0 OPINION Monday, November 18, 1985 Page 4 The Michigan Daily I Edie antichigan Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Support local hand gun ban Vol. XCVI, No. 53 * 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board Yes on referendum COGNIZANT OF its role as the students' advocate in the face of University bureaucracy, the Michigan Student Assembly has addressed its own bureaucratic problems with its reorganization referendum in today's and tomorrow's LSA Student Gover- nment elections. Whatever success MSA has had in recent years has largely been the result of efforts of individual mem- bers rather than the Assembly as a whole. Plagued each year by the need to train almost 90 percent of its new members, as well as by a sprawling and inefficient internal committee arrangement, the Assembly has not been able to har- ness the talents of its represen- tatives efficiently. The referendum's chief proposal is to move to a system of staggered terms, with half of the Assembly being elected in the fall and half in the spring. Fall elections would be run concurrently with LSA-SG elections and spring elections with Rackham Student Government elections. Representatives not up for reelection would be responsible for working at the different election sites, and the total cost of elections would be the same as it currently is. In addition, the total number of representatives would increase by about 25 percent. Each school in the University is currently assigned a representative for every 1150 students enrolled in it, under the new plan that number would drop to 850. Each school would retain at least one representative. There are currently 37 positions on the Assembly, but five seats un- filled by the smaller schools. The currenty highly complicated procedure for tabulating election results would be changed, but voters would still need to vote preferentially for as many as eight representatives. Where the current tabulation system is so arcane that no more than a handful under- stand it, the proposed system would assign points to each preferential vote and determine winners from the total. In addition, MSA would reorganize its committee structure to accommodate the various com- mittees that have sprung up in the last few years. It's impossible to know precisely how all of the measures will affect MSA. The new tabulation system should maximize efficiency, but seems slightly less fair. More representatives may cause more confusion instead of less. And two elections could alienate some of the students who are already hard pressed to give attention to MSA once a year. Nevertheless, the referendum is an attempt to aproach a long-standing problem in MSA and should be supported. By Donald N. Duquette and Phillis Engelbert On October 28 an Ann Arbor Community group, Citizens for Handgun Control, presented a handgun ban ordinance to Ann Arbor City Council. Councilman Jeff Epton and several other countil members plan to introduce the ordinance on November 18. If there is enough public support a public hearing will be scheduled as early as December 2, and the ordinancescould pass council before Christmas - as a Christmas present to the entire city. The ordinance, modeled after that of Mor- ton Grove, Illinois, would ban possession and sale of handguns within Ann Arbor city limits. Excepted from the ban would be peace officers and persons with federal or state permits to carry concealed weapons such as military personnel on duty, correc- tions officers, security agents and a small number of persons licensed to do so for per- sonal safety reasons. Antique guns and guns rendered permanently inoperable are also exempted. The group has recommended to council that the ban take effect 90 days or longer af- ter passage to give citizens owning han- dguns and merchants selling them an oppor- tunity to dispose of them. After the ordinan- ce takes effect a person convicted of a violation faces a penalty of 90 days in jail or $100 fine and would forfeit the handgun. To encourage handguns to be taken out of cir- culation, the ordinance allows persons to turn over handguns to the police anonymously with no questions asked although the police would be required to at- tempt to identify the owner of the guns, inquire of all relevant law enforcement agencies whether such handgun is needed as evidence and, if not, destroy them after two years. Why is a handgun ban being pursued in the city? According to Ann Arbor Police Department, in 1983 there were 66 handgun incidents in the City of Ann Arbor, 72 in 1984, and 65 as of October 1 of '85. They are inherently dangerous and pose a serious threat to public health, peace and safety. The primary purpose of handguns is to kill people. In 1980 handguns killed: 77 people in Japan 8 in Great Britain 24 in Switzerland 8 in Canada Duquette and Engelbert are members of the local chapter of Citizens for Han- dgun Control. 