Everyone should suppport this.
[url]www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/opinion/edit/HANDGUNS.htm[/url]
Sensible key to gun
safety
Licensing legislation
faces reality: Handguns
are inherently
dangerous
PUTTING a loaded handgun under a bed or in a
clothes drawer is like leaving keys on the dashboard.
It invites disaster.
Most drivers know better. Not enough gun owners do.
Out of carelessness or ignorance, they put others in
peril.
In the last school year, 510 guns were confiscated in
California public schools. Only a small portion of those
guns were bought illegally. Most, the police say, came
from home and or were taken from a neighbor's
house, where a kid knew a gun was located.
Tempt enough kids, by making guns visible and
accessible, and tragedies like the shooting spree this
year at Santana High, outside San Diego, will follow.
To reduce the risk of accidental shootings and the
odds that guns will fall into the wrong hands, handgun
buyers should be licensed. They should be required to
demonstrate they know how to use and store guns
safely. They should prove that they understand gun
laws.
That is the gist of a licensing bill, AB 35, sponsored by Assemblyman Kevin
Shelley, D-San Francisco, and its companion Senate bill, SB 52. It would treat
handguns for what they are: inherently dangerous consumer products.
Under current law, prospective handgun buyers can take a written exam on
gun laws and safety or simply watch a video on guns at a gun dealer. That is
to say, they can zone out, as a video drones on, and still get the weapons. No
need to touch a gun to take it home.