Arguments by Opponents of Proposition H

Prohibiting pistols would make San Francisco a magnet for violent crime. If this law passes, criminals will laugh, but won't turn in their guns. Most criminals get their guns illegally, so they are already committing a crime by owning them.

This law will leave law abiding men and women with no defense against robbers, rapists, stalkers or home invaders. Violent criminals will know this and flock here seeking easy victims.

The sponsors of this flop have not done their homework. A long-standing California preemption statute prohibits cities from passing a patchwork of conflicting gun laws. If Prop H passes, we will have to pay for a costly lawsuit that San Francisco will lose.

San Franciscans should reject this unfair, unconstitutional and unworkable scheme.

Banning guns is not a progressive cause. Organizations including the San Francisco Pink Pistols oppose this ordinance because it denies gays the means to defend themselves against hate crimes.

Author: Coalition Against Prohibition

ABSURD

Guns and cars do not kill people. Drunks, criminals, wild kids and foolish adults are the problem. If guns were 43 times more likely to kill their owners, hunters and NRA members would be stacked up like cordwood in America's hospitals!

Japan strictly prohibits pistol ownership and has double our rate of suicide. Heavy drinking is a much better predictor of violence and suicide than pistols, but America tried Alcohol Prohibition in the 1920s and wound up with Bootleggers, Rumrunners, Highjackers, and Al Capone's Mobsters shooting up Chicago.

Murderous Drug Dealers and Gang Bangers are unchecked by the failed Supervisors who are pushing Prop H. Your guns are their Scape-goat! Legal guns discourage Home Invasions, reduce death and injury from Rapists and Burglars, and are a civil right!

The Coalition Against Prohibition (www.sfcap.org) says: Vote NO on Prop H.

"Pink Pistols" Opposes Proposition H

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people have come a long way since our rebellion at Stonewall in 1969. Now, members of the LGBT community are comfortable being employed as police, firefighters, EMTs, and soldiers.

• To count on our brothers and sisters in the community,
• To have a proud, self-sufficient community,
• To love ourselves enough to say, "Yes, we are worth saving."

We have a, different vision for San Francisco than Chris Daly. We want a San Francisco where sexual minorities are proud, independent and secure. A San Francisco where we can find refuge, sanctuary and protection in our own home, or the home of a friend, when hatred rears its head. Daly would have us cower in our living rooms and bedrooms, helpless to stop attackers from hurting our friends and families.

The LGBT community has a well deserved reputation for being gentle and nonviolent. We know that deadly force must not be resorted to lightly, but even thinkers such as the Dalai Lama and Mahatma Gandhi saw that using force may be a moral necessity.

Let's fix what's broken in the world, but stand strong together. Remember the lessons of history. Vote No on Proposition H.

San Francisco Pink Pistols

(Submitted by Committee to Oppose Handgun Ban [PAC])

Absentee voters! Warning! Stop the madness! Stop Supervisor Chris Daly's Proposition H.

• Take away the rights of residents to defend themselves.
• Leave small business owners vulnerable to criminals
• Cost the taxpayer money to litigate
• Give police the right to search your home.
• Safer for thugs to assault you.

THINK! Supervisor Chris Daly's Proposition H is wrong! Join Davy Jones, Chairman, Committee to Oppose Handgun Ban (PAC), Housing Rights Association, a tenant's group; Senior Citizen Alliance and vote NO on H.

NO on H.

One of the first laws enacted by the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazis) was to ban the private ownership of guns. Proposition H would do the same.

A similar measure was tried before in San Francisco and declared in violation of California state law. Proposition H will be contested in the Courts at great cost to San Francisco Taxpayers. Does any reasonable voter believe criminals will turn in their handguns, if Proposition H passes?

• Mike DeNunzio, Chairman
• Howard Epstein, VC - Communications
• Timothy Simon, VC - Political Affairs
• Ronald Konopaski, DDS, VC - Precinct Opns.
• Barbara Kiley, VC - Finance
• Carolyn Devine, VC - Special Event
• Jennifer DePalma, Treasurer

• Michael Antonini, D.D.S.
• Janet Campbell
• Terence Faulkner, J.D.
• Mike Garza
• Harold M. Hoogasian
• Stephanie Jeong
• Dave Katz
• Leo Lacayo
• Rita O'Hara
• Roger Schulke

• Christopher L. Bowman
• John Brunello
• Jim Fuller
• Steven Jin Lee
• Gail E. Neira
• Dana Walsh
• Sue C. Woods

NO on H.

We have a bridge to sell to anyone who believes criminals will turn in their handguns.

• Mike DeNunzio
• Howard Epstein
• Sue C. Woods
• Dana Walsh

Remember Deborah Hollis? Probably not. You won't hear about Deborah from supporters of Proposition H.

Deborah was the Muni driver whose ex-husband stalked her, beat her, threatened to kidnap her children, boarded her bus to attack her.

Deborah did everything right. She got a restraining order. But Floyd Hollis repeatedly violated that order to stalk and attack her.

On February 11, 1999, Floyd Hollis advanced on Deborah screaming threats. Deborah shot him, saving herself and her children. Even the San Francisco District Attorney ruled she acted in self-defense.

Proposition H would take away Deborah's right to protect herself and her children. Don't leave women without a way to defend themselves. Vote NO on Proposition H.

Julie Burns
David Burns

How Many More?
Yes on H to Limit Handguns

How many more? On November 27, 1978 Dan White assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. On May 9, 2005 a disgruntled ex-employee walked into a South of Market nonprofit and killed a hardworking father of two with a handgun. Every day, neighbors live in fear that someone they love could be murdered. By December 2004, 56 of 87 San Francisco homicides that year involved handguns.

Easy access to handguns can transform heated exchanges or emotional moments into lifelong injury or death. The New England Journal of Medicine found that a handgun in the home makes it 43 times more likely that a friend, family member or acquaintance will be killed than an intruder. In addition, suicide mortality increases fivefold with a handgun.

Proposition H takes two meaningful steps to reduce handguns in San Francisco. It limits handgun possession to those who protect us, and ends firearms sales. Proposition H is substantially different from the measure signed by Mayor Dianne Feinstein in the 1980s that was defeated in court.

For years the National Rifle Association and its front groups have spent millions to spread misinformation and rig the political process. When the NRA can't buy politicians, then try legal challenges, scare tactics, and even blacklisting (www.nrablacklist.com). Proposition H is San Francisco's chance to speak up.

No single strategy will solve San Francisco's epidemic of violence. We need new investments in education, community development and jobs as well as meaningful gun reform. Fewer handguns in the flow of commerce will make it more difficult to obtain one.

Please join us and the San Francisco Democratic Party in voting Yes on H!

Supervisor Chris Daly
Committee to Ban Handgun Violence

Proposition H denies you choice.

You may feel you don't need a gun to defend yourself now. But that could change someday.

Proposition H denies people protection.

You may never need a gun to defend yourself, but someone else will, a woman alone in her apartment during a break-in, a gay man surrounded by attackers, a battered wife pursued by a stalker.

Proposition H encourages criminals.

Robbers, rapists and home invaders can be sure that their next victim will be helpless. Imprisoned felons say they fear a homeowners' firearm more than the police.

Proposition H will not reduce crime.

Washington DC banned handguns in 1976. Now their murder rate is 60% higher.

The United Kingdom banned and confiscated handguns in 1997. Gun crime in England and Wales nearly doubled from 1998 to 2003, and home invasions are an epidemic.

Chicago banned handguns in 1982. In 2003 the murder rate in Chicago was 38% higher than before the ban.

Gun prohibition has been tried, and always failed. A 2003 CDC task force found that there is no evidence that gun control reduces crime or violence.

San Francisco is a city where you should be safe, proud and free. Today you have the right to defend yourself against violent crime. Your sister, your cousin, your neighbor have the same right. Keep those rights. Vote No on Proposition H.

The Coalition Against Prohibition (www.sfcap.org)