Far Be It From Me To Politicize Shootings
By Tom Teepen, Columnist
Cox Newspapers, Atlanta
The body count around Washington was still rising when the good people who can be counted on to rally for the safety of firearms rushed forward to warn that gun-control advocates would surely try to "exploit" the situation.
Any such attempt to take unseemly advantage of the victims and their families, we were sternly counseled, would show "poor judgment and taste." This is becoming a standard part of the gun-lobby script.
Presumably it also would be untoward to cite the high number of fatalities at a troublesome intersection as an argument for redesigning the traffic control there. And indiscreet to clamor for levees along the part of a river that often floods by hunting the victims swept downstream.
In short, if public safety breaks down more or less regularly at any particular point, civic etiquette expects that everyone will look the other way and not give the matter a thought.
In the interests of those who might otherwise stumble into gaucherie, here`s a short list of matters that, in respect to the victims of the sniper, must not be brought up in polite conversation. Remember, the priority here is to avoid embarrassment for gun manufacturers, sellers and lobbyists.
So by no means mention that the likely weapon in these murders is a .223 caliber rifle, probably of the sort usually called "military-style," which actually means "military." These rifles have a range about five times the range typically favored by deer hunters.
Sniper rifles are designed for the virtually sole purpose of shooting humans from cover at a very long distance-the chosen instruments to fulfill the sniper community`s slogan, "One shot, one kill." And, yes, there really is a sniper community, with its own clubs and publications and other lodge-like accoutrements.
And keep it to yourself that the means have existed for years to set up a national system of ballistic "fingerprinting"-a database that would store the telltale characteristics of every firearm. Bullets used in crimes then could be matched to the original gun sale.
That wouldn`t lead to the culprit every time-many weapons used in crimes have been stolen, for instance-but it would at a minimum create a starting point.
The National Rifle Association and the rest of the gun lobby have forbidden the development of such a system. Ballistic fingerprinting would be sort of like gun registration, and if guns are registered the federal government will confiscate them and then Hitler will take over.
What`s more, guns might cost as much as $20 more and we can`t have that.
It would be indelicate in the circumstances to suggest that ballistic fingerprinting might have given police a quick start in trying to catch the sniper and to prevent further deaths. The NRA`s sensitivities need to be respected.
Fortunately, not everyone is so loutish as to exploit these tragedies.
The House GOP leadership had been cranking up legislation to shield gun manufacturers from lawsuits resulting from gun crimes. Realizing that this was no time to drag the grieving gun makers into the political spotlight, the leadership has quashed this legislative indulgence, at least for now.
The politeness is touching.
