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Solutions: New and Old, Tough and Soft
| Article
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11438 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1994 |
2,526 Words |
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David A. Ridenour
David A. Ridenour is vice president of the National Center for
Public Policy Research. |
In his crime proposal, President Clinton outlined four specific steps he would take to restrict gun ownership: (1) support congressional efforts to pass the Brady Bill, which requires a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases to allow time for background checks; (2) urge Congress to pass legislation restricting the availability of semiautomatic assault weapons; (3) sign a presidential memorandum banning the importation of assault pistols; and (4) sign a presidential memorandum outlining new, tougher enforcement procedures in federal licensing of gun dealers.
The president delivered on all four of these measures: The Brady Bill passed both houses of Congress late last year by comfortable margins, bans on 19 types of semiautomatic weapons were included in the Senate-approved crime bill, and the president issued both presidential memoranda, as promised. But these measures are unlikely to have any significant impact on the crime rate. Indeed, law-abiding citizens will probably be the only people inconvenienced by the new measures.
There are currently some 67 million handguns and a total of 200 million guns of all types in private hands. And if a would-be criminal really wants a handgun, he can obtain one illegally for as little as $50.
"I live in the District of Columbia," Stuart DeVeaux, a senior at Howard University, said, "where guns have been banned since 1972 . . . . I have seen the causes and effects of violence . . . . Making gun-control laws--if it's five days, if it's ten days--if you've obtained the guns illegally as most people in the neighborhoods I live in do, it doesn't matter. You could make it a year and it doesn't matter."
With this statement DeVeaux, an African American, challenged the collective wisdom of three generations of politicians. Criminals--not guns, drugs, racism, or other factors--are the source of the crime problem. It's just that simple.
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala apparently believes that the fault for crime lies in a lack of education on the dangers of guns. At a meeting of the American Trauma Society in December she announced, "We must teach our citizens that guns are dangerous consumer products." The fact that there is such high demand for guns should have given Shalala a clue that the American people are on to that fact. Criminals purchase guns precisely because they are dangerous and can be used against innocent victims, other criminals, or law enforcement officials.
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