KC
August 2, 2003, 04:08 PM
Article on NJ.com (http://www.nj.com/news/bridgeton/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1058185519176200.xml)
Can we ban assault weapons?
By SEAN C. McCULLEN
Staff Writer
Three Oaklyn, Camden County, teens armed with enough ammunition to battle a small police force embarked last Sunday on a plot to murder three classmates and countless others, but were caught before the carnage began.
A disgruntled former employee entered a Lockheed Martin plant in Mississippi Tuesday and opened fire, killing five before turning the gun on himself.
Three children and their mother and grandmother were found shot to death in their Bakersfield, Calif., home Tuesday.
Only one of these three horrid incidents -- one was a near incident, but that's not important here -- occurred in our area, but all three beg the question: What can be done to curb gun violence?
Two Bridgeton police officers, the mayor of Bridgeton and a state assemblyman had the question put to them Friday.
While none called for an all-out ban on firearms -- it would never happen, they said -- all agreed assault weapons, such as AK-47s and Uzis, generally serve no redeeming purpose and should be banned.
"You wouldn't use that to go hunting. You wouldn't use it for home protection," Det. Lt. Jeff Wentz said. "I can't think of any legitimate purpose for them."
Mayor Michael Pirolli, who enjoys hunting, favors increased gun-control measures. He took the ban talk a step further -- he feels all handguns should be banned as well, providing a rough estimate that nearly 80 percent of murders in this country come at the hands of these weapons.
And handguns aren't used to hunt, he added.
Banning guns outright would unfairly punish law-abiding, responsible gun owners, Wentz said. Those who want guns will find a way to get them.
"Look at the drug problem. Drugs have been outlawed forever, but people still possess them and find ways to get them," he said.
Det. Sgt. Carl Crispin, an avid hunter and longtime member of the National Rifle Association, called upon an old adage of the NRA when asked whether guns could, should or would ever be banned.
"Guns don't kill people. People kill people," he said.
Assemblyman Doug Fisher said education about gun safety is necessary to fight gun violence.
Fisher acknowledged that state legislators might need to re-visit gun legislation. But he said it is tough to balance the right of someone to protect their home versus the need to stop students from bringing them into schools.
"I think assault weapons are overkill. We certainly have to restrict the use of the assault weapons, and I think the Legislature has addressed it, but maybe we need to look into putting more teeth into (the laws)," he said.
Guns will never be outright banned, Fisher said.
Crispin added that enough gun legislation exists to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people. And when the wrong people, such as convicted criminals, are found to be in possession of a firearm, there are enhanced penalties to keep them behind bars.
"It's a matter of whether those enhanced penalties are carried out," Crispin said.
But Crispin said banning guns, or even increasing the requirements to buy one, would only punish the law-abiding gun owners because most shootings are carried out with illegally-obtained weapons.
And how to stop the illegal acquisition of firearms goes back to Wentz' drug analogy -- if people want them, they're going to get them, somehow, some way.
Pirolli thinks increased attempts to fight drug trafficking -- DARE and the county's anti-crime team that pulls officers from various municipal departments -- could be one way to attack the proliferation of gun violence.
He urged the Bush administration to reinstate federal grants for drug elimination programs.
"The drug elimination dollars directed toward some of the housing projects simply no longer exists," he said. "We're left on our own.
KC
Can we ban assault weapons?
By SEAN C. McCULLEN
Staff Writer
Three Oaklyn, Camden County, teens armed with enough ammunition to battle a small police force embarked last Sunday on a plot to murder three classmates and countless others, but were caught before the carnage began.
A disgruntled former employee entered a Lockheed Martin plant in Mississippi Tuesday and opened fire, killing five before turning the gun on himself.
Three children and their mother and grandmother were found shot to death in their Bakersfield, Calif., home Tuesday.
Only one of these three horrid incidents -- one was a near incident, but that's not important here -- occurred in our area, but all three beg the question: What can be done to curb gun violence?
Two Bridgeton police officers, the mayor of Bridgeton and a state assemblyman had the question put to them Friday.
While none called for an all-out ban on firearms -- it would never happen, they said -- all agreed assault weapons, such as AK-47s and Uzis, generally serve no redeeming purpose and should be banned.
"You wouldn't use that to go hunting. You wouldn't use it for home protection," Det. Lt. Jeff Wentz said. "I can't think of any legitimate purpose for them."
Mayor Michael Pirolli, who enjoys hunting, favors increased gun-control measures. He took the ban talk a step further -- he feels all handguns should be banned as well, providing a rough estimate that nearly 80 percent of murders in this country come at the hands of these weapons.
And handguns aren't used to hunt, he added.
Banning guns outright would unfairly punish law-abiding, responsible gun owners, Wentz said. Those who want guns will find a way to get them.
"Look at the drug problem. Drugs have been outlawed forever, but people still possess them and find ways to get them," he said.
Det. Sgt. Carl Crispin, an avid hunter and longtime member of the National Rifle Association, called upon an old adage of the NRA when asked whether guns could, should or would ever be banned.
"Guns don't kill people. People kill people," he said.
Assemblyman Doug Fisher said education about gun safety is necessary to fight gun violence.
Fisher acknowledged that state legislators might need to re-visit gun legislation. But he said it is tough to balance the right of someone to protect their home versus the need to stop students from bringing them into schools.
"I think assault weapons are overkill. We certainly have to restrict the use of the assault weapons, and I think the Legislature has addressed it, but maybe we need to look into putting more teeth into (the laws)," he said.
Guns will never be outright banned, Fisher said.
Crispin added that enough gun legislation exists to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people. And when the wrong people, such as convicted criminals, are found to be in possession of a firearm, there are enhanced penalties to keep them behind bars.
"It's a matter of whether those enhanced penalties are carried out," Crispin said.
But Crispin said banning guns, or even increasing the requirements to buy one, would only punish the law-abiding gun owners because most shootings are carried out with illegally-obtained weapons.
And how to stop the illegal acquisition of firearms goes back to Wentz' drug analogy -- if people want them, they're going to get them, somehow, some way.
Pirolli thinks increased attempts to fight drug trafficking -- DARE and the county's anti-crime team that pulls officers from various municipal departments -- could be one way to attack the proliferation of gun violence.
He urged the Bush administration to reinstate federal grants for drug elimination programs.
"The drug elimination dollars directed toward some of the housing projects simply no longer exists," he said. "We're left on our own.
KC