European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 19, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes columns William f. Buckley or. There Are plenty of Birds that need to be shot i have done a modest amount of Hunting in my life mostly in Pursuit of game though my professional training was to Hunt Down germans and Japa Nese. So when a couple of weeks ago president Bush said that he certainly was going to ban the importation of semiautomatic rifles aware that the debate had to do with the ak-47s and Uzi carbines being discussed in California i wondered just what animals or. Bush had in mind As logical to Hunt Down with such weapons. I gave this a lot of thought and Sud Denly i remembered the scene in Gunge Din in which the wild indians threw was it Gary Grant into a pit of poisonous adders. Well he could certainly have used an ak-47 in that situation no question about it. In fact there arc Odd situations in which Odd forms of weaponry arc useful. The most frequently quoted supreme court decision ceding to the Federal government the right to specify the species of weapons you can legally go out and Purchase was United states is. Miller and that was Back in i939 w in the court sustained the National fire arms act of 1934, which required the registration Ofsa wed off shotguns. Quoth the court in the absence of any evidence lending to show that pos session or use of a Shotgun having a bar Rel of less than 18 inches in length at this time has some reasonable relationship to the reservation or efficiency of a Well regulated militia we cannot say that the second amendment guaranteed the right to keep and Bear such an now actually the Miller decision did t finish the argument. Second amendment zealots pointed out that rather than fight the Case the defendants Miller and Layton disappeared and the result of this was that their Case was halfheartedly argued. A lawyer conversant with the empirical record of weapons use might have pointed out for instance that 30,000 Short barrelled shotguns had been Pur chased by the . Government and use Din world War i As Trench guns and indeed such weapons were used in world War ii and through the Vietnam . Rosenthal and which of us a Lent Check Ouk gun Stoke class War. Besides which Legal students of the decision concede the court made the most substantial Concession in the controversy in that it spoke of Legal and Derivatively illegal deprivations of the right of Miller to Bear arms and Miller was not a member of the state militia. This undercut the argument of the abolitionists that the second amendment tothe Constitution is limited to protecting the state militias right to Bear arms. In due course Bush retreated but the problem of outlawing guns that can fir several dozen rounds per minute has hardly gone away. All that criminals need do now is to order guns Domestic Al a copse and organizations who arc Adamant in believing in the Basic right of the american citizen to Bear arms whether to kill game or to wound and kill human beings Bent on murder or rape do much damage to their cause by taking Solup tvarian pro gun positions. Larry Pratt of the gun owners of America has said of the import ban it takes guns out of the hands of citizens in the face of rising criminal rage in this Well that is formally True but also could be said of whatever the Law is that denies to a citizen the right to buy a howitzer. Wayne la Pierrc of the National Rifle association spoke More reasonably whence said today s action we Trust will end the Rush to come up with ill conceived and ill defined legislative promo Well it wont. There Are those around the country for whom judge Abner Mikva is the High priest who be Lieve that the Way to Stop people from killing other people is to Stop the Manu facture of the contrivances that arc used to kill people go after the criminal said or. Bush which is As sound a direction As you get from the Best trained Pointer who freezes when he spots a crouching pheasant in the Brush. What you need to do then is to kill the Bird which Means these Days that you have to fire through a Blanket of judicial and sentimental fog. Of the kind that took us 10 years to execute Ted Bundy. On him we should have used an ak-47 and pleaded guilty. C Universal press Syndicate Semi semantics aside they re murder guns correction in a recent column suggesting aban on the Sale to civilians of military Type assault rifles the favorite tool of the drug killers 1 called them automatic weapons. Wrong. Automatic weapons fire a Stream of bullets if the trigger is just squeezed once and held. They Are Gener ally outlawed already. But assault rifles which can be bought All Over America Cash and carry Are Only semiautomatic. A killer has to squeeze the trigger for every Bullet. That is All he has to do and a skilled killer can squeeze off Asman As so or 60 bullets a minute without tiring his Finger. I do not know whether this distinction Means a great Deal to the relatives of hundreds of americans casually shot Down in the streets by drug gangsters using assault rifles. I do not know whether it comforts of the five children mowed Down by a psychotic killer in a California schoolyard. I know it docs not matter at All to the killers who eagerly buy semiautomatic. And police around the country have told me you can take the distinction and shove it into the car of the nearest gun lobbyist. Cops have a thing against facing killers carrying hand held death sprayers while they themselves Are trying to haul pistols out of their holsters. However it Means a great Deal to some gun enthusiasts. They have written sharply to Point out the error in terminology. Are we All crazy in this country or what have we really sat around decade after decade arguing about making it a Little harder for maniacs and gangsters to go into a store plunk Down some Money and walk out with a gun meant for the Battlefield do we really believe the argument of gun lovers that the founders of the Constitution intended that the second amendment right to Bear arms written be cause a Well regulated militia was then considered necessary to the Security of a free state Means we now have to sell criminals the weapons to kill 10,000 americans a year and that we arc constitutionally bound to a new militia the drug militia to de stroy us do we believe that for heaven s Sake do we really think Hunters will be deprived of the sport of killing ducks and Deer if we outlaw guns de signed solely for the sport of killing men and women Well our collective head is beginning to Clear a bit. Something is happening. President hush handsomely reversing himself says he will pro bit the importing of semiautomatic weapons a cheer for him an l for William j. Bennett the new drug policy Dirac Ofa Good old boy from Brooklyn who helped Persi do the president. Now come inc hard part taking the next logical step and boning the Domestic manufacture and Sale of such weapons. Their is going to be one big Battle in Washington and around the country about that beginning in april. When a gun restricting Bill introduced by sen. Howardm Lizenbaum the Ohio Democrat and others gets to a Senate judiciary subcommittee. Before we become too grateful to the new administration let s Sec if the president and Bennett help the congressional fighters of guns against the gunfighters. What is Clearing Heads is that the Public is beginning to Sec that murder guns like assault rifles and hand guns can be strictly controlled without destroying i ther constitutional intent or Duck Hunting. Much credit goes to police around the country. They know that 28 percent of the criminals who use guns got them right Over the counter. And they arc telling us that if we expect the police to face death in the Street in decency s Sake we ought at least to try to make it a bit More difficult to shoot them Down. We need National Laws on gun restriction regulation and registration. Dewey Stokes president of the fraternal order of police speaking from Columbus Ohio -. Says the country also needs Laws decreeing Long jail terms no plea bargaining no parole or furlough for anybody carrying a gun in the commission of a crime. The police believe the jail Pusc key should jus about be thrown away if the criminal fires a shot. Sounds Good to me. No tightening up on guns and mandating Long jail sentences for criminals carrying them will noted crime or the drug Trade. But it might save the lives of some police and other americans in streets or schoolyards. And it Wilt allow us to talk about our civilization without smirking or weeping c new Loftt times
