Letter: Keep up fight on gun control

Friday, March 10, 2000 | 9:58 a.m.

It has been said that once you give an inch to your opposition, he will take a mile. Brian Greenspun's March 5 column, "Gun madness must stop," supports President Clinton's next round of gun control legislation in Congress. All this is because of a 6-year-old boy who stole an already stolen gun from his uncle's crack house, then took it to school and shot a 6-year-old classmate to death.

While Greenspun would like me to agree that mandatory safety locks and background checks at gun shows (which are conducted by licensed dealers) are a good thing and in no way inhibit my right to keep and bear arms, I would remind him to look no further than the People's Republic of California as a role model for gun control.

That state started with mandatory registration and other restrictions on the purchase and ownership of guns; officials said the right to keep and bear arms wouldn't be infringed. Then after the Littleton, Colo., shooting, they banned assault rifles and automatic pistols; they even sent notices to all legally registered gun owners, giving them a deadline to turn in their weapons. "We know who you are," the letter concludes.

Yes, like Greenspun I, too, own guns and would love to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and children. But the reality is that the Brady law didn't stop gun violence any more than our failing war on drugs has stopped the flow of drugs to our country. These absurd laws Clinton is trying to pass will not only fare no better, but will bring us another step closer to be just like Australia, whose ban on guns has contributed to an escalating crime rate. I, for one, refuse to give an inch and become a victim.

MARK WILSON