
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 20, 1991                   TAG: 9102200481
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOHN L. EBY JR.
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GUN LAWS WELL-MEANT BUT INEFFECTIVE

RECENT ARTICLES on the gun-control/waiting-period legislation's defeat left me with a feeling of imbalance. All sane citizens desire crime control, but it's easier to write inflammatory articles than to solve the problem.

A lot of space was used in describing the "full-throttle lobbying in the legislature" by the "gun lobby" that led to the bill's defeat. Absent was discussion of the failure of waiting periods. The stated goal of gun-control advocates is to offer society protection from violent crime by restricting gun ownership, but time and time again the flaws in this concept are revealed.

John Hinkley would not have been prevented from buying the gun he used attempting the assassination of President Reagan. He had no criminal or mental-illness record when he bought the gun.

The man who killed the children in Stockton, Calif., had no felony record - even though his violent behavior patterns were a matter of record for almost 10 years. No prosecutions ever resulted from his many arrests.

"Crime of passion" is largely a fictional phrase, shorthand for unpremeditated murder. Analysis of domestic violence reveals that in more than 85 percent of family homicides, previous quarrels were serious enough to bring police to the residence. These slayings were not isolated events in otherwise placid and loving couples, but were instead the culminating episodes of longstanding violent, abusive family relations.

Further analysis reveals that most domestic violence is directed at women by husbands or ex-husbands. The overwhelming majority of cases in which the wife kills the husband (or ex-) are defensive and ruled as justifiable homicides to protect the wife and/or her children.

There is no evidence that waiting periods or gun availability reduces the incidence of suicide. A study comparing suicide rate differences reveals that Vancouver has a higher rate than Seattle, even though the per-capita ownership of guns is lower.

The National Rifle Association is often portrayed by the media as unconcerned with reducing crime. We are concerned. However, gun-control legislation - including waiting periods - is well-intentioned but ineffective. This type of law would serve only to draw society's attention away from genuine solutions to some of our most pressing domestic and social challenges.

by CNB