23 in Israel 18 in Sweden 4 in Australia 11,522 in the United States We want to prevent an arms escalation in our own city. Although handguns account for less than 20% of American firearms, they cause over 90% of gun related injuries. (Elizabeth Peer, "Taking Aim at Handguns" Newsweek August 2, 1982) Many people feel that handguns provide additional protection for themselves or their -home. However, the facts are that rather than enhancing the safety of the carrier, possession of a handgun actually increases a person's chances of harm. (U.S. Con- ference of Mayors, "How well does the Han- dgun Protect Your Family? (1976)) The handgun is over 100 times more likely to be used in a murder, suicide or fatal accident than to kill a criminal. (FBI Justifiable Homocide Statistics, 1981-1983) If a victim of robbery or burglary has a gun, it is 8 times more probably that the victim will be hurt than if he or she has no gun. ("Guns for Protection?" Detroit Free Press October 2, 1984, p. 12A) A handgun kept at home for "protection" is more likely to kill a friend, a neighbor, or a child than a criminal. For every intruder killed by a handgun, six homeowners or their children are killed by accident. (Speilgler and Sweeney, Gun Abuse in Ohio, 41 (1975) ) The handgun is rarely an effective in- strument for protecting the home against in- truders since most burglaries occur when the dwelling is vacant. Homeowners who buy their weapons for protection do not realize that when they do so the rest of us have greater reason for fear. Each year at least 150,000 handguns are reported stolen from the homes and businesses of law abiding citizens. ( Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, FFL Newsletter July 1980, p. 2) By some estimates, four times as many thefts are never reported. (Law Enforcement Assitance Ad- ministration, Victimization in theUnited States: January-December, 1973 (1974)) More than half of criminally used handguns are stolen in residential burglaries. (AFT, FFL Newsletter, July 1980, p. 2) The majority of handgun murders occur among family members, friends and acquaintances where there is a loaded gun available. (FBI Uniform Crime Reports, 1984) Social psychologists now believe that the mere sight of a handgun may be enough to stimulate aggressive or violent behavior. (Berkowitz, Psychology Today June 1981). This "weapons effect," causing aggression and stimulating violence, especially in already angry people, is a key factor in many cases of domestic violence. Handguns are a public health hazard and have been so identified by the Journal of the American Medical Association (Nov. 1976). 800 to 1000 accidental deaths each year are caused by handguns - one fourth of these victims are children. (Accident Facts, 1984 ed. National Safety Council) In 1981 the Surgeon General's Select Panel for Promotion of Child Health traced the recent "epidemic of deaths and injuries among children and. the youth" to one source - the handgun. The panel called for a total ban on the sale of handguns. (Report of the Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, January 1981, p. 70). Although the least publicized aspect of handgun violence, handgun suicide is the most deadly. It claims V2,000 lives each year, which is more lives than all other categories of handgun violence combined. (NationalCenter for Health Statistics 1982) The National Rifle Association and local gun dealers and guns clubs are already put- ting on enormous pressure on city council members. Our surveys indicate that the vast majority of citizens support such a ban. However, the single-issue NRA has a 275 paid staff, an annual budget of $30,000,000 and will work very hard to defeat a handgun ban in Ann Arbor. Our infor- mation indicates that the NRA is willing to spend over $20,000 to see the ban defeated here in Ann Arbor. If the ordinance passes, Ann Arbor would be the largest American city to have a ban on the sale and possession of handguns. The NRA have just suffered a defeat in Oak Park, Illinois where a referendum to repeal a handgun ban was defeated on November 6. Morton Grove, Illinois, has set the exam- ple for many other cities in passing its han- dgun ban. Gun crimes were not unknown in that community, but they were never prevalent among its citizens. Neil Cashman was the senior governing trustee of Morton Grove. A law like Morton Grove's "had to start somewhere," Cashman said later. "Why not here?" But it wasn't to set an example for the rest of the country that he introduced the billthat became law. He was simply trying to prevent Morton Grove - and especially its younger citizens - from developing too great a feeling for handguns. Please help. Let council members know how you feel about handguns. Now is the time. Imagine a handgun ban by Christ- mas . ..peace in our town. Summit-up LETTERS: Said and done? Check the record 0 THE Reagan-Gorbachev sum- mit meeting is clearly the most solid and admirable attempt at super-power communication since Reagan was originally elected. Although only modest gains can be expected from the talks, perhaps the crucial factor in the meeting it- self. Both Gorbachev and Reagan have recently expressed a com- mitment to a 50 percent reduction in their respective nuclear ar- senals. Discussion of land-based missile limits and common ceilings are important, but for now they are details in a much larger scheme. The most beneficial role of this meeting is to establish some guidelines for evaluation of our relationship with the Soviet Union. At the moment, the arms talks are central in that relationship, but should not be its exlusive focus. It is particularly unfortunate that Defense Secretary Weinberger has raised objection to the Reagan- Gorbachev meeting, since its primary goal is to break down the arriers between the superpowers. This premature pessimism un- dermines the spirit of the talks and is indicative of our mutual in- tolerence. Reagan speaks of human rights as the basis for determining agreement and arms reduction. Although he has progressed from hostile condemnation to infuriated condescension of Soviet evils' Reagan still needs to communicate with and show respect for Gor- bachev. Both Reagan and Gorbachev must accept the differences bet- ween Soviet ideology and United State morality even if they can't understand each others' position. This is not the time to make demands on Soviet involvement in Afghanistan or Central America. If the superpowers can find a basis from which to communicate, the huge amounts of technological resources, intellectual energy, and money spent on the perpetuation of nuclear arms might instead be channeled into human growth and away from human destruction. To the Daily: Since LSA election cam- paigning has begun students have repeatedly asked me the same questions. "What is LSA gover- nment? - What is Action? - What is Said? - What is Evita?" Well, the fact is, Evita is not a political party; but based on student knowledge of LSA gover- nment, it might as well be. The problem is that students aren't aware of what's going on or who is running the show. But, once a year they vote for Said because they remember the name from the previous year. And so, this has been the tale of LSA gover- nment over the past half decade. That is, until now. The Action party has mounted a campaign to stop this cycle. We are not criticizing what Said has done but. we have a few questions that havehgone unanswered in the past. Firstly, students should not be misled in this election. The 1985-86 Said slate contains only three members of the '84-'85 slate. Students should not be voting for Said because of the ac- complishments of different in- dividuals. There are holdovers from the past year's slate, most notably presidential incumbent Michelle Tear. Tear has said throughout the campaign that this is an election where ex- perience is paramount. But, how will experience involve more students in LSA government? Granted, the Said party is more experienced in this race. But, if they can't get more involvement from the student body then their experience is not a factor. And for the past five years experience has not worked. It's time the students got involved in decisions that affect them. It's time to elect someone who will give them the incentive to take action - incen- tive they've never been given before. There are many important issues in this camnaign. The teen council members work towards improving conditions for students it cannot be as suc- cessful as if it had the visible support of the student body. Let us elect someone who can involve more students in decisions affecting students. Let us elect people who want to change the way students look at LSA government. The choice is up to you. Keep things the way they are and remain disin- terested or vote for a change and vote for Action! - Steven Herz November 17 Herz is the presidential can- didate on the Action party. Tear denies potential of 'New Blood' 0 To the Daily: I am writing in to complain about the article in Thursday's paper about the L.S.A. gover- nment parties competing for election ("LSA parties compete for topspot before elections," Daily, Nov. 14). At one point, Michelle Tear was quoted as stating, "The other candidates haven't been involved in any kind of student govt. You can't just come in and take over to be ef- ficient." First of all, anyone who is energetic, enthusiastic,winfor- med, and concerned about issues at the U. of M. and student government should be allowed the chance to run for a spot if they choose to do so. Secondly, that quote is very upsetting to the "new blood" that is involved and concerned. It is also depressing. After reading that quote, new candidates are apt to feel they should not even bother to be con- cerned, as others are not even going to give them the chance to do some good. Thirdly, how does BLOOM COUNTY she know what the government/ leadership backgrounds of the "others" are? They may be in- volved in other leadership ac- tivities besides LSA government (such as co-ops, fraternities, sororities, etc.). Who is Ms. Tear to pass judgment? Maybe quotes like this should( not be published. Maybe they will dishearten good, involved, hard- working, individuals who could do a lot of good. I do believe everyone is entitled to their opinion, but please make it a logical one. This is mine. -Marian J. Matyn November 14 Martin is the President of Michigan House Co-op and an . C. C. board representative. Light a candle for peace To the Daily: November 19, 1985 is an impor- tant day in the life of this planet. The summit meeting between secretary general Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan needs our planetary support and positive energy - for at stake is drift to nuclear nightmare and continued famines and war. Building agreement in higher purpose means the planet can lif- toff into the light and leave behind the great trail of suf- fering! Neighbors: let's send an un- mistakable message to Geneva that the people of America want peace. Let's focus our national purpose by joining one and all at the center of town in an evening vigil for peace. Or vigil in your home with family and friends. Light a candle for peace and remember this country was made by putting dreams into ac- tion!! Think about it... What is your conviction? -Richard Baydin November 10 by Berke Breathed 0 4 i 4 ' + 1 I ' i ;5 i t tl i . ;; ' i , z. 3 i ; ; ', 1 , ' . ,, ,, s g t i! i : f a r, i ,, _t 4 HMM. 0, 7H115 FMA1?49670 RNNOfIA~r/E 711A7, .TART7N6 /1,14CP A Y, 7hC6~WIIWla NO 1iON6P BC ANY 6Ff 09 I~'CI 6wc6;AA 77W 6.%t5 Of 71/ PRIMINPL CHAqgACr67g'5 g6ceN W? 6 X78 W1 7N VMqAIOc5 CAi'FUL(Y FtAC6I' Q&6CTr. n-16 ffI?&AI NVL/ .NP 7:15 Pm 77115 COMI/C W11N40* t26R1 5%CCcUM6 11E6 IAN 5 OF 1X6 PA6ENt-ACj7OW &RC1P5 WICH X6EK v1PR' C AMERICA'S YOuTH FROMI VIEWI(N 7111.5 IMCKCAOJMtY CAMlM6W FORM OF WM964N&' Fi&5ONA6PR665ION. WE NOW gRrl/?N 10 1X/6 UMC6N5OR69 PANE p&qiPY!N 'Pgo6R65,s.. wow u ~1URF I J'Y X ldrH./PA { MM'... -t c ~ rtA~ F {, i i 1 f J ; UI l