European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 31, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes . Friday december 31,1993most in poll want tighter gun curbs Washington a americans by a wide majority want tighter controls on the Sale of fire refs and a ban on As Sault weapons and think handguns should be registered according to a poll published thursday. The Usa today can Gallup poll found that six out of 10 people oppose an outright ban on handguns but the re verse was True when the question referred to a a cheap handguns. Six out of 10 would ban the Quot cheap guns. The report on the Survey did not spell out the distinction Between handguns in general and cheap handguns. In an editorial wednesday Usa today called for the creation of a National system to Register firearms and License gun owners just As cars Are registered and Drivers Are licensed after Demon strafing they can drive safely. A treat guns As cars and shooters As Drivers and then watch the blood Mist slowly surely lift a it said. The poll thursday found wide support or gun control. Sixty seven percent of respondents said a they favored stricter Laws controlling fire arms sales with Only 7 percent saying the. A qty five cent said the Laws should stay As they Are. Laws should be less strict. Twenty five per and with 81 percent favouring the registration of handguns Only 18 percent opposed such a move. The rest had no opinion. A a. Fuller 87 percent of respondents said they approved of the new Brady Law requiring a five Day waiting period for a background Check before the Purchase of a firearm. Eighty nine percent of those polled said people should be required to take safety classes before qualifying to own a gun and 69 percent said people should be limited to purchasing no More than one gun a month. Seventy seven percent favored a Bah on assault weapons. The poll was conducted Between dec. 17 and dec 21 and sought the opinion of 1,014 people. Its margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage Points. A Usa today a wednesday edition devoted 18 pages of stories in All four Sec in the stars and stripes 10 years ago dec. 31,1963 a despite president Reagan a declaration that no commanders should be punished defense Secretary Caspar w. Weinberger prepared to order reviews of the Beirut Lebanon bombing that could result in reprimands for some officers. 20 year Sago dec. 31,1973 a Federal Energy chief William e. Simon said that his Agency is attempting to learn if fuel shortages have led to abnormal stockpiling by refiners and others. 30 year Sago dec. 31,1963 a Greece a archbishop Makarios and the turkish cypriot Leader agreed to proposals by a British Diplomat to create a Neutral zone Between their lighting forces in Nicosia. 40 year Sago _ dec. 31,1953 a defense Secretary Charles e. Wilson warned americans that they must Bear High defense costs and accept military service As Long As the soviets threaten world peace. 50 year Sago dec. 31,1943 a . Bombers launched their ninth major attack in december hammering targets from the French invasion coast to deep in southwestern Germany in a follow up of the Royal air forces second heaviest raid on Berlin. World War ii 50 years ago today dec. 31 1�9�?�4 �3 soviet troops. Retake Zhitomi on the Southern front Orasing the gains of Gormany a a Orostin countera4tinsivo. In Italy bad weather and the germans tenacious defense in rugged terrain have the offensive by weary Allied troops at a near standstill. Chinese and japanese troops Battlo Quot a North of yup bang Gap in Northem Burma s Hula Wing Valley source 2 tails of War w h Smidili publishers inc would almanac Book of world War ii. Bison books corp ,1981 apr 0a Cla m Junit a in .1. A a a a. A f Njifr-�b6t n -94e a a worker lower left of billboard puts the finishing touches on the newly erected a death clock on times Square in new York on wednesday. Deaths new York a a 3l/2-stor>-High a death clock that will tick off the nations gun killings was set up wednesday near times Square. Financier Robert e. Brennan who pledged $1 million for the clock said he Hopes it will draw attention to a the ugly Story of gun deaths in this  the digital clock is set in a billboard erected at a Cost of $300,000 atop a nine Story building at thester Section of Broadway and 47th Street. It will Cost $20,000 a year to maintain he said he said the number of deaths will be updated continually with data from Federal agencies. It will begin its count saturday new years Day. Brennan s 23-year-old brother was shot to death in 1969 by a Deputy sheriff after a Highway Chase. Brennan termed the shooting a a tragic senseless homicide with a  a grand Juty sharply criticized the officer who shot Kevin Brennan but no one was indicted. Conservative figures estimate that 15,000 americans died by gunfire in 1992 and 65,000 were wounded said rep. Charlese Schumer a new York Democrat Brennan said gunfire kills 37,000 people yearly in the United states. He said he Hopes to eventually set up a death clocks in other major cities. Tons to an exploration of the gun Issue. It reported that there Are now 211 million firearms in the United states one for every adult and half the children. It said 22 major american cities have set homicide records this year. It said 15,377 people were killed in firearms homicides in 1992 a 12,489 of them with handguns. That is twice the number killed by handguns in 1966. And it said homicides among americans under 18 Rose by 144 percent Over six years from 602 deaths in 1986 to 1,468 in 1992. Quot a handgun homicide is committed every 42 minutes in the Usa a the newspaper said. A in 1982, it was 62 minutes a ruled of in City s projects Portland Maine apr a judge wednesday upheld an 18-year ban on guns in Portland housing projects rejecting a Challenge brought by the National Rifle association. Seate Justice Sidney w. Wernick con eluded that the Portland housing authority ban on Possession and display of firearms was a reasonable measure to promote the health welfare and safety of tenants. A was such the lease provision does not violate the constitutional right of the plaintiffs to keep and Bear arms a a Wernick wrote. The ruling was a setback for the Era which sued on behalf of an unidentified couple who own guns and live in one of the City a 10 housing projects. Their lawyer Jeffrey Jones of Scarborough said he would recommend that be appealed to the Maine supreme judicial court the states highest court. A we understand that there can be some reasonable regulation in this area but we never Felt that reasonable regulation would be defined As a total ban a Jones said. Police chief Michael Chitwood who testified this month in support of the ban was elated. A a in be said All along that this should be a Model that could alleviate some of the War Type violence that is occurring in housing projects across America today a Chitwood said. The ban was inserted in tenant leases in 1975 after an upsurge in gang activity became so bad that the Post office refused to deliver mail to the projects and firefighters refused to enter without Pov lice Protection. About 2,700 of the City a 62,000 people live in the projects. Woman who refused a Section has baby Chicago apr a woman who refused a caesarean Section despite doctors warnings gave birth to an apparently healthy baby. But the child a guardian warned it is too soon to say whether the infant escaped injury. The boy born wednesday weighed 4 pounds 12 ounces a underweight for a Normal child a but was in Good condition said  memorial Hospital administrator James Henri. The baby smother known As Mother Doe in court papers and identified a wednesday As Tawiia dried successfully fought All the Way to the . Supreme court against county officials who tried to Force her to undergo a a Section. Doctors at Chicago a St. Joseph Hospital had warned Briccio that her fetus was not getting enough oxygen and w Ould probably be brain damaged or born dead if she did not have the operation. But Vericci a 20-year Christian fundamentalist said she had Faith that god would deliver her a healthy baby. A fall the reports that we have is that the baby is in Good condition a said Colleen Connell a Lawr for the american civil liberties Union in resented Briccio. In Illinois who rep Connel Sid the apparently healthy delivery a underscores the importance of allowing individuals to Mycke medical decisions rather than have the state thrust those decisions upon  but Patrick Murphy who As the Cook county Public guardian had pressed for a a Section warned a the doctors told us it might take six months or More to determine whether the child is Normal or  Murphy said the fact that the child is underweight could show that doctors were Correct. Normal birth weight for a healthy child carried to full term is slightly  7 pounds