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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (5249)	11/8/2002 12:59:56 AM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 15516

Gun regulation opponents are the real crazies " firearms killed 28,663 in this country in 2000 (the last year for which figures are available). Yet Americans tolerate casual sales of the most deadly battlefield-ready firearms to civilians, including weapons, such as the one used by the Washington-area sniper, which can be accurate at a distance of up to 500 yards. Other sniper rifles, also legal, are accurate and deadly at ranges of a mile or more and can pierce an inch of armor." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 10/13/02 ] accessatlanta.com For days now, residents of the suburbs near the nation's capital have had their lives upended by a terrorist. While some believe they see suggestions of a foreign plot, this particular form of terrorism will more likely turn out to be homegrown. Since Oct. 2, a gunman (or gunwoman) armed with a high-powered rifle has killed or wounded several people going about their daily routines -- a shopper in a craft store's parking lot, a woman filling her car with gas, a 13-year-old child in his schoolyard -- in the middle-class suburbs near Washington Police believe the rifle's velocity has allowed the assailant to stalk his victims, fire from a distance and escape without arousing suspicion -- as if he is hunting wild game. Americans are peculiar in their assessment of risks. After last year's anthrax attacks revealed lax security around anthrax stockpiles, Congress acted immediately to tighten the laws, restricting access to certain laboratories. The mere suggestion of anthrax -- talcum powder in an envelope, for example -- is still enough to shut down an entire office building. Yet last year's anthrax attacks killed only five. By contrast, firearms killed 28,663 in this country in 2000 (the last year for which figures are available). Yet Americans tolerate casual sales of the most deadly battlefield-ready firearms to civilians, including weapons, such as the one used by the Washington-area sniper, which can be accurate at a distance of up to 500 yards. Other sniper rifles, also legal, are accurate and deadly at ranges of a mile or more and can pierce an inch of armor. Since the terrorist atrocities of Sept. 11, little old ladies in wheelchairs may be subjected to harsh security procedures in the nation's airports, ordered to stand up, take off their shoes, lift one foot at a time. Yet felons and terrorists have access to high-powered firearms sold at gun shows, where no background checks are required. In Georgia, state lawmakers refuse to even limit the number of firearms a buyer may purchase at one time. That makes it easy for Georgians to become gunrunners, supplying an "iron pipeline" of firearms shipped north to states that have stricter gun laws. Georgia is among the exporters of guns used in crimes in other states. Sales of prescription drugs are heavily regulated. Every automobile is registered so that law enforcement agents can easily learn the owner of any car, truck or SUV. But the nation's gun lobby has successfully fought off not only the registration of firearms but also "ballistics fingerprinting." If every gun were fired before it was sold and a record kept of the marks it made on bullets or shell casings, law enforcement agencies would have a registry that they could use to compare to bullets or casings found at the scene of a crime. If such a registry existed, for rifles as well as handguns, it would greatly aid the search for the Washington-area sniper. But the gun lobby is already gearing up to fight proposals for such a registry. They will probably get help in that effort from the nation's highest-ranking law enforcement officer, Attorney General John Ashcroft. Ashcroft is such a faithful acolyte of Second Amendment absolutism that he refused to allow FBI agents to search through records of gun sales earlier this year to see whether any firearms had been purchased by terrorist suspects. While Ashcroft has shown precious little respect for other provisions of the Bill of Rights, the prospect of searching through records of gun purchases offended him. It would have violated the privacy of gun buyers, he said. As fear stalks the suburbs of Washington, area residents trade rumors and speculation, some seeing the shadow of al-Qaida. But police sources reported finding the tarot "death" card (tarot cards are used in fortune-telling) near the scene of one shooting, inscribed with the following: "Dear policeman, I am God." Not Allah. God. Why should it be surprising that such a maniac would crop up in our midst? There will always be a few psychopaths and madmen among us. But it is a mass lunacy that keeps us from regulating the firearms that madmen use to turn their murderous impulses into killing sprees. Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. Her column appears Sundays and Wednesdays.