Lethal Passage: The Story of a Gun

by Erik Larson

  5 “I don’t have the gun …” Ibid., 124.

  6 “What in the world …” Ibid., 131.

  7 Rev. George Sweet … Rev. George Sweet, interview; George Sweet, testimony. WF-SE, January 14, 1992.

  8 “He looked at me …” Ibid.

  9 “I was like wondering …” Lora Sweet, testimony. WF-SE, January 14, 1992, 7.

  Chapter Twelve: The Culture

  1 He did not carry … Det. Donald Adams, interview; Det. Donald Adams, testimony. WF-SE, January 14, 1992.

  2 “A gun enthusiast …” Det. Donald Adams, interview.

  3 He carried hundreds … Ibid.; Det. Donald Adams, testimony. WF-SE, January 14, 1992.

  4 “He could hold …” Det. Donald Adams, interview.

  5 He filed a groove … Ibid.

  6 The fact his mother … Ibid.

  7 Hundreds “were …” Robert Sherrill, The Saturday Night Special (New York: Charterhouse, 1973), 165.

  8 “I didn’t sell …” James S. Dick, deposition. WF-SE, July 16, 1990, 43.

  9 “I’m kind of flattered …” New York Times, March 10, 1992, 1.

  10 Intratec was so … Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1993, 3.

  11 “Everything was by …” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1993, 1.

  12 Only one of … Osha Gray Davidson, Under Fire, 171–72.

  13 “The object of …” John Minnery, Kill Without Joy: The Complete How to Kill Book (Boulder, Colo.: Paladin Press, 1992), preface.

  14 “I prefer to make …” Peder Lund, interview.

  15 Once a week … Michael Hoy, interview.

  16 Joseph Grubisic, commander … Joseph Grubisic, interview.

  17 A few years ago … Confidential interview, BATF.

  18 Some’published recipes … Sgt. LeRoy Pereira, U.C. Berkeley Bomb Squad, interview; Lt. Walter Boser, commander, New York Police Bomb Squad, interview; Peder Lund, interview.

  19 (“It’s kind of like …” Charles Rose, interview.

  20 “They’re wrong …” Peder Lund, interview.

  21 Most of his customers … Billy Blann, interview.

  22 In August 1992 … Jack Killorin, spokesman, BATF, interview; Charles T. Ziegler, police chief, Athens, Tennessee, interview; Ptl. Don Long, Athens police, interview.

  23 In San Juan Capistrano … Sgt. Charles Stumph, Orange County Sheriff’s Bomb Squad, interview.

  24 In 1983 he set … Park Elliott Dietz, interview.

  25 His work brought … Park Elliott Dietz, interview; Dietz, “Dangerous Information: Product Tampering and Poisoning Advice in Revenge and Murder Manuals,” Journal of Forensic Sciences 33:5 (September 1988): 1215.

  26 In an article … Dietz, “Dangerous Information,” 1208–9.

  27 In 1973, Dr. Dietz’s … Ibid., 1212–13.

  28 “The general rule …” Bruce Ennis, interview.

  29 “These are difficult …” Floyd Abrams, interview.

  30 “You can’t say …” Joseph Grubisic, interview.

  31 No problem would exist … Sgt. Charles Stumph, interview.

  32 That Paladin can … Jack Thompson, interview.

  33 In July 1989 … Washington Post, August 15, 1989, a10.

  34 Shotgun News also … Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 12, 1993, G3.

  35 “There’s no difference …” David Uhrig, interview.

  36 Private buyers … Wall Street Journal, October 23, 1992, 1.

  37 Once notorious … New York Times, March 30, 1992, D8.

  38 It now includes … See Shotgun News, July 1, 1992, 3.

  39 Nonetheless, my April … Shotgun News, April 1, 1993, 5, 25.

  40 During a reporting journey … Wall Street Journal, March 12, 1993, 1.

  41 “It’s called …” Jim Moore, interview.

  42 “My friend …” John G. Mitchell, “ ‘God Guns & Guts Made America Free,’ ” American Heritage (February/March 1978): 9.

  43 At times … Ibid., 8.

  44 The NRA was founded … Certificate of Incorporation, New New York, November 17, 1871; Osha Gray Davidson, Under Fire, 20–22.

