From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2000--


Cartoonist Fitzsimmons draws on gun nuts at Tucson showdown

TUCSON--Nearly 650 animal defenders and thousands of gun nuts
converged on September 17 at the Tucson Convention Center. The last day of
the 6th annual No-Kill Conference had been booked, unknown to conference
organizer Lynda Foro of Doing Things For Animals, just a glass wall away
from the first day of a weekend gun show and rallying event for supporters
of Arizona ballot Proposition 102.

Backed by the Tucson-based Safari Club International and the
National Rifle Association, Proposition 102 would require that future
state initiatives regarding wildlife management must get a two-thirds
majority.

As the crowds gathered, SHARK founder Hindi and ANIMAL PEOPLE
editor Merritt Clifton strode through the lines awaiting admission to the
gun show to the NRA membership recruiting table and delivered to the man
who seemed to be in charge a written challenge to debate at one hour past
high noon.

Hindi, who aired undercover video of pigeon shoots, prairie dog
shoots, canned hunts, and bullfights from the SHARK Slam Van throughout
the conference, challenged the NRA to debate sportsmanship--either in
front of the van or in their own exhibition hall.

Clifton challenged the NRA to debate the influence of hunting on
young people. Clifton mentioned that he had with him his 1994-1995 studies
of the confluence of county rates of hunting participation and child abuse
in New York, Ohio, and Michigan.

The challenge was amplified on the No Kill Conference public
address system, but the NRA did not respond. Members of the gun show
crowd did, however, harrass No Kill Conference attendees Maru Vigu of
Tucson, Jeunne Gibson of Gig Harbor, Washington, and Claudine Erlandson
of Seattle--who photographed a beefy young man in camoflauge as he tried to
prevent her from taking pictures.

Arizona Globe cartoonist and Hermitage Cat Shelter board member
Dave Fitzsimmons got the last laugh (above) as No- Kill Conference banquet
finale speaker.

Also lampooned, among others picked out of the audience, were
Foro, SPCA of Texas executive director Warren Cox, and "Neutress of the
Night" Kat Chaplin.