Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1993 TAG: 9311110494
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A national five-day waiting period on handgun purchases, coupled with criminal background checks on would-be purchasers, will not end gun-related crime and violence.
It will not, for instance, halt the trade in black-market guns. Nor will it more than temporarily inconvenience those who don't have criminal records but who are plotting to commit crimes as soon as they can get their hands on weapons.
A five-day waiting period, expected to be voted on today in the House of Representatives, is nonetheless a sensible proposal.
Known as the Brady bill, after the White House aide who was shot in a 1991 attempt on President Reagan's life, this legislation will give law-enforcement officials a somewhat better chance of keeping handguns out of the hands of known criminals. The cooling-off period will also help prevent some so-called crimes of passion - and doubtless will save some lives.
It has in California. That state's 15-day-waiting period and background check stopped more than 7,000 convicted felons and another 7,500 people with misdemeanor convictions from buying guns - in just the time between January 1991 and last month. Congress, where the Brady bill has been stalled for a decade, should not tarry any longer on its passage.
Nor should it wrongly read the results of last week's elections, and hobble the Brady bill with weakening amendments pushed by the gun lobby.
Democrat Mary Sue Terry's defeat in the Virginia governor's race can't be attributed to her support for a five-day waiting period. Public-opinion polls throughout the campaign indicated that people liked her position on that issue.
In New Jersey, also, the defeat of incumbent Democratic Gov. Jim Florio shouldn't be blamed on his strong support of gun control. The evidence (from exit polls and otherwise) suggests he would have lost by greater margins had it not been for his position on gun issues.
Of course, it's not surprising that the NRA is trying to use the election outcomes around the country to convince Congress that public sentiment for gun control is on the decline.
The public may agree with the NRA, correctly, that a waiting period on gun purchases is not the solution to gun-related crime. But the elections also showed surging public fear of crime, and massive outrage over what's become a daily bloodbath of gun violence.
Citizens want their leaders to take action, to do something about crime, and a majority see modest restrictions on gun purchases as a necessary and reasonable part of a package of responses.
Pass the Brady bill, and get on with the rest of it, too.
by CNB