  45 It remained a small … Davidson, Ibid., 27.

  46 The association began … Mitchell, “ ‘God Guns & Guts,’ ” 9.

  47 As originally proposed … Robert Sherrill, The Saturday Night Special (New York: Charterhouse, 1973), 58.

  48 By 1946 … Mitchell, “ ‘God Guns,’ ” 9.

  49 In 1956, the NRA … Certificate of Extension of Purpose, New York Department of State, March 22, 1956.

  50 … Lee Harvey Oswald … Henry S. Bloomgarden, The Gun (New York: Grossman, 1975), 92.

  51 For Carter was … Davidson, Under Fire, 31–33.

  52 It shifted emphasis … Certificate of Amendment of the Certificate of Incorporation, New York Department of State, September 23, 1977.

  53 A study conducted … Mitchell, “ ‘God Guns,’ ” 10.

  54 Nonetheless, by 1978 … Ibid., 2.

  55 By 1983, its … Davidson, Under Fire, 39.

  56 One of those attacked …Joseph McNamara, interview.

  57 From 1989 to 1991 … Davidson, Under Fire, 157; Bradley O’Leary, PM Consulting Inc, interview, membership data.

  58 The historic site … Davidson, Under Fire, 161.

  59 Its political action … Center for Responsive Politics, Washington, D.C.

  60 Between the 1990 … Center for Responsive Politics, “PACs in Profile,” June 1993, 8.

  61 The NRA also stepped … Peter Stone, “Under the Gun,” National Journal (June 5, 1993): 1335.

  62 In 1992 alone … Bradley O’Leary, interview.

  63 The drive worked.… O’Leary, interview.

  64 The NRA was indeed bigger … “1992 Report to Members,” NRA, 1992.

  65 In 1993 … Peter Stone, “Under the Gun,” 1337.

  66 One New York assemblywoman … Naomi Matusow, interview.

  67 In 1993, a hard-right … Osha Gray Davidson, interview.

  68 A survey by … Louis Harris, “A Survey of the American People on Guns as a Children’s Health Issue,” LH Research Inc. (June 1993): 6, 15.

  69 In the 1992 membership … Bradley O’Leary, interview.

  70 At the NRA’s 1993 … Wayne LaPierre, “This is a Fight for Freedom!” American Rifleman, July 1993, 31.

  71 During the same … “The ‘Duke’ Takes His Stand in Nashville,” American Rifleman, June 1993, 79.

  72 In his Nashville speech … Wayne LaPierre, “This is a Fight,” 31.

  73 In a column … “The President’s Column,” American Rifleman, June 1993, 60.

  74 In 1993 … Susan Lamson, “TV Violence: Does it Cause Real-Life Mayhem?” American Rifleman, June 1993, 31–33.

  75 In its “Combat Annual” … Mark Moritz, “Volkspistol,” American Handgunner (Combat Annual 1992): 46–48.

  76 A writer for … Jim Benson. “Ladies’ Home Companion,” American Survival Guide (July 1990): 24–25, 66.

  77 The author described … “Return of the Ingram,” Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons, 66–71.

  78 Dr. Park Dietz … Cox Newspapers, “Firepower: Assault Weapons in America,” 1989, 12–13.

  79 Dr. Dietz told … Park Elliott Dietz, interview.

  80 Add to this … Harry F. Waters, et al., “Networks Under the Gun,” Time, July 12, 1993, 64–66.

  Chapter Thirteen: Nicholas

  1 Two different … Lora Farley, testimony. WF-SE, January 14, 1992, 8.

  2 Sweet was at … George Sweet, testimony. WF-SE, January 14, 1992.

  3 “She did say something …” NES, 64.

  4 “I know I went …” Ibid., 76.

  5 Bill Farley learned … William Farley, interview.

  6 The Virginia Beach … Det. Donald Adams, interview.

  7 “It was unbelievable …” William Farley, interview.

  8 The formal cause … Det. Donald Adams, testimony. WF-SE, 211.

  9 “It’s the only …” Det. Donald Adams, interview.

  10 The next night �
� Beverly Cook, testimony. WF-SE.

  11 Months later … William Farley, testimony. WF-SE.

  12 “I just try …” William Farley, interview.

  13 Three months later … EE-ASC.

  14 On October 31 … Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, December 13, 1989, 1.

  15 Nicholas sat … Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, November 1, 1989, 1.

  16 On December 12 … Jimmy Edney, testimony. VA-NE, December 12, 1989, 3.

  17 “These were offenses …” Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, December 13, 1989.

