I Tuesday, June 12, 2001
o PINION
Page 5
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Does proposed gun show bill infringe on rights, or will it help save lives?
M
ne issue always on the con
gressional agenda is lower
ing the
rime rate.
However,
xmgressmen
nd crime
jroups are
Northgate r<
r\t
nng to re-
luce crime
â– ates through removing civil
ights.
One of the most glaring ex-
unples of this is Senator J ack
Reed’s (D-R.I.) Gun Show
& FOUND Background Check Act of 2001.
_ u . Senator Reed and the support-
ite Siberian Husky rr
iwardi 693-9199. Krs ol this bill, rather than tak-
ORCYCLE l n g the time to create and pass
â– HB^B-eal crime control legislation,
;ipe chea i f re seeking only to make a
pame for themselves as crime-
control advocates.
I Instead of gun-show regula
tion, lawmakers should work to
nstitute more accurate back-
round checks for laws already
n place, and increase youth gun
afety education.
Supporters such as the
Handgun Control Institute
HCI) say that the “gunshow
loophole” is a part of the
Brady Bill which criminals are
knowingly and unabashedly
Exploiting.
Senator Reed said, “I am in-
roducing this legislation today
to renew the process we started
vo years ago of bringing some
ommon sense to our gun laws
by closing a loophole that has
allowed — and even encour
aged — criminals to buy
firearms at gun shows.”
I Under current legislation,
those who are “engaged in the
business of selling firearms”
must be federally registered and
are required to administer back
ground checks. That leaves a
loophole that allows private gun
owners to go to gun shows and
sell their guns to whomever
they choose, without being fed
erally required to perform a
background check on the buyer.
I The new background check
act would close the gun show
exes, 1st month loophole by extending the
214-906' Jrady Bill background check
requirements to all firearm
sales. This bill infringes on the
second amendment rights of
Atizens. According to an arti-
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hunting rifle.
Senator Carl Levin (D-
Mich.) stated, “It is incredible
to me that more than two years
after Columbine, lawmakers
have not reduced the availabili
ty of guns to young people and
other prohibited persons by
closing the gun show loophole.
We should stand with our na
tion’s law enforcement commu
nity and take this common
sense step to reduce the num
ber of Columbine tragedies
which plague our schools and
communities.”
However, in a report issued
by HCI’s educational branch,
the Center to Prevent Handgun
Violence only two out of 48
major police chiefs in the Unit
ed States felt that gun show
sales were a significant problem
in their city.
In addition, a study in
Michigan of juvenile offenders
found that many of the three
percent who obtained a gun
from a gun show, did not buy
the gun themselves, but re
ceived it from a person legally
able to purchase one.
If the congress allows this
legislation to pass, there will not
be a sudden drop in the crime
rate, but a windfall of more leg
islation that does nothing to
solve criminal behavior.
The infrastructure that sup
ports background checks of gun
purchasers is failing. The Gen
eral Accounting Office reported
that the National Instant Crim
inal Background Check System
(NICS) has failed to provide in
stant checks 28 percent of the
time, and has denied a purchase
to almost 3,000 people who
have the right to buy a gain.
If Senator Reed and others
wish to avoid tragedies such as
Columbine and Santee, they
should not regulate gun shows.
Instead, they should focus on
educating youths on gun safety.
T he NICS should be redone so
that it provides what it is in
tended to — an instant back
ground check system for all.
Reid Bader is a junior
journalism major.
I any Americans act like li
censing and regulating
the
sale of gtms
is a terrible
hardship and
an oppres
sion of their
freedom.
Groups like
the National
Rifle Associ
ation (NRA) often try to attach
a patriotic importance to guns,
as if they are a way for the
struggling citizen to fend off the
advances of an unjust govern
ment. Many of these arguments
are being used to stall a Senate
bill which would require ven
dors at gun shows to adhere to
the same rules that gun stores
already do. The only problem
with these arguments is that
they are ridiculous.
The second amendment to
the Constitution, which guaran
tees the right of citizens to bear
anus, is shaky in the first place
in the modem world. That gun-
rights activists want to add an
amendment that reads “the
right to transfer firearms shall
not be infringed,” is absurd.
The bill in question, which
would require gun-show ven
dors to run background checks
on buyers and keep records of
the guns they sell is nothing
more than an extension of the
already firmly entrenched Brady
Bill.
This law seems to have had
no significant impact in gun
sales — millions are still sold
each year. No real economic
hardship is being placed on gun
buyers. The steps vendors
would have to take to run back
ground checks and enforce
waiting periods are no different
than what gun stores already
do. Keeping accurate records of
the guns should already be a
matter of good business, so
keeping them handy in the
event authorities ever needed
to see them in an investigation
should not require anything
more than the purchase of a
large filing cabinet.
Arguments that family mem-
ANCELIQUE FORD/The Battalion
hers would have to be licensed
to give guns to other family
members are false. The bill
would apply only to events
where more than 50 guns were
being sold, not gifts from fathers
to sons.
Statements made against the
bill also refer to police reports
that say gun show arms sales are
not major sources of crimes.
