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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 5, 1994                   TAG: 9401050127
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

BENTSEN PROPOSES RAISING GUN DEALER LICENSE FEES

Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen called Tuesday for a nearly tenfold increase in gun dealer license fees as a step toward tightening federal controls over gun purchases, but conceded that the proposal deals with at most one-third of the United States' weapons sales.

Bentsen, a self-described lifetime gun owner and hunter, said raising license fees would weed out as many as 80 percent of license holders, who Clinton administration officials say acquire the permits solely to take advantage of tax breaks and manufacturers discounts, or to ship weapons across state lines.

The proliferation of such licensees has greatly hindered federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms inspectors responsible for policing the industry, said Bentsen, whose department includes ATF.

Bentsen acknowledged that the higher fees would have limited effect, because only one-third of the nation's guns are purchased through the 284,000 licensed dealers. He estimated that the other two-thirds come from off-the-street sales, from criminals who trade drugs for guns or steal them during burglaries, from black markets and flea markets and children who get them from their parents.

Bentsen, who is becoming the Clinton administration's point man on gun control, noted that he has owned a gun all his life, and that he hunted quail only two weeks ago. But times have changed, he said.

"When I went to school, students didn't walk in with fingers on a trigger," he said. Bentsen said a young adult in his home state "is more likely to die from gunfire than from a traffic accident."

He made clear that steps must be taken now to stop "letting violence endanger innocent children. It comes down to one word - guns."

Americans own more than 200 million guns, and every 10 seconds, another rolls off an assembly line, and one is imported every 11 seconds, Bentsen said.

Bentsen noted that last year's Brady bill, the first major firearms legislation enacted by Congress since 1968, raised the federal gun dealer license from $10 a year to $66 a year - or $200 for a three-year permit.

"It's not gone up enough," he said. He proposed that Congress raise the fee to $600 a year, which he said is the actual cost to taxpayers of the license.

The National Rifle Association contends that $600 is five times the actual cost, and that the higher charge would injure legitimate dealers.

The proposal also drew criticism from gun-store owners, including from Bentsen's home state, who argued that Congress should instead consider laws that require all gun dealers to operate storefronts that can be closely monitored by authorities.

by CNB