Description:

Reagan Ronald

R. Reagan Ironic Letter on Gun Control and "shootings by revolver," Ex-Forbes


RONALD REAGAN, Autograph Letter Initialed, to Mrs. Helen H. McAvoy, August 23, 1968.  5 pp., 5.5" x 8.5". On illustrated memorandum sheets from Leo E. Nolte Printing & Litho Col of Los Angeles. Excellent.


In response to a letter to his wife Nancy, California governor Ronald Reagan explains his position on gun control and specifically his opposition to the “Shoemaker bill.” The bill, proposed by Winfield A. Shoemaker, would require registration of all firearms and the licensing of gun owners and gun dealers. In July 1967, the legislature had passed and Governor Reagan signed a law banning the carrying of loaded weapons in public.


Complete Transcript

Mrs. Helen H. McEvoy

1438 Pitman Ave.

Palo Alto Calif. 94301

Dear Mrs. McEvoy

I hope you wont mind if I answer your letter to Nancy regarding gun control legislation.

There is no doubt that I have trouble getting my position clearly stated in the Chronicle without distortion or serious omissions. At the same time, I cannot deny my opposition to the Shoemaker bill and welcome this opportunity to straighten the record a bit.

I can only ask you to believe the so-called National Rifle Assn. lobby apparently is not a significant factor as the press would try to make us believe. By this time I’ve had some experience with sorting out the organized campaigns from the grass roots type. In this particular case the evidence of organization is on the side of Mr. Shoemaker. The identically typed letters, the postcards all worded exactly the same, etc. On the other hand, I’ve never seen such an obvious spontaneous, unorganized reaction on any other issue since taking office as the mail running 50 to 1 against registration.

Now let me make one thing clear, if it was 100 to 1 and I honestly believed registration would help alleviate crime, I’d support it. May I outline some things I do favor in gun legislation and then get back to this matter of registration.

We have some excellent gun control laws in Calif., and, in fact, have registration now of hand weapons. To buy a revolver a citizen must wait 5 days before actually receiving the weapon. In this period he is checked by local police & our state Central Intelligence Corps to make sure he is over 21, not a felon, narcotics addict or mentally unstable. Incidentally, I favor legislation to make this period at least 10 & preferably 15 days to ensure more thorough investigation. Both the state & the local police keep a file on all hand gun purchases. Since the overwhelming majority of shootings are by revolver, it’s apparent that registration alone has not curbed such crimes.

In addition, I would like to see a law requiring all mail order deliverys to be through a licensed dealer so that our state laws would not be circumvented. Far more important, we should vastly increase the penalty for any crime where the criminal carried a gun. For example a housebreaker who might get a 4 year sentence should get 12 if he had a gun in his pocket. In Eng., for many years, a criminal carrying a gun was subject to the penalty for murder on the assumption that carrying the gun meant he was prepared to use it. This more than anything else is why Eng. police dont have to carry guns.

Interestingly enough we once had quite severe penalties of the kind I’ve described here in Calif., and the same liberal Demo. legislators who support the Shoemaker bill repealed them as too inhumane.

One last point about registration. The whole impotence of this as a crime-fighting move is best illustrated by the U.S. Sup. Ct. decision of last Jan. 29. The court has ruled that suspected criminals cannot be forced to register weapons because it violates their Constitutional right against self incrimination. So here we are in a situation where only the law-abiding would be asked to register a weapon.

I’ve gone on at great length and hope you’ll pardon me. Just know that opposing one bill does not mean we wont work to get effective laws that, hopefully, will curb the criminal without undue harrassment of the law-abiding.

Sincerely

RR


Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) was born in Illinois and graduated from Eureka College in 1932. After working as a radio announcer for several years, he took a screen test in 1937 that led to a contract with Warner Brothers Studios. Reagan served as governor of California from 1967 to 1975. He won election over two-term incumbent Pat Brown. As governor, he opposed the idea of the welfare state and favored less government regulation of the economy. After an unsuccessful attempt to recall him in 1968, Reagan won reelection in 1970 for a second term.  He did not seek reelection in 1974, but went on in 1976 to seek the Presidency. He narrowly lost the Republican nomination to incumbent Gerald Ford, but went on to win in 1980 over Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter to become the 40th President of the United States (1981-1989).


Ex-Forbes Collection. Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990), the American owner-publisher of Forbes magazine and a consummate collector, amassed one of the most substantial autograph collections of such breadth and depth that it filled a half-dozen residences on three continents. Many of his manuscripts were sold in a series of multi-million dollar sales by Christie's in the early 2000s. The Forbes name is considered to be the apex of provenance, especially when attached to an item like the above. We are honored to have been chosen by the family to sell at auction the substantial balance of the collection. 


This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.


WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE.

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

We do our own in-house worldwide shipping!

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. We offer several shipping options, and remain one of the few auction houses who proudly provides professional in-house shipping as an option to our clients. All items will ship with signature required, and full insurance. Most items are sent via Federal Express, with P. O. Box addresses being sent through USPS. We insure through Berkley Asset Protection with rates of $.70 per $100 of value, among the lowest insurance rates in the industry. Our shipping department cameras document every package, both outgoing and incoming, for maximum security. In addition, we compare our shipping and handling rates against those of other auction houses, to ensure that our charges are among the lowest in the trade.

Upon winning your item(s), you will receive an invoice with our in-house shipping and handling fees included. ***We will ship to the address as it appears on your invoice, unless you inform us otherwise, immediately upon your receipt of invoice***

International shipments: In order to comply with our insurance provider, all international shipments will be sent via Fed Ex and customs paperwork will show a value of $1.00. International buyers should contact our office directly with any questions regarding this policy.

Third Party Shipping Option: If a third party shipper is preferred, the buyer is responsible for contacting them directly to make shipping arrangements. For your convenience, we have provided some recommended shippers. For your protection, we will require a signed release from you, confirming your authorization for us to release your lots to your specified third party Please copy and paste this following link into your browser: http://universityarchives.com/UserFiles/ShippingInfo.pdf. At that point, our responsibility and insurance coverage for your item(s) ceases. Items picked up by third party shippers are required to pay Connecticut sales tax. Items requiring third party shipping due to being oversized, fragile or bulky will be denoted in the item description.

Please see our full terms and conditions for names of suggested third party shippers.


After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 5 business days following receipt of full payment for item.


Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Westport, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000