This may be true in some cities,
but according to the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
(ATF), guns sold at gun shows
are the second-leading source of
illegal firearms recovered by gun
trafficking investigators.
Whether they cause large
numbers of crimes or not, gun-
show guns have an infamous
history. Both the shootings at
Columbine High School and
Granada Hills were committed
with weapons purchased from
gun-show dealers who did not
perform background checks. If
anything calls for regulation of
these sales, it is the cold-blooded
killing of schoolchildren.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz)
said in a recent press release that
he stands behind the bill.
“Despite the tragic lessons we
have learned, it is still far too
easy for a convicted felon to buy
firearms at a gun show,” Mc
Cain said. “It’s about what’s right
and wrong, and closing this
loophole is the right thing to
do.”
There are also concrete facts
that support closing the loop
hole. According to the General
Accounting Office’s report in
February of 2000, 95 percent of
background checks are complet
ed within two hours. The report
also stated that the majority of
background checks are complet
ed within two minutes .This
hardly seems like too much to
ask of a gun buyer to avoid an
other Columbine.
In addition, closing the loop
hole really does reduce crime.
An ATF report released this
year shows that crime is lower in
states like Illinois and Pennsyl
vania which have already closed
the loophole. In these two
states, which rank second and
fourth in number of gun shows
in America, they rank 15 th and
18th respectively in the number
of crime gun exports to other
states since closing the loophole.
The facts display a clear rela
tion between closing the loop
hole and lowering crime. De
spite gun lovers’ complaints, it is
the right thing to do.
Jason Bennyhoff is a
senior jowyialism major.
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I N 6
Bush's actions at odds with global warming concerns
atisfied customs'
your customers
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845-0569
(U-WIRE) — The results are in. The
[much-anticipated National Academy of Sci-
[ence’s report requested by the White House
[confirms what the majority of Americans al-
| ready accepted as fact — global warming does
[exist. Now the public is left wondering where
[President Bush has been for the past 15 years.
The administration is left to alter its position
[before President Bush heads to Europe for a se
ries of international meetings that will include
global wanning discussions. Previously the
president has dodged the issue by arguing the
research is inconclusive. After the NAS study
convinced even the most skeptical scientists
[that climate temperatures are rising largely due
to human activities producing harmful emis-
jsions, the Bush administration is left no room
to wiggle out of aggressive action.
The United Nations has been telling the
[world about the effects of global warming for
r ears. It is about time for Bush to pull his head ,
lout of the sand.
The White House remains quiet as it scram-
jbles for the right rhetoric to address the issue.
In a clear attempt to buy some time, the admin
istration pushed Condoleezza Rice, the Nation-
il Security advisor, onto the White House lawn
:o tell Americans that the administration offi-
ially recognized the existence of climate
change. Although it is considered a huge step
toward environmentally friendly policy, it is too
little, too late for an administration that has bla
tantly ignored the problem.
The report is at odds with the Bush energy
plan which relies heavily upon increased pro
duction of power plants, construction of coal
and oil refineries, and opening of previously
protected federal lands for energy exploration.
One of President Bush’s simple answers to a
complex energy problem is to encourage the li
censing of power plants through agency reviews
aimed at easing regulations. Coal industry and
refiners claim these already weak regulations
discourage them from making technological ad
vances because they run the risk of “tougher”
environmental regulations.
Vice President Dick Cheney has frequently
pointed out that the federal government has not
granted a nuclear power permit in 20 years, but
he fails to mention that nobody has applied for
one. Three Mile Island and Ghernobyl serve as
examples of nuclear power gone wrong. Insur
ance companies refuse to insure these bombs
waiting to go off.
Americans may initially support the idea of
building nuclear power plants for lower costs
and decreased dependence on foreign energy
sources, but the support will diminish as soon as
plans are made to build the plants in their own
backyard.
Another aspect of Bush’s long-term energy
plan devotes $2 billion to research for so-called
“clean coal” technology aimed at reducing
emissions from coal-burning plants.
Environmentalists understandably reject the
idea of clean coal. Mountain top removal is the
first step to extracting the coal and causes
harmful, irreversible damages to the land.
Mountain top mining began more than two
decades ago and is responsible for the disap
pearance of nearly 300,000 acres of tree-lined
mountain tops and for burying of at least 750
miles of streams. Although the industry says it
repairs the damage by replanting, the perma
nent effects remain and the beauty of the land is
sacrificed.
For Texans, the Bush industry-oriented ener
gy plan comes as no surprise. Texas has man
aged to rank first out of all 5 0 states and Cana
dian provinces as the top air and water polluter.
By no means did Bush create the problem, but
he never attempted to help it.
During his six-year stay in Austin, he man
aged to do his best at silencing concerned voic
es speaking out about the state’s severe environ
mental problems. Bush’s stay in the White
House has been no different than it was in
Texas, except now the whole country will feel
the effects of his short-sighted policies.
The Bush team’s recognition of global warm
ing is a large step forward, but can we hope for
a saner, more responsible energy policy? After
all, it took all these studies in order to convince
Bush of what was already common knowledge.
How do we know he won’t return from Europe
the same man who has denied the existence of
global warming for this long?
Lauren Hutton
Daily Texan
University of Texas
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