NCJ Number
110295
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 55 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1988) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
J R Vaughn
Date Published
1988
Length
86 pages
Annotation
Twenty-two articles examine various aspects of the need for and the nature of gun control, with particular attention to the views of law enforcement personnel.
Abstract
The President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) comments on the failure of the American society to manage the handgun problem as evidenced by statistics on deaths and injuries due to handguns, and the IACP Executive Director reports on an IACP survey of its membership to determine its views of firearms management and policy. The U.S. Attorney General discusses gun control policy that promotes public safety while preserving citizens' right to bear arms, and representatives of the National Rifle Association and Handgun Control, Inc., present their views in a debate on the effectiveness of gun control laws. An analysis of recent Federal firearms legislation is followed by a statement of the IACP official position on effective firearms management. Other articles discuss elements of a rational, national firearms policy; the effect of strong firearms laws on homicide rates in other nations; Canada's experience with gun control; the threat of sophisticated weaponry in the hands of drug dealers; and the threat guns pose to children. Police chiefs present their views on gun control, and other topics considered are guns and suicide, stronger firearms-related penalties, Florida's new gun laws, and the consequences of liberalizing gun laws.