THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702080004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 47 lines
The murder of 17-year-old Kellam High School student Timothy W. Wheaton in his Virginia Beach neighborhood last month crushed his family and friends. Grief-stricken, too, were the families of young people arrested in connection with the slaying.
And on the same January day that the Norfolk Circuit Court trial of 17-year-old Jermaine Bell opened on charges of murder, attempted murder and two firearms violations arising from the gunshot death of 3-year-old Crystal Ricks in the Berkley section of Norfolk, two young men were gunned down in the Lafayette neighborhood of the city.
Happens all the time in the United States. On average, 16 children are killed by bullets every day. Some are suicides, some are shot accidentally, many are murdered.
Families and friends mourn. Some stunned communities unite to create a safer environment for their young.
Catching and separating from society perpetrators of violence is essential, of course, and that's being done; the U.S. prison population is the largest ever - more than 1 million, for a 1-to-262 ratio of inmates to general population.
Character-building activities - sports, recreation, scouting, boys' clubs, girls' clubs - these help prevent crime, especially when parents are involved. Community programs that nurture the young and foster classroom success are crime-prevention measures.
Additional measures to curb the still-promiscuous commerce in handguns are needed. Handgun Control urges federal efforts to impede trafficking in guns and ammunition by (1) licensing all handgun owners; (2) registering all handgun transfers, including private sales; (3) limiting handgun purchases by individuals to one per month (as in South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland); (4) putting ``kitchen table'' dealers out of business; (5) authorizing only licensed dealers to sell ammunition; and (6) having licensed dealers sell firearms only at their places of business, reducing the number of firearms sold at gun shows.
The U.S. Supreme Court is pondering gun-lobby arguments to cripple the federal ``Brady'' law, which mandates criminal-record checks on gun buyers. All living Americans who have lost loved ones to gun violence ought to demand that their senators and representatives vote for meaningful regulation of firearms commerce. A full-throated chorus from the legions of the bereaved would drown out the gun lobby.