Gregory Freeman: Gun Violence: Moving Target. 8/31/1993

Headline: GUN VIOLENCE: MOVING TARGET
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Tues., 8/31/1993
Section: WAR PAGE, Page: 5B, Edition: FIVE STAR

IT'S TIME FOR a frank discussion about gun violence.
It's time to check our attitudes, our political stances, our egos at the door and look at the issue from an objective point of view.
I know it's not easy. I know because it's difficult for me. Regular readers of this column know I've favored increased gun controls. So, as a human being, it's easy for me to dismiss other ideas out of hand.

But the only thing that's really getting out of hand is the gun violence. Young people, middle-age people, old people are being blown away every night and every day.
It's got to stop. And I don't think anyone - of any political stripe - would disagree with that.

But how do we stop it?
I'll be the first to admit that I don't have the solution. If I had it, I could write a book about it and live the rest of my life on the book's profits.

But I have some thoughts on it.
   First, gun-control laws alone will not reduce the gun violence we're seeing. For example, in Missouri, where there already is a waiting period to buy guns, passage of the Brady bill would have no effect. Elsewhere, it might help.
   It's easy to say that we have waiting periods now and there's still plenty of gun violence. What we can't measure, however, is how many gun crimes didn't happen as the result of these laws on the books.
   The laws, however, obviously aren't the chief solution to reducing gun violence; otherwise, America would be much more peaceful than it is today. While it wouldn't be wise to remove those laws, we've got to realize that they're no panacea, either.

So what else must be done?
The law has to get tough on those who commit gun crimes. Tough laws are important if we'll ever deter criminals who use guns as their weapon of choice. Strict sentencing must become the law of the land when it comes to gun violence. It must be made clear that if you do the crime, you do the time - and plenty of it.
Of course, that's easier said than done. With prisons and jails overcrowded, it's difficult to suggest that more people go into them. There's no question about the need for additional jail space. Voters who are concerned about gun violence in our society will have to be willing to support new jails to get some of these people off the streets.

As it stands now, a juvenile who robs someone on the street at gunpoint can be back on the street in a matter of weeks, free to run amok again, terrorizing another teen-ager or senior citizen.
   That has a terrible effect on law-abiding people who live in the neighborhoods the criminals frequent. Many people want to do the right thing. But it's difficult if you think that the guy you report and testify against will be back on the street in a matter of weeks, and this time out to get you.
   Some seem baffled when people claim that they saw nothing when it's clear that those folks witnessed a crime. Many people are terrified to testify. They fear for their lives and, unfortunately, rightfully so, if the lawbreakers hit the streets so quickly.
   But that doesn't mean that people should give up.

To the contrary. There's strength in numbers, and in many areas, law-abiding folks far outnumber the lawbreakers.
People must be willing to organize their neighborhoods, work with police and turn in the urban terrorists.
That includes turning in those selling weapons illegally, both in the city and in suburbia. Those who would sell a kid a handgun for $25 or $50 should be turned in and dealt with harshly by the legal system. Those purveyors of death and destruction should be made to realize the consequences of their dealing. In many ways they are as, if not more, destructive than drug dealers. A crackdown on illegal gun dealers by police with the help of residents would go a long way in reducing the violence.

Let's not forget the parents of kids with guns. They should be made to share the responsibility for what their youngsters do with those guns. "I didn't know he had a gun" isn't much consolation to someone who's just lost a loved one. Parents have to make it their job to know.

One thing's for certain. We can't keep going on like this. We can't just keep turning our heads when kids and others are being gunned down at an alarming rate.
   This ain't the Wild West, folks. And we can't wait for the good sheriff to come riding into town to take care of all our troubles and our bad guys.
   This is real life, and this is a real problem.
   Either we resolve to do something about it now, or we go on pretending everything's fine.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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