Free Speech

[Zasgar]

Habe diese Narchricht gerade von den British Alpine Rifles bekommen. Das ist ja wohl unglaublich.........

In Antwort auf:

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Hello

Below is Mike Yardley's explanation for not making it to a meeting at Bisley

that I had organised last weekend. It is very interesting in its own right

and requires no further comment.

Derek Bernard

-----Original Message-----

From: private

Sent: 06 February 2003 10:37

To: private

Subject: fro Mike

USE THIS COPY AS YOU WILL

Sorry, I could not get to the meeting - but this was the reason. The battle

continues...

M

FREE SPEECH

Some weeks ago I met an extraordinary woman, Janice Collins whose son had

been murdered by a gunman in Nottingham. We discovered we had something in

common, the desire to do something about illegal guns on the streets of

Britain. She invited me to a march in her city on February 1st "Mothers

Against Illegal Guns" and also to speak at a meeting afterwards.

The journey to the event was long and difficult because of terrible weather.

I got there, though, and walked the route of the march with Patsy Mckay from

Manchester (another remarkable women who has also lost her son to gun

gangsters). At the finish, I was directed by Janice to the stage door of the

Royal Concert Hall (the venue for meeting) with the other speakers. Now it

gets a bit surreal. Walking back stage, I was waiting to go on stage when

when Gill Marshall Andrews of the Gun Control Network and another woman

started shouting "He's a gunman, he's a gunman". Their mission, it soon

became apparent, was to stop me speaking.

Patsy, bless her, and another mother, retorted "let him speak". Mrs Marshall

Andrews - who detests me because I have always opposed her campaigns for

bans on sporting guns - and her cronies would not have it. Some used their

anti-violence placards to shove me and to block me making a protest to the

journalists standing nearby.

Ignoring these shenanigans, I tried to put over my main points - i.e. this

was Stalinist behaviour and that knee jerks responses of the past have

distracted political and public attention from the real issues: drugs,

illegal guns and media violence. This, of course, offends the

fundamentalists. Their faith is that ALL guns are bad and the people that

use them are bad too whether innocent sportsmen or drug funded gangsters.

I was eventually forced to leave the back stage area. Patsy and another

rational mum escorting me out after I had been, outrageously, threatened

with "security" by a member of Nottingham Council acting as a press officer

for the event and who had already made it plain some days before that he was

not keen on me attending.

It gets worse. Our - Patsy, me and another mum's - progress was interrupted

by a BBC cameraman who thrust his lens in my face and asked "why are you

trying to hijack this meeting." This was adding insult to injury. I

explained, once again, that I was an invited speaker who had been ambushed

by fanatics.

I then returned to the auditorium where my girl friend was waiting and where

the audience were assembling. I could not see her and walked towards the

front thinking of my grandfather who had spent a year in Gestapo captivity.

Turning towards the assembly I said in a firm, loud, voice words to the

effect of: "Ladies and Gentleman, my apologies for disturbing you, but I had

been invited to speak here, I am being improperly prevented from doing so. I

wanted to tell you that 95% of gun crime is drug related and that the simple

fixes of the past have not worked." At this point Mrs Marshall Andrews and

another woman who had come onto the stage started shouting (to the audience

this time) "He's a gunman. He's a gunman". Some of the people close to me

(new faces) said "let him speak", but the hysterical screaming from the

stage continued and the mood blackened.

A few people started moving towards me menacingly, one heavy set man with

cropped hair tried to pull me down. I continued to face the audience holding

onto a chair back for support. He tried again, and I nearly went down. My

girl friend, a few feet away by now, was terrified.

The police arrived and I left the building. Two conservative councillors

left in disgust. I made an official complaint of assault and at the first

opportunity also registered a complaint with Nottingham City council. Janice

Collins the organiser apologised to me the next day (though it was not her

fault). The fanatics will not break what I was trying to build with Janice

and Patsy. Free speech and reason must prevail.

There is a sad postscript to this story too. The BBC aired their 'news'

package a few days later. A clip of me being abused in the auditorium was

shown with a voice over saying that the majority of the audience had agreed

that I should leave. The BBC did not bother to mention that the majority of

the audience incited from the stage thought I was some sort of gangster.

Frankly, I am fed up with their bias in all matters relating to guns and

shooting. They proved with their coverage of the shooting sports at the

Commonwealth Games and their subsequent denials of complaint (of which there

was a pile of documentary evidence) that they are simply not willing to give

us a fear hearing.

---

[Mike Brauer]

Tja, da scheint es bei Euch auf der Insel ja bald so weit zu sein, dass Schützen öffentliche Einrichtungen nicht betreten dürfen etc.

[stoatman]

Ich verzweifle...

[John Lee Enfield]

Da sieht man wieder wie es diese Leute mit Liberalität und Weltoffenheit halten. Jemanden nicht zu Wort kommen zu lassen und kindisch zu schreien "He's a gunman, he's a gunman..." zeigt, daß die liebe Gill offensichtlich große Angst vor sachlichen Diskussionen hat. Die Organisatorin, mit der man ja offensichtlich doch vernünftig reden kann, hätte diese Fundamentalistin zumindest zurechtweisen können.

Die BBC ist halt auch ein durch und durch auf Parteilinie getrimmter Propaganda Apparat.

[Zasgar]

Ja, die BBC scheint sehr anti gun zu sein.

Hat von euch jemand dieses Fiasko bei den Commonwealth Games mitbekommen ?? Das ging so weit, dass sich selbst die Athleten die teilgenommen haben, sich beschwert haben, weil insgesamt nur 20 Sekunden ueber die ganzen Schiessdisziplinen berichtet wurde.

Das ging dann weiter als Charlotte Kerwood, die im Alter von 16 Jahren das Double Trap Event der Commonwealth Games gewonnen hat, bei dem BBC young sports personality of the year Award noch nicht mal auf zur Auswahl stand, obwohl ich und viele andere sie nominiert hatten.

Und die Liste geht weiter...............

MK

[stoatman]

Die BBC hat gesagt, dass sie ein Problem mit dem "outside broadcast" von Bisley gehabt haben. Aber in Indien, konnte man alles sehen - im live sendung!!! Was passiert in der BBC??? Sie lügen oft und schlechtlich.....

[Mc Veit]

Bisher ist mir bei BBC noch nichts aufgefallen,

oder sind die Zustände noch schlimmer als die's hier beschrieben haben ?

BBC - Gun crime

BBC - Met 'struggles to recruit armed officers'