The following material is from a letter from Dr. Florian
Deltgen, president of Heckler & Koch's U.S. operation. The material
was addressed to HK's dealers, but it needs to be shared with all
gun owners. This material appeared in the Summer, 1989 issue of the
HK publication entitled "The Firing Line."

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              President's Message: The Semi-Auto Ban


     When the going gets tough... yes friends, we're right in the
middle of it. I guess I don't have to preach to the choir. All the
pro-gun people agree about certain fundamentals: that guns don't
kill people, people kill people. Nobody bans cars or kitchen
knives, or rubber gloves or computers because they are used in
committing crimes and firearms should be honored with the same
logic.

     That the citizens of a free country should neither be asked to
justify why they play golf or racket ball, race cars, horses or
motorcycles nor should they be requested to justify the recreation-
al use of firearms, that today's sporting and hunting firearms are
yesterday's military firearms and that the war against drugs cannot
be won by banning autoloading firearms.

     Had the British enacted against the American colonists the
kind of legislation being considered today, the course of American
history might be quite different. Perhaps the Minutemen at Lexing-
ton and Concord would have been armed with pikes or bows and
arrows. Certainly there wouldn't be a United States of America
today.

     BATF's ban on the importation of so-called "assault rifles"
which, as we all know, are nothing but semiautomatic rifles with a
military look, violates the GATT treaty. GATT is a trade agreement
between the European Common Market and the United States of America
which provides that a unilateral ban on the importation of goods is
justified only if the continuation of the importation of that good
constituted a threat to the national security of that country. This
is certainly not the case with any of the HK firearms.

     Let's face it: the ban on imported semiautomatics will only be
the first step. The anti-gun groups are using the salami tactic:
you take away thin slices, never enough to get EVERYBODY up and
fighting. Not too long ago, only handguns were bad. Now the long
guns are bad, too!

     I think the message is clear. They will ban all guns if they
can have it their way and that is why we must ALL fight attempts to
restrict semiautomatic firearms, no matter whether [or not] they
look like a military weapon. I believe any use of a firearm is
legitimate so long as it is within the law and does not infringe on
the right of others.

     If you endorse the logic used to rule out semiautomatic,
meaning that they are used by some criminals in committing crimes,
you will find the same logic can be used to restrict your right to
own and operate a car, practice your religion or own a personal
computer (PC). The abuse of a right by a few has NEVER justified
the abolition of that right for all!

     As of April 5, 1989 the HK 91/93/94 are on the black list and
"temporarily" banned for importation. BATF will not grant any
further import permits for these firearms. We may bring into this
country the quantities for which we now hold valid import licenses
and store them under custom's bond, but we cannot take them out of
bond to sell them except to law enforcement agencies. On May 10,
1989 we presented a comprehensive body of evidence to the BATF
supporting our position that the HK 91, 93 and 94 are used in
hunting and sport shooting. We feel the material we presented
creates a compelling case for these rifles being legitimate sport-
ing rifles. We don't know what the BATF will recommend after their
review, but with President Bush's recent anti-crime speech, it
seems the administration will focus its efforts at limiting the
magazine capacity of semiautomatics. The real battle looks like it
will be in the halls of Congress this summer.

     I have written a letter of protest to President Bush. I have
sent comprehensive documentation to the entire Virginia delegation
which illustrates in detail the hunting and sporting uses of the HK
91, 93 and 94 rifles. I have written similar letters to Drug Czar
Bennett and BATF Chief Higgins. Our attorneys will take appropriate
action in the near future. Unlike others, HK will not play dead
when the going gets tough. We will fight for the right to make,
sell and own firearms in the USA.

     If you want to support HK, there are three things you can do:

1.   Send to HK letters about the use of the HK-91, HK-93 and HK-94
     for sport shooting and hunting...

2.   Call or write your congressperson and senators and urge them
     to work against ANY efforts to ban semiautomatic firearms.

3.   Write letters to President Bush expressing displeasure with
     his administration's anti-gun policy.

     Please mail me copies of your letters. We appreciate your
support.


Dr. Florian Deltgen
Heckler & Koch
21480 Pacific Boulevard
Sterling, VA 22170