Keep guns out of wrong hands The "whereas" clauses in a resolution the Milwaukee County Board passed in June are weighty. They note, for instance, that:
About 2,000 people have died of gunshot wounds in the county since 1991, and about 1,400 of the deaths were homicides.
Some 85% of guns traced to crime in Milwaukee had been transferred at least once after the weapon was originally bought.
In some 38% of handgun homicides in southeastern Wisconsin, the suspected perpetrators were under age 21, according to a recent study, which notes that licensed dealers are not permitted to sell firearms to patrons that young.
The lack of record-keeping requirements for the transfers promotes illegal gun trade to criminals and other barred buyers, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives.
In contrast, the "resolved" clause is mild - merely, putting the County Board on record as supporting efforts by the state Legislature "to enact legislation that will regulate the sale of handguns, rifles, shotguns and machine guns to convicted felons and minors." The mild language no doubt helps explain why the resolution enjoyed unanimous support.
Yet, County Executive Scott Walker vetoed the resolution, saying it would be too burdensome for law-abiding gun owners. He said the county should focus instead on getting people off the streets who commit gun crimes and addressing "the symptoms (sic) that lead to more violence in our community."
Well, we're happy to report a bit of news buried by more headline-grabbing topics as the County Board rushed to recess for August. The board overrode Walker's veto - and unanimously.
The criminal justice system is striving as best it can to get gun criminals off the street, and indeed the community, including Walker, must do a better job of addressing crime's causes. But one contributor is the easy access of weapons to criminals and minors. Public officials mustn't be so beholden to the gun lobby that they won't take even modest steps to keep guns out of the hands of those prohibited from having them.
The force behind the resolution is a group called Mothers Against Gun Violence, which consists of mothers of slain children. In that organization's behalf, state Rep. Spencer Coggs (D-Milwaukee) has commendably drafted a bill that would require the registration of firearms every time ownership changes - a needed step that would enable the authorities to better trace guns used in crimes.
The County Board got this issue right, and Walker had it wrong.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/aug05/349575.asp.
