t All be better off if state welfare were simply abolished. My Friend said look. Is there any reason at All for handguns sure we reply. Self . Because the Best form of self defense is a sawed off Shotgun. But they re illegal. To not if there is at least 16 inches of barrel. Now you Are but silence sawed off rhetoric in your apartment and the burglar assailant Marges in. If you pick up a pistol and fire at him and the Bullet is 9 my or bigger that Bullet might go right through the body of the assailant right through your Wall right into the head of a neighbor. A Shotgun has the advantage of a Short Range and a devastating Impact. You done to even have to have a Good aim and lots of people excited scared misfire with a pistol. With a Shotgun the Guy has had it. If he sees it before you shoot he will Back off. Immediately what would you do about collecting existing handguns set limits during which they a have to be turned in and compensate the owners. But surely you re not going to get the felony types to turn in their guns. In be just started. We set up an entirely new court system. The gun court. Ten thousand prosecutors 10,000 judges whatever you want. And if you get caught with a handgun after a certain Date you go to jail. For How Long thirty years. Well As the mayor of a Southern town said on the Macneil Lehrer news hour discussing what to do about crime the country is ready for real action. A and they done to want their congressman to go Back to Washington and give us a Bill that is just Plain rhetoric. They want something Radical Quot my friends prescription is certainly that. Yet the gun lobby would have a hard time disputing the Radical Appeal of such a measure. Among other things it takes us Back to a critical court ruling in 1939 . Is. Miller that remains on the books. It determined that the 2nd amendment to the Constitution while it guarantees the right to Bear arms does Noi specify what kind of arms. The court ruled that a statute William f. Buckley Banning sawed off shotguns which were popular during the Dillinger age was not unconstitutional. The Legal Battle scene has not been revisited though the National Rifle association is prepared to fight it out for the reason that sawed off shotguns were put to effective use during world War ii. But since they Are already permitted with a barrel length of 16 inches leaving the Home or office owner or the car Driver or guard equipped at Short Range it is hard to take the position that the Taw is disarming americans an absence of handguns from the scene would indeed impinge on pleasant habits primarily of the Young. Many of us have shot rabbits snakes and woodchucks in Idle hours in sunny periods when we were Young and Gay. But after a White about the time we go to work the pistol becomes simply a household accessory kept around in the event it is needed to protect the Hearth. To Exchange that pistol for a 20-gauge Shotgun 2 feet Long with its devastating Power is not really to disarm someone who seeks self protect Init. And the Rifle would continue unmolested. My friends new court system would be expensive and you would need to bring about a revolutionary change in the attitude of the civil liberties fanatics. There Are lots of Laws in lots of places that Send you to jail if you have a handgun on you but 30 years in jail flirts with cruel and unusual punishment if there is no establish Able mens Ren a i.e., evil intent c ump Qusai Petosa sync boats