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Page 6/Western Maryland College/Marda 15, 1984 Hand-gun debate uman Rights Violations From page I From page I ber, he said, means that pea- zuela, and Ecuador. istas. The Sandanistas took rights has also been trying to tries have strict handgun- pie will kill with or without Bolivia does'nt have a power eventually after a take over Belize, a very small control laws and low rates of guns, and that the people strong government but is bloody war. The main human neighboring country. Although death by handguns. should be punished instead democratic as are Peru and rights violations going on in not through direct military at- John Aquilino took the po-- of the guns being controlled. Columbia. They all suffer from Nicaragua today concern the tack yet. dium next: "We are abso- He also accused handgun- tremendous economic ills. Masquito Indians. They have Mexico, which is also bank- lutely, dramatically opposed control groups of going be- Ecuador is a very small been badly treated and rupt, is looking at big unem- to laws that are unenforceable yond controlling guns to ban- OPEC country that did a lot of moved around much in the ployment problems. One of or inapplicable to the crimi- ning and confiscating them bad planning. They predicted same fashion that our own their other main concerns is nal." His basic point was that (as in Morton Grove, Illinois; oil prices to rise and from that Americatlndlans were. More The "Domino Theory" which handgun-control laws would and in San Francisco).' planned their whole economy. and mare are fleeing to Hon- involves the communist take harass conscientious citizens Toward the end of the regu- There have been horrible acts duras everyday. over of latin American coun- while doing little if anything lar debate, the argument of terrorism and very poor EI Salvador had a coup in late tries one by one. about the criminals. "Crlml- touched on the familiar para- human rights in this country. 1979 and a mxed military- All these countries have one nals, drug addicts, mental- dox of the Constitution's Sec- Columbia, a country with an civilian government came to thing in common, bad eco- defectives don't go through ond Amendment on having approximate population of 25 power. The juntas have nomic problems. A lot also registration procedures. Who guns. Mr. Aquilino held "mili- million people, has a history changed three times in the have bad human rights poli- goes through them? The law- tia" as referring to the general of violence. They suffer from last four years. Today there is cies which need imporve- abiding citizen. What does populace, while Ms. Craig human rights violations and an ongoing civil war between ment. that do to crime? Nothing." considered the term as ao- have "mini-wars" fought be- the rebel guerillas whose The Inter-American Com- He continued: "The NRA is proprlete only to the National tween the government and numbers range from five to mission on Human Rights against a law that does noth- Guard Militias. rebel guerillas. eight thousand and the gov- consists of seven members ing..We want laws that affect During the discussion pe- Venezuela, also a small ernment employed troups and their staff. Davis Padilla is the criminal." riod with the audience, Dr. OPEC country is bankrupt. who number at about thirty on the staff. Their function is Consequently, Mr. Aquilino Franklin Ashburn (WMC Pro- Bad management has also re- thousand. This country proba- to bring human rights vola- said the NRA favors manda- fessor of Sociology) talked of suttee in mass unemploy- bly has the worst human tions to attention by collecting tory penalties for use of hand- his experiences a few years ment. Another major problem rights policy in Latin America data on each country, and guns in crimes, which is ago with Baltimore City Police is they have -no agricultural today. The upcoming election, making a report, which is similar to the provision in the commissioner Donald Pamer- capabilities. Oil has been a if you can call it that is available to the government federal bill Ms. Craig's group leau in a program to buy sort of curse for this country. between two main canor- and anyone else who wants it. supports. (This was a rare guns off the city streets. De- Panama is having its first dates. One who is associated These figures are used by the case of Mr. Aquilino and Ms. spite this novel effort to re- election since 1973. The pre- with the death squads and government to help them de- Craig agreeing on some- duce the number of sment has just resigned and one who is interested in re- cide what action to take or thing.) Mr. Aquilino felt deaths handguns, he said, the rnur- they have a chance now to form. Padilla thinks the coun- what aid to give these coun- by handguns could be re- der rate did not go down; in return to a democratic so- try wil not change no matter tries. They also give recom- duced not by gun-control fact, it rose slightly. ciety. Costa Rica has similar what the U.S. does. Be it cut mendations at the end of laws, but by a harsher crimi- Student Gerald Amass, a) problems and has also re- off aid or even increase it. each report to what they think nal justice system: "No proba- handgun owner, asked why cently gone bankrupt. Guatamala, which is about should be done. This commts- tion, no parole, no plea the NRA did not support the The third group of countries ninety percent indian overall, sion is very important in the bargaining," he said. 21-day waiting period as a onsists of all Central America. like so many other Latin respect of undrestanding Mr. Aquilino went on to way of preventing crimes of Nicaragua has recently had America countries has a his- what is going on in Latin ascribe the low rates of hand- passion (where someone gets a brutal civil war. The Somosa tory of right wing military America and what policies gun-death in other countries angry, buys a gun, and kills family who ruled for many control. They have had trou- should be taken. (such as Switzerland, Swe- someone), and as a way of years was relatively small ble with barbarities occuring den, and Canada) not to their preventing alibