opinion
Handgun law sets
course for future
A suburb of Chicago has found a way to unravel the
complicated matter of handgun control. The village of
Morton Grove, Illinois, passed an ordinance banning the sale
and possession of handguns That ordinance passed in June
1981 and just recently was ruled constitutional by a U S
District Court. Morton Grove has set a precedent for com
munities all over the country that are concerned with the
proliferation of handguns and handgun related crimes in
their communities
There is no reason the City Council of Eugene cannot
follow the example of Morton Grove and adopt a similar
handgun ordinance
Before Morton Grove’s ordinance the problem of hand
gun control was left to the federal government. Legislation by
the federal government has been effectively squelched by
rifle associations, ft is not unfair to say the federal govern
ment may never legislate handgun control nationally without
a base of community-support in the form of handgun ordin
ances
The Morton Grove Village Board of Trustees voted last
June to ban the sale and possession of handguns Under the
ordinance, owners of handguns were allowed 90 days to get
rid of their guns or make make provisions for them, such as
storage at gun clubs For a first offense, violaters would only
be warned A second offense would cost the violator a $500
fine and six-months in jail
The Morton Grove ordinance was instigated after a
request was made to open a gun store in a shopping center in
the residential section of the village The sponsor of the
ordinance, Neil Cashman, said the owner assured the village
he would only sell to policemen Cashman doubted the
business was really only for policemen, as Morton Grove has
a police force of only 50 people
Morton Grove s impetus for enacting the handgun
ordinance is certainly singular, but not uncommon from
situations in other towns across the country The criteria for
establishing an ordinance banning the sale and possession
of handguns can be individually defined for each community
The controversy over handgun control can be paralleled
with obscenity and pornography if one sees the village
applying a concensus of public opinion and enacting a
standard for their community If the ordinance, which is
being appealed, reaches the U S. Supreme Court, the
proponents may be successful if they argue for community
standards Community standards, in obscenity and pornog
raphy. and possibly in handgun control, are feasible aven
ues to address the handgun problem Eventually, a national
handgun law will have to be enacted The Morton Grove
ordinance is a solid start
Morton Grove, Illinois is a community not unlike Eugene
in design and outlook It is an upper-middle-class suburb in
the rolling hills northwest of Chicago The area is primarily
residential, with little heavy industry The population is well
educated and concerned with total environment of their
community as this handgun ordinance illustrates The dif
ference between Morton Grove and Eugene is that that
community took a courageous step to eliminate a national
problem from their village
Handgun related crimes are, and have been, on the
increase during the past decades Something has to be done
to control the sale and possession of such lethal devices as
the Saturday night special
Eugene and other communities concerned with the
proliferation of handguns and the plague of handgun related
crimes should consider following Morton Grove's lead and
adopt handgun ordinances It is a viable alternative to
waiting for the federal government to respond to the people s
will and enact a law that is sorely needed
dai# emerald
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“THE PhRTY SAYS 'EAT
etters
Incompetence
Last Memorial Day weekend
my 10-speed bicycle was stolen
from tn front of the Hawthorne
dormitory I reported the bike, to
campus security, as stolen The
next day I was called back by
the campus security office and
told that they could not find my
registration card I insisted that I
had registered my bike, and had
a green sticker (number 6639)
on the frame They insisted
there was no record, so I gave
up
Early m December. I saw what
looked like my old bicycle (I had
since bought a new one), it was
parked outside Carson Hall I
promptly called Campus Secur
ity, and they in turn notified the
Eugene Police department The
bicycle was identified as mine in
a very interesting way The
campus officer radioed back to
the office and compared the
number on the green sticker
(still on the bicycle) to the
registration number on my
registration form (the one they
couldn't find last year)
The Eugene police officer in
vestigated the theft and found
some interesting evidence Last
year the bike was found by a
resident of the Hamilton com
plex in some bushes near his
dorm He brought the bike to his
RA who notified the campus
Security office A short time
later, the same caller notified
campus security, again, of the
found bicycle At the end of the
year, having had no one from
campus security come to pick
up the bike, one of the residents
kept it His sister was using it on
Of
I nor
:t*>0 S
II
'9
John Heaiy
Bob Baker
Max DeRungs
Cort EernaiO
Ste*e Spau
Jet! Dickerson
Dane Ciaussen
Manan Greer
Debbie Hoarlett
Ann Ponai
Caroline Petricb
Ron Hunt
Harry Esteve
Sally Oljar
Ann Pelerson
Danene Gore
Caro' McMulien
Jean Oambey
campus this year until I found it
Why wasn't my registration
card found the first time, when I
needed it the most'5 Why wasn't
the bike picked up from the
Hamilton RA7 How grossly inef
ficient is our security office7 My
last question is. how often does
this needless form of incompe
tence go on7
Dave Lund
Sophomore, Computer Science
‘Taps' inane
It is remarkable that anyone
should find something good to
say about the film "Taps and I
am particularly disappointed
that the Emerald s film reviewer.
Matt Meyer, has so cour
ageously committed this sin
against literacy Taps,' a cin
ematic monument to everything
mane, is about an army of mili
tary academy students who are
such intellectual zeros that they
will risk their lives shooting it out
to save their alma mater from
condo conversion That isn't a
plot it's a preposterous excuse
for a shoot-out Comparing
■Taps” to Lord of the Flies” is
(excuse my eloquence) dis
gusting these aren't children
acting in an adult world,” these
are grown students acting like
psychopaths — they deserve to
be shot
Liking "Taps is tantamount
to moral complacency "Taps”
insults the intelligence of its
audience like no other film
before it, we are not yet a nation
so bereft of values that we will
shoot each other over our alma
maters Don't see "Taps,” go to
"Reds” instead
Bruc* Robinson
Senior, political science
Mainstream
"Think like we do or else!” is
implied by (1) University profes
sor Carl Hosticka. Lane County
Democratic Campaign Chair
man and (2) Oregon s news
reporters
Hosticka intends to label
‘ mainstream” democratic can
didates by issuing pre-primary
endorsements and political
reporters will cover only ser
ious' candidates
The U S Constitutions First
Amendment goal of freedom of
speech is to achieve the widest
possible dissemination of infor
mation from diverse and an
tagaonistic sources " 436 US
775
Jefferson said "Truth is great
and will prevail if left to herself
that she is the proper and suf
ficient antagonist to error and
has nothing to fear from the
conflict unless by human inter
position disarmed of her natural
weapons, tree argument and
debate errors ceasing to be
dangerous when it is permitted
freely to contradict them "
Call it what you will, fascism
or communism, every totalitar
ian movement has controlling
political party and public
thought as its hallmark It has
meant the establishment of
government by decree, by bur
eaucratic planning by concen
trated and irresponsible power
Indeed, who has the right to
say what a party stands for until
a candidate s issues are ac
cepted or rejected by an in
formed public's primary vote7
And what news reporter has the
right to judge one candidate s
issues "serious" and another's
not7
John M. Rood
B Street
Springfield
Pornography
John Gibbons' letter on por
nography is either a very clumsy
satire or a chickenshit approval
I can't quite tell which To me
pornography is nothing less
than a sickening form of
violence against women, chil
dren — and men And more and
more pornography is taking a
violent turn into bondage, pain
and even death There is noth
ing rebellious of tradition in
pornography There is quite a
difference betweeen the back
ward stupidity of pornography
and the beautiful possibilities of
erotica And John, maybe you
should help your son become a
person instead of another path
etic macho man" getting off on
stag films
Suzy Downs
Eugene