Date: Mon Apr 11, 1994 2:08 pm PST From: Peter Nesbitt / MCI ID: 376-5414 Subject: Vic Fazio Town Hall Meeting On March 29 I received a phone call from a fellow who wanted me to attend a town hall meeting with him the next day with Vic Fazio. I did not personally know the guy who was inviting me, however we have spoken several times on the phone in the past. I did not have any info on Fazio at the time either, so I declined. The next morning when I returned from the meeting with the Fairfield Chief, there was a pleading message for me to attend the meeting with him once again. I gave in and went along. My "friend" works at the Vacaville High School where the meeting was to take place, so when we walked in, the teachers all recognized him and just nodded to me as we walked through the doors and into the assembly area. There were around 200-300 high school kids in the auditorium, and only a few adults along the back and side walls. I asked him if this was really a public meeting or one for the students. He said it was public. (NOT!) I had a bad feeling about this and was just going to sit tight and see what happened. Fazio came out and gave an introduction about himself, then started in on health care and then crime. When the crime topic was being discussed, my "friend" became quite anxious to ask a question. His hand was thrust up into the air, he was dying to ask a question. Fazio only called on the students around him, and it was quite apparent that this was a "student only" function. Suddenly he jumped up out of his seat and shouted, "...buy why are you always voting to take away our gun rights!!!" The meeting came to a grinding halt. I buried my face in my notepad and began writing notes as quickly as possible, trying to look uninterested. Fazio says, "Oh...we have a couple of NRA members here!!! Let's just stop the meeting and see what the NRA has to say." My "friend" says, "Yes sir! And here's the local leader of the NRA and he has a couple of questions to ask you!", as he elbows me in the side to get my attention. All eyes and ears were focused on me as I crawled out from underneath my rock. Dressed in my suit and "I'm the NRA" button, I asked the following question: "Sir, you mentioned earlier that Americans have rights that they never exercise. You also mentioned that Americans have rights which other countries do not have, and that it was important to exercise our rights. One of the most important of these rights, is a right which keeps this country free. That is the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Why do you consistently support and vote for legislation that further restricts the rights of gun owners?" There was a pretty good round of applause, but then Fazio turned to the audience and proceeded to tell EVERY HCI lie that we have ever heard or read about. "...these cop killer bullets...teflon coated bullets...machine guns...assault weapons...penetrating bulletproof vests...injuries at home... uzis...drive by shootings...have your gun taken away...blah...blah...blah..." He went on for quite a while, and when he finished, there was a THUNDEROUS applause. These students AGREED with him! I stood standing to make an attempt at refuting some of the lies, but he turned to me and said, "I think that we've heard enough from the NRA!" I looked at my "friend" and said, "Thanks!" Just then a teacher comes over to me and asks if I had been invited to the school, and if I had signed in at the office. I told her that I had been, but was unaware that I was required to sign in. She looked at my "friend" who works at the school, and proceeded to chew him out, then threatened to have me arrested! (This was all very quiet, noone else heard) I told her that I was leaving, and asked to speak to her outside. She grabbed two other male teachers and followed me outside where I explained how I had been "invited" to a "public forum" to meet Vic Fazio, and that today was the first day that I had personally met my "friend". Finally, she turned and walked away. I went home and called the school principal IMMEDIATELY. He had already heard about the events of the morning and sounded a little upset. After I explained what had hapened, the meeting of my "friend", and the misunderstanding on "public" -vs- "student only" meetings, he calmed down and said that it sounded like a mistake or a misunderstanding to him. He said not to worry about the events of the morning, and that he appreciated my calling to set things straight. CONCLUSION - Never attend a meeting with someone you don't persoanlly know unless that person is well know in the community, or comes on a recommendation from another person whom you personally know and trust. - As was proven in the Hamburg Town Hall meetings, PRE-PLANNING works! Get together with your partner or your group before the meeting and discuss how you will act, who will do what, who will ask what, alternative questions, what to do if things go bad, where to sit, how to dress, etc. - Call and find out as much about the meeting place before the meeting actually takes place. I did this for the meeting with my Chief, Hannigan, and Hamburg. We were able to check out the meeting hall before, decide where to place our camera, and to get an idea of how many people might be present, and just get a mental picture of where we would be operating. - If it doesn't feel right (and this one didn't!), don't get involved. Sit quietly, take notes, or leave. - This "friend" could have (may have?) caused a considerable amount of damage by dragging us into an unfriendly environment where we were outnumbered by the enemy, and where Fazio definately controlled the battle. We didn't stand a chance, and he stompped on our little fire with little ease. There was noone else to bring up reinforcements. - Mistakes will be made. We learn from these mistakes, I know that my learning curve has been on the upswing lately! Hopefully we can all learn from each other's mistakes. Press on and do well, don't get discouraged because you screwed up. - I apologized to the principal, telling him that Mr. X was not a true representation of gun owners, and that I was embarrassed that the whole thing happened. I did not call or write to Fazio to offer my apologies. I thought it might be best to let that just die and go away. PDN