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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 21, 1993                   TAG: 9301210462
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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FINGERPRINT FOR GUN CONTROL

THERE IS ONE and only one way to stop criminals from getting guns and stop this "gun trafficking" - by fingerprinting each and every person wanting to purchase a firearm. This way, there will be a 100 percent effectiveness on background checks.

As a former police officer and head of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation in a large city for many years, I have seen what firearms can do. The sights weren't pleasant by any mean: brains pouring out or splattered about from a gunshot wound to the head; extremities blown away from the blast of a shotgun; a deadly shot to the heart that kills; or a deadly shot to the spine that paralyzes a person for life.

Virginia should pattern gun-control laws after New Jersey's strong gun-control laws. Many will say, "Sure, but there are still killings and the criminals are still getting the guns." That's right, but where are they getting them? From Virginia, where watered-down gun laws allow gun trafficking to continue and will continue, even if Gov. Douglas Wilder's "a-gun-a-month" deal is passed. RUSSELL W. JOHNSON VINTON

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