ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 27, 1996 TAG: 9611270056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BOSTON
SOURCE: MEG VAILLANCOURT THE BOSTON GLOBE
THE TECHNOLOGY to do the job has been available for years, advocates of the measure say.
Imagine a handgun that, if it falls into the hands of the average 6-year-old, is physically impossible for the child to shoot.
A gun with an internal lock preventing older youngsters and unauthorized adults from using it.
A gun with an indicator that makes it obvious - even to those who aren't firearms savvy - whether it's loaded or not.
A gun that can be traced easily by serial numbers that can't be erased.
According to Attorney General Scott Harshbarger and other gun control advocates, this isn't just some gun control advocate's wish list. In one form or another, the technology for such safety features exists.
But Harshbarger's proposed tough new regulations, which would require such safety measures on handguns sold in Massachusetts, had gun manufacturers and owner-activist groups howling in protest Tuesday.
``The goal is laudable,'' George Colclough, vice president of Smith & Wesson in Springfield, Mass., the largest gun manufacturer in the world, said at a day-long State House hearing. ``But the present technology such as suggested in these regulations cannot satisfy the safety, reliability and dependability criteria necessary to firearms design.''
But Harshbarger and other gun-control advocates argued the technology to make guns ``child-proof'' has existed for more than 100 years.
``Smith & Wesson's own corporate history notes that they made a gun that could not be operated by a young child in the 1880s, and they manufactured a half a million of these guns up until the 1940s,'' said Stephen Teret, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy Research. ``They don't make that gun anymore They need some encouragement to use their own technology. And these regulations provide that encouragement.''
The regulations, which would apply to about 30 types of handguns, are aimed at preventing their misuse by criminals and children.
Among other things, the regulations would require:
* Child-proofing features, such as grip safeties, that might require the user to be able to exert pressure above the capacity of most youngsters under the age of six.
* Devices to control gun use, such as internal combination locks similar to those on briefcases or magnets that prevent the gun from being used except by someone wearing a specially magnetized ring.
* Load indicators, like those that tell you when a camera has film in it.
* Tamper-resistant serial numbers, so guns that are illegally sold or used can be more easily traced.
The proposed regulations also would require warning labels about possible misuse or defects. In addition, they effectively ban the sale of so-called ``Saturday night specials'' by requiring that all handguns sold in the state meet specific minimum quality standards for such things as metal strength and susceptibility to accidental discharge when dropped.
Harshbarger, a long-time gun control advocate, has the power to implement the proposed regulation changes after holding public hearings.
But critics argued Tuesday that he's pushing the tough new regulations, which do not require legislative approval, to increase his political profile as he prepares to run for higher office.
Several public health officials backed the rules, however, noting that firearms are the second-leading cause of injury-related death to children and adolescents in Massachusetts.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB