European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 12, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Get even tougher by Anne Swardson the Washington Post Only the most determined and upright citizens need apply to buy handguns in Canada these Days. Here is what they must do request an acquisition permit which takes at least 28 Days. Answer detailed questions about their personal lives and provide two personal references. Tell police Why they want a gun. If they Are collectors or members of a gun club they must prove it. If they need it for self defense they must show that their lives Are in immediate danger Only a handful of such applications is accepted each year. Apply for a permit to carry the weapon. Submit Complete identifying information on it so it can be listed in a National registry. And starting this month before All that they must take a stiff hour Long firearms safety test that generally requires a two Day course to pass. Not surprisingly far fewer crimes Are committed with guns in Canada than in the United states even accounting for the fact that Canada s population is one tenth that of the United states. It is not just because of gun control that guns Don t kill canadians much. It s also because canadians Don t kill canadians much. In 1992, 753 people in Canada were killed by other people about 3 per 100,000. In the United states the number was 23,760, or 9.3 per 100,000. In Canada one of every three homicides is committed with a firearm in the United states the figure is seven of 10. The Canadian Constitution does not include a right to Bear arms As in the american Bill of rights although 6 million guns of All kinds Are legally owned by canadians. More than half Are rifles and More than two thirds of those who own guns use them for Hunting. Let s face it we have a culture of violence in the United states that Canada does not have said Jack Levin professor of sociology and criminology at " northeastern University in Boston. We have the murder of the week you in Canada have the murder of the  still canadians Are overwhelmingly in favor of even stricter gun control Laws. In a National poll last fall 70 percent of respondents favored an outright ban on civilian Possession of handguns and military style assault weapons. And gun control is expected to be on the Agenda this year when Canada s new Liberal controlled parliament convenes. One of prime minister Jean Chretien s Campaign promises was to prohibit anyone convicted of a variety of violent or drug related offences from possessing a gun. National Laws were most recently toughened in 1991, spurred by the 1989 massacre of 14 women at a Montreal College by a Young Man using a Semi automatic weapon. For a year now for instance canadians seeking to buy guns of any kind must answer such personal questions As whether they have been involved in a romantic relationship that ended in the past two years or had recently failed a course at school. If so they Are to provide details. The new safety training course and test is the last provision of the 1991 Law to be phased in. Still there is Little sign so far that the tougher Law has had any Impact on reported crime in Canada. In 1988, for instance nearly the same number of people were killed with firearms As in 1992 245. Moreover 8,726 robberies were committed with firearms in 1992, up from 6,072 in 1988 a rate of 23 per 100,000 population compared with 32 per 100,000 for the More recent year. In general crime rates tend to reflect other factors than gun control said Philip Stenning a professor of criminology at the University of Toronto. The Best one can a police official in Ottawa Canada holds some of the restricted weapons surrendered during an amnesty program last year. Say is there seems to be a relationship Between strict handgun controls and the use of handguns in crimes in  Canada s Overall violent crime rate is higher than that of the United states 1,122 per 100,000 compared to 758 per 100,000, but far fewer of those crimes proportionally Are committed with guns. Handguns and military style weapons Are the most strictly controlled firearms in Canada but the acquisition certificate the personal questions the waiting period and the new training classes apply to anyone who wants to Purchase a gun of any kind. T % continued from Page 19 gun Joe said. It came at the perfect  he could t quite believe that he had just walked into a police station with an illegal gun. He remembered asking the first officer he saw whether he d be locked up. He said no Well give you Money for that " that was t the Only reason he liked the Swap. In a comment echoed repeatedly by police and Community leaders he added if it saves one life then it s Worth  Frank said he bought his sawed off .22-caliber Rifle about four months ago for $20 from an acquaintance of a Friend you know How it  he said he got it for Home  we re All under fire. Everybody s been shooting everybody for no reason Frank said. You be got these 13-year-Olds who Don t have anything who want your sneakers or your jacket and they la just do you in. For them that s the Way of life around Here. That s the Way the two generations before us have been raised and this is their  when his father or a Friend would walk outside Frank 30, would sit by the window and watch them not aiming the Rifle but keeping it ready at his Side. Ever since he got the gun though he s worried about it. I Don t know what it s been used for in the past Frank said. I Don t need to live with this problem. I Don t need to live with hurting someone that Way or making a mistake and hurting myself or my  he said he never fired it. So this is a Good Way to get rid of it. I made a profit off of it he added. Frank went to the police station with the intended beneficiaries of his gun Trade his 10-year-old brother and 8-year-old son who la be getting the toys. Frank said he had no other guns. Was he worried about that we re making plans to just relocate out of the City he said. My 19-year-old daughter was bugging me to bring them in said Joanne who had just turned in two rifles and a pistol in a plastic garbage bag. I said i Don t know i la wait till they pick one place in Brooklyn because this was so far for me to come. But she said Mommy get the toys and we could use the Money to buy clothes or food " Joanne s father bought the guns from a Pawn shop to protect his Home after King s assassination led to rioting in cities. She had seen her neighbourhood become increasingly violent there s fear  she had never used her father s guns and never planned to so Joanne 36, was Happy that now at least they d be Worth something to her three children. I m going to buy them some clothes and some toys that s what i m going to do she said. 20 the stars and stripes wednesday january 12, 1994