STATE CAN DO MORE TO CONTROL CRIMINALS

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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 21, 1993                   TAG: 9301210466
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
STATE CAN DO MORE TO CONTROL CRIMINALS
THE ISSUE of gun control is again at our doors in Virginia. When will the people wake up and realize that the problem is not firearms, but the criminal who uses one in an act of violence?
Certain elements of humans prey on other weaker members of our society. This has gone on since man first set foot on this Earth and will never change, no matter how much we all hope and pray.
What we have to do is control the type of person who uses a firearm for illegal purposes, not the honest person who uses one for legitimate purposes.
What we need is mandatory sentencing laws, maximum time with no parole and no plea bargaining.
We need judges, voted to the bench, not appointed, who should be held accountable to the people for their actions. We need to take the criminal off the streets and put him far away from society for a long time, where he can do no harm.
Let's quit kidding ourselves and tap dancing around the real issue. Face it, folks, our criminal-justice system is a dismal failure and is in serious need of an overhaul. JAMES R. MULLINS PULASKI

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB