Clinton, Davis Move on Guns

In the eight days since the Columbine High School massacre, gun control opponents have blamed the mayhem on everything but the weapons: on the breakdown of the family, lack of parental attention, video games, rock music lyrics, movie and television violence and the general moral degradation of society. Some or all of those surely helped Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris make the awful leap from teenage fantasy to bloody reality. All should be explored for clues that might help prevent events of this kind in the future.

But the argument of the gun control foes contains a fatal flaw: Without the guns, and the bombs, Klebold and Harris would never have been able to take the lives of 15 humans, including their own. Both President Clinton and Gov. Gray Davis have endorsed new legislation that would help deny such power to potential Klebolds and Harrises.

Davis, who normally does not endorse bills that are still in the Legislature, is backing SB 23, by Sen. Don Perata (D-Alameda), which would establish a new ban on assault weapons.

Clinton called on Congress Tuesday to enact a number of proposals including bills to raise the legal age for handgun possession from 18 to 21 years, require background checks for all gun show sales, impose stiff penalties for parents and other adults who allow children access to guns, and ban the sale of bomb materials to minors.

Passage of these measures is imperative but will not be easy, even with the anti-gun emotions generated by the Colorado tragedy. Gun owner groups are unbending in their belief that any firearm restriction erodes their supposed 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and will ultimately lead to confiscation of their weapons. Both Clinton and Davis will need to lobby aggressively.

There are legitimate reasons for owning a gun if safety and responsibility are exercised. But no weapon makes murder faster or easier than a firearm, and there is no reason, ever, that this deadly power should fall as it does now, almost effortlessly, into the hands of twisted people who can then embark on a killing spree.