| Limit Ammunition To Control Hand Guns | | | | which it is now doing. |
| April 30, 1975 | | | | Two months ago the product safety commission |
| Those who would ban hand guns might well | | | | asked the public to comment on the proposal to |
| consider the old riddle: "Which comes first, the | | | | ban ammunition. "Several hundred thousand" |
| chicken or the egg?" | | | | replies have flooded in. |
| A few cities have adopted legislation prohibiting | | | | Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court may decide |
| pistols, revolvers and the so-called "Saturday Night | | | | the issue. |
| Specials" in a effort to halt the soaring crime rate. | | | | While hand guns can be manufactured and |
| So far, the effort has been like trying to empty | | | | smuggled easily, the production of bullet-quality |
| the ocean with a tea spoon. The next town over | | | | gunpowder requires highly developed technology. |
| sells cheap weapons, and no questions asked. | | | | In addition, the manufacture of a shell casing |
| Congress, therefore, seems about ready to | | | | requires a large, expensive, highly accurate |
| consider the controversial proposal seriously. | | | | stamping press. Only a very few factories, in the |
| Certainly only a nation-wide ban has any chance | | | | United States are capable of making primer shells |
| to be effective. | | | | which sportsmen sometimes fill with commercially |
| I support hand gun legislation, but oppose | | | | manufactured gunpowder. |
| attempts to curtail shoulder guns. | | | | In short, there are only a few sources of supply |
| Pocket guns, capable of being concealed, are | | | | for powder and shells. The supply should be |
| short range weapons of surprise and vengeance. | | | | relatively easy to regulate. |
| Rifles, however, are carried openly. They are | | | | Cut off the supply of ammunition, and hand guns |
| useful for sport and defense against armies of | | | | will rust into quaint souvenirs. |
| invasion. | | | | Rifle-calibre ammunition could continue to be made |
| Gun control is impractical simply because of the | | | | available readily in hardware and sports stores. |
| ease with which hand guns can be built, | | | | Revolver-calibre cartridges, however, could be |
| transported and concealed. | | | | furnished only to the military and law enforcement |
| Which brings us to the chicken and egg puzzle. | | | | authorities. Those with a legitimate need for |
| Exactly three years ago in this column, I | | | | revolver shells for their freely-owned - but |
| suggested that we give up trying to limit the gun | | | | registered - hand guns would have to obtain them |
| and approach the problem through the more | | | | from the police after positive identification and |
| vulnerable route of ammunition. | | | | finger printing. Purchases might be limited to five |
| Gun control advocates dismissed the idea as | | | | shells, and empty shells could be returned for |
| "simplistic." The late Congressman Frank Bow | | | | replacement. |
| circulated the column to a few gun-control | | | | Thus, those citizens genuinely needing a hand gun |
| legislators but got an indifferent reaction. | | | | for protection or other legitimate needs would not |
| Now comes an Illinois citizens' group called the | | | | be denied an "equalizer". |
| Committee for Handgun Control, Inc., which is | | | | Criminals, of course, would still obtain both pistols |
| seeking to force the US. Government to ban the | | | | and ammunition from abroad or from other |
| sale of hand gun ammunition as a means of | | | | criminal sources. Yet, we must try to control hand |
| controlling cheap hand guns. | | | | guns SENSIBLY even if the odds are as hopeless |
| The group has petitioned the new federal | | | | as they seem to be. |
| Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban | | | | In controlling hand guns we must be careful that |
| ammunition on grounds it is hazardous, and that | | | | we don't simply disarm the citizen while leaving |
| the commission has jurisdiction over hazardous | | | | weapons in the hands of gangsters. |
| substances. | | | | Also, we must not abrogate our constitutional |
| This is the hand gun committee's second attempt | | | | right to "keep and bear arms." The way the world |
| to force the commission. A year ago the | | | | is going these days, this right may not be as |
| commission ruled that banning ammunition would | | | | obsolete and academic as the gun control |
| amount to a "back door" ban on hand guns, a | | | | enthusiasts would have us believe. |
| direct violation of law that established the | | | | Ammunition is the weak link in the chain of |
| commission. | | | | fire-arm use. Break it and we stop wanton |
| Nevertheless the hand gun committee has won a | | | | shooting by citizens and criminal alike. |
| court suit requiring the commission to reconsider, | | | | |