Gun Control

Punish Criminals, But Prevention Is Better

February 06, 1995

The governor of Massachusetts, William Weld, thinks special "gun courts" are a good idea. They would be used to speed the trials of individuals charged with using guns to commit crimes.

Tough, swift punishment for violent criminals is essential if people are to have respect for the justice system. If Massachusetts adopts gun courts, it will be one of the first states to do so. But whatever merits the idea may have, it is a reaction to crime - a reaction to the problems society faces in part because it has refused to control the proliferation of firearms, especially handguns.

More sensible steps to prevent crime, such as requiring licenses for handguns, might reduce the need for reaction to crime. Meanwhile:

* On the same day that city schools in Milwaukee began a week of activities designed to fight violence, a teen-ager fired a gun inside a high school classroom and wounded a student.

* In Miami, a radio station psychic and her husband were shot to death outside the station's offices.

* A woman was fatally shot in Norfolk.

* In Washington, D.C., police found a man suffering from gunshot wounds lying in an alley. He died later.

Gun control can help prevent crime.

Daily Press Articles