Bullet Purchases

* L.A. City Councilman Mike Feuer’s ammunition regulation (May 27) isn’t going to prevent crime. The reason it will fail is that it does not change the criminal’s decision to commit a crime. If crime control is the goal, Los Angeles should follow the lead of cities like Boston and execute programs that concentrate on the people who commit crimes. According to testimony before Congress by a Boston police commissioner, the Boston police warned the city’s gangs that there would be severe consequences if the violence didn’t stop. All but three gangs cooperated and the murder count fell 60%, without further harassment of law-abiding citizens. Members of the three gangs that didn’t cooperate are in prison or jail awaiting trial.

Instead of real crime control, Los Angeles wants to spend money on a system for keeping track of people who aren’t committing crimes. The people on the City Council aren’t stupid. They must certainly know this isn’t going to have the stated effect. One must conclude this is being done for no other reason than to harass law-abiding gun owners.

There is a word for people who use political power for retribution against people who express opposition to the party in power.

BRUCE ERICKSON

El Segundo

* The current trend in proposals to register the sale of bullets is really a misguided attempt to eliminate the hazards of firearm ownership that will have no real effect on crimes and accidents with guns. There is no reason to believe any measurable benefit will occur under such laws.

A more logical move would be a state law requiring all gun owners to get a license similar to a driver’s license; in doing so the gun owner must take a written and practical test every four years just like an automobile driver, and pay a fee for the license. Isn’t it odd one cannot drive a car without a license because it is a deadly machine, yet one can own a gun. License the gun owners, and let them buy whatever they want to buy in the form of firearms.

MICHAEL L. STEMPEL

West Hollywood