THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 30, 1996 TAG: 9609270011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 38 lines
I read with sympathy, Griffin Dix's article (Sept. 18, Another View) on the danger of handguns. Not only have I lost loved ones to senseless handgun violence, I have been shot at by teen-agers with guns. But Dix, a former professor of sociology, has allowed grief to overshadow reason on the issue of gun control.
Comparing crime rates in foreign countries to our own, and then linking that data only to private gun ownership, is poor scholarship indeed. In Japan, for example, private ownership of weapons has been restricted for generations and their crime rate per capita is very low. Japan also has no ``Bill of Rights'' to protect citizens from excesses of political absolutism. But Japan also reflects a culture with high regard for personal and family honor and respect for tradition. Thus, a comparative study of violence in different countries requires also a study of culture.
A second critical factor is that when statistics are quoted involving children and handgun violence, the only discriminator for ``children'' is that they are under the age of 21 (or 18, depending on the source). When one separates shooting accidents from the ``juvenile gun-death'' statistics, you will find that nearly all remaining gun deaths of children result from criminal acts. In other words, callous acts of youthful criminals who utterly disregard the law and who have no respect whatsoever for the life or liberty of others. We must not be deceived into thinking them ``innocent'' children.
I agree with Mr. Dix that gun owners need to be responsible for their actions. The same principle must be applied across the board, however, in that criminals - regardless of their age - must be held accountable for their misdeeds. No laws can prevent accidents nor would most people care to live in such a ``glass bubble'' of absolute protection. Freedom requires responsibility.
JOHN S. STERLING
Chesapeake, Sept. 18, 1996 by CNB