About 25 people attended the meeting at the Williamson County Courthouse on Aug. 24 to discuss several issues including the role of the U.N., the New World Order and gun control.

Glad Hall, co-founder and president of SIPL, said the group opposes gun control, believes the federal government is obtrusive and is fearful that giving power to federal authorities opens the door to socialism. He calls himself an ultra-conservative.

Much of the discussion involved the conflict between individual rights and what Poshard called the greater public good. Hall said, people were tired of the government placing restrictions on their personal lives and property.

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Poshard illustrated his view of the conflict with a story of two fictional farmers. Is it right for one farmer to let his cattle defecate and urinate in a stream that is on his property when another farmer downstream relies on it for drinking water? he asked. Where’s the balance? We will fight that question forever.

The U.N was another topic of discussion at the meeting. SIPL members expressed concern that the United Nations now has too much influence over U.S. foreign relations.

One SIPL member said he was upset about U.N. involvement in U.S. policy toward Haiti, where troops were deployed to help reinstate Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the country’s elected leader.

Clinton said we’re going to Haiti because the U.N. mandates it.’ Who do they think they are? the member asked.

Hall charged that many officials in the U.N. have a goal of establishing the organization as the world’s governing body.

I guess I fail to understand the concern you folks have with the U.N., Poshard replied.

Poshard cited figures from this year’s federal budget which show that the U.S. will spend $270 billion on its own military, while only giving $800 million to the U.N. He added that only a portion of the money allocated to the U.N. is used for military operations.

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How in the world could we be giving more power to the U.N.? Poshard asked. Follow the money.

I can honestly tell you I don’t know one member of Congress who would vote to enter a one-world government, he said.

Hall, a self-described Christian fundamentalist, linked the rise of the U.N. as a one-world government to biblical signs of the end of the world. He said the book of revelations warns that a one-world government will come to power on the eve of the apocalypse.

All SIPL members disagreed with Poshard’s support for the Clinton crime bill, which included an assault weapons ban.

Poshard said he voted for the bill despite his disagreement with the ban because he liked other provisions in the bill, such as the increase in the number of police officers on the street.

Hall said, many of the views shared by SIPL members are similar to those of anti-government militia groups, but added that the SIPL is not anti-government. He said the SIPL is a political action organization, not a militia, but members are encouraged to arm themselves.

It’s not about guns, it’s about freedom and that piece of paper (the Constitution), Hall said.

Poshard said there is growing public sentiment across the nation for many of the SIPL’s views, which is the result of insecurity in a rapidly changing world, and a suspect political system that is associated with large sums of money.

Hall said his opposition to federal abuses of power has resulted in FBI interrogations of SIPL members and the tapping of his phone.

Despite the differences in opinion, Poshard said the meeting was productive.

That’s the type of exchange that has to take place for the system to work, he said. It’s much more discouraging when I walk away from a town meeting that five or ten people showed up for.

Hall also said he was pleased with the meeting.

I honestly believe you’re honorable in what you’re doing, he told Poshard.