| Limit Ammunition To Control Hand Guns | | | | court suit requiring the commission to |
| | | | reconsider, which it is now doing. |
| April 30, 1975 | | | | |
| | | | Two months ago the product safety commission |
| Those who would ban hand guns might well | | | | asked the public to comment on the proposal |
| consider the old riddle: "Which comes first, | | | | to ban ammunition. "Several hundred |
| the chicken or the egg?" | | | | thousand" replies have flooded in. |
| | | | |
| A few cities have adopted legislation | | | | Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court may decide |
| prohibiting pistols, revolvers and the | | | | the issue. |
| so-called "Saturday Night Specials" in a | | | | |
| effort to halt the soaring crime rate. | | | | While hand guns can be manufactured and |
| | | | smuggled easily, the production of |
| So far, the effort has been like trying to | | | | bullet-quality gunpowder requires highly |
| empty the ocean with a tea spoon. The next | | | | developed technology. |
| town over sells cheap weapons, and no | | | | |
| questions asked. | | | | In addition, the manufacture of a shell |
| | | | casing requires a large, expensive, highly |
| Congress, therefore, seems about ready to | | | | accurate stamping press. Only a very few |
| consider the controversial proposal | | | | factories, in the United States are capable |
| seriously. Certainly only a nation-wide ban | | | | of making primer shells which sportsmen |
| has any chance to be effective. | | | | sometimes fill with commercially manufactured |
| | | | gunpowder. |
| I support hand gun legislation, but oppose | | | | |
| attempts to curtail shoulder guns. | | | | In short, there are only a few sources of |
| | | | supply for powder and shells. The supply |
| Pocket guns, capable of being concealed, are | | | | should be relatively easy to regulate. |
| short range weapons of surprise and | | | | |
| vengeance. Rifles, however, are carried | | | | Cut off the supply of ammunition, and hand |
| openly. They are useful for sport and | | | | guns will rust into quaint souvenirs. |
| defense against armies of invasion. | | | | |
| | | | Rifle-calibre ammunition could continue to be |
| Gun control is impractical simply because of | | | | made available readily in hardware and sports |
| the ease with which hand guns can be built, | | | | stores. |
| transported and concealed. | | | | |
| | | | Revolver-calibre cartridges, however, could |
| Which brings us to the chicken and egg | | | | be furnished only to the military and law |
| puzzle. | | | | enforcement authorities. Those with a |
| | | | legitimate need for revolver shells for their |
| Exactly three years ago in this column, I | | | | freely-owned - but registered - hand guns |
| suggested that we give up trying to limit the | | | | would have to obtain them from the police |
| gun and approach the problem through the more | | | | after positive identification and finger |
| vulnerable route of ammunition. | | | | printing. Purchases might be limited to five |
| | | | shells, and empty shells could be returned |
| Gun control advocates dismissed the idea as | | | | for replacement. |
| "simplistic." The late Congressman Frank Bow | | | | |
| circulated the column to a few gun-control | | | | Thus, those citizens genuinely needing a hand |
| legislators but got an indifferent reaction. | | | | gun for protection or other legitimate needs |
| | | | would not be denied an "equalizer". |
| Now comes an Illinois citizens' group called | | | | |
| the Committee for Handgun Control, Inc., | | | | Criminals, of course, would still obtain both |
| which is seeking to force the US. Government | | | | pistols and ammunition from abroad or from |
| to ban the sale of hand gun ammunition as a | | | | other criminal sources. Yet, we must try to |
| means of controlling cheap hand guns. | | | | control hand guns SENSIBLY even if the odds |
| | | | are as hopeless as they seem to be. |
| The group has petitioned the new federal | | | | |
| Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban | | | | In controlling hand guns we must be careful |
| ammunition on grounds it is hazardous, and | | | | that we don't simply disarm the citizen while |
| that the commission has jurisdiction over | | | | leaving weapons in the hands of gangsters. |
| hazardous substances. | | | | |
| | | | Also, we must not abrogate our constitutional |
| This is the hand gun committee's second | | | | right to "keep and bear arms." The way the |
| attempt to force the commission. A year ago | | | | world is going these days, this right may not |
| the commission ruled that banning ammunition | | | | be as obsolete and academic as the gun |
| would amount to a "back door" ban on hand | | | | control enthusiasts would have us believe. |
| guns, a direct violation of law that | | | | |
| established the commission. | | | | Ammunition is the weak link in the chain of |
| | | | fire-arm use. Break it and we stop wanton |
| Nevertheless the hand gun committee has won a | | | | shooting by citizens and criminal alike. |