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Limit Ammunition To Control Hand Guns

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



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