  18 “Number one …” William Farley, interview.

  19 “One thing …” Randy Singer, interview.

  20 “This is not …” Randy Singer, opening statement. WF-SE, January 14, 1992.

  21 Bill Farley lost … William Farley, interview.

  22 In an order … John K. Moore, letter, response to defendants’ demurrer. WF-SE, October 4, 1990.

  23 “Unfortunately,” Judge Moore … Ibid., 2.

  Chapter Fourteen: The New Tyranny

  1 Strict gun controls … Daniel Abrams. “Ending the Other Arms Race.” Yale Law and Policy Review 10:2 (1992): 515–16.

  2 On December 14 … New York Times, December 28, 1992, 1.

  3 In his book … David B. Kopel, The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books/The Cato Institute, 1992), 319–20.

  4 A 1993 survey … Louis Harris. “A Survey of Experiences, Perceptions and Apprehensions About Guns Among Young People in America,” LH Research Inc. (July 1993): ix.

  5 Fifty-five percent … Ibid., x.

  6 In a related … Louis Harris, “A Survey of the American People on Guns as a Children’s Health Issue,” LH Research Inc. (June 1993): 6, 9.

  7 I read with … Mick Luckovich, “Remember, Carry a Map …,” Newsweek, July 12, 1993, 15.

  8 In 1975 … Josh Sugarmann, National Rifle Association: Money, Firepower & Fear (Bethesda, Md.: National Press Books, 1992), 45.

  9 The 1993 Harris survey … Harris, “Survey of the American People,” viii.

  10 Robert Sherrill … Robert Sherrill, The Saturday Night Special (New York: Charterhouse, 1973), 322.

  11 A Sandston, Virginia … Baltimore Sun, July 20, 1993, 9A.

  12 “Maybe that’s the answer …” David Troy, interview.

  Coda

  1 The site Dick chose … J. Michael Dick, interview.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  ANY WORK OF JOURNALISM REQUIRES THE assistance of a large array of sources; any journalistic work on the subject of guns seems to require that many of these sources retain some degree of anonymity. To all those men and women who spoke with me on condition I would not reveal your names and professions, thank you. I recognize that trusting your privacy, livelihood, and perhaps even your personal safety is not an easy thing. I’d also like to thank the many honest, clear-eyed gun owners of America who told me, in correspondence and over the telephone, of their love of guns and the kinship that guns afford, and in a few cases of their real and pressing need to possess a weapon for self-defense. You provided me, often with a good deal of heat and enthusiasm, a much-needed perspective.

  I owe an especially great debt to Bill Farley, Randy Singer, Dennis Henigan, Col. Leonard Supenski, Earl Taylor, Rex Davis, Jack “Ganja” Killorin, Thomas Stokes, Bernard La Forest, David Troy, Edward M. Owen, Donald Adams, Paxton Quigley, and Peder Lund. A special thanks goes to J. Michael Dick, for having the courage to talk on the record about matters that are too often buried beyond public view.

  Betty Prashker, Michelle Sidrane, Kim Reilly, Andrew Martin, Joan DeMayo, and Penny Simon made me feel extraordinarily welcome at Crown Publishers, and convinced me from the start that there is still a taste among American publishers for confronting the most troubling issues of the day. Denise Shannon got the ball rolling. Court TV, in New York, graciously allowed me to watch a video of the entire Farley vs. Guns Unlimited trial. Mike Curtis, Cullen Murphy, and William Whitworth of The Atlantic Monthly demonstrated an exceptional tolerance for lengthy prose; Sue Parilla, queen of the Atlantic’s fact-checking squad, taught me the meaning of pain.

  The award for patience goes to my wife, Christine Gleason, and my children, Kristen and Lauren, for not ejecting me from the house as my deadline neared and my mood decayed. Jane Berentson, my boss at the Wall Street Journal, cheerfully engineered a much-needed month of leave, which her bosses, John Brecher and Paul Steiger, magnanimously granted.

  Last, I’d like to acknowledge a debt to the occupants of that white Cadillac with Virginia plates who paid my neighborhood a visit—who fired a paint ball gun four times at my home at 3:30 one Sunday morning. If I ever needed reassurance that I was on the right track, you gave it to me in as vivid and convincing a manner as any I could imagine.