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Cato Daily Dispatch for December 6, 2001

Newfound Respect for 2nd Amendment after Sept. 11
Judge Orders Agency's Computers Taken Offline
Russia Schedules Another Space Tourist

Newfound Respect for 2nd Amendment after Sept. 11

According to The Christian Science Monitor, attitudes toward the Second Amendment have changed since Sept. 11 and it appears that Americans nationwide are finding comfort, increasingly, in a gun.

In Massachusetts, gun instructors are reporting 50 percent increases in class size. In Virginia, the National Rifle Association says a class required for carrying a concealed weapon has a month-long waiting list. Florida saw a 50 percent rise in September in criminal background checks that are required for carrying a concealed weapon. And a Gallup poll taken a month after the attacks found Americans' desire for stricter firearms laws had dropped, with only 53 percent in support of such measures -- the number had not been below 60 percent for nearly a decade.

"I think a lot of people who might have been antigun no longer feel that way," Arizona gun shop owner David Dodson says. "And if they were already thinking about buying a gun, then [the terrorist attacks] pushed them over the edge."

In "Fighting Back: Crime, Self-Defense, and the Right to Carry a Handgun," Jeffrey R. Snyder shows that crime rates are reduced in states that adopt concealed-carry laws.

Last year, the Cato Institute hosted a book forum featuring legal scholar John R. Lott, Jr., author of "More Guns, Less Crime." The updated edition of his book presents the most comprehensive analysis ever done on crime statistics and right-to-carry laws. Video of the forum is available on the Cato Web site.

In "Invitation To Terror: This Plane Is A Gun-Free Zone," Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies Robert Levy explains that law-enforcement officers can't be everywhere, but an armed, trained citizenry can be. That's why pilots, flight attendants and even trained passengers should be allowed to carry arms on board aircraft if they want to, he says.

Judge Orders Agency's Computers Taken Offline

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered Internet access to the Interior Department's troubled Indian trust fund blocked until proper computer security systems are installed, an order that includes shutting down all Internet access for thousands of computers within the agency, according to The Washington Post.

Lamberth, presiding in a complex case that involves hundreds of millions of dollars kept in trust funds for about 500,000 Native Americans, angrily ordered the measures taken after lawyers for the government said they were unable to provide any alternative to defend against hackers.

Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton faces a contempt trial Monday on charges that she and other officials lied to the court about the extent of problems with the trust funds.

In "Is the Government Protecting Our Information?" Lucas Mast writes that according to a recent OMB report, most federal agencies still receive a failing grade when it comes to securing citizens' information on their computers. Mast recommends: "First, reduce the amount of information collected on each citizen. When an individual's data are stored in several different insecure federal databases, it increases the likelihood that his personal information will fall into the wrong hands. Second, the agencies should heed the remarks that Horn's committee has now made two years in a row, and secure the data they collect."

Russia Schedules Another Space Tourist

Russia's top space official said yesterday his agency wrapped up a deal with a South African Internet tycoon to fly to the International Space Station. NASA confirmed it agreed to the plan, according to the Associated Press.

Despite the deep rift with Washington when Russia first sold a seat on the station to a nonprofessional earlier this year, the United States did not object, Russian Aerospace Agency director Yuri Koptev said at a news conference.

"We have the understanding of our partners," he said.

Mark Shuttleworth, 27, is set to become the second "space tourist" to fly to the station, arriving in a Russian Soyuz rocket next April, Koptev said.

In "A Plea for Private Cosmonauts," Edward L. Hudgins explains the ironic situation of Russia embracing free markets for space travel while the United States defends the interests of its state run space agency.

Hudgins writes, "Concerning Tito, NASA administrator Daniel Goldin asks, 'Just because someone says they have that money to fly, is that reasonable?' The answer is, 'Yes!' The people with money are called 'customers.' They pay for goods and services. In a free market, eager entrepreneurs meet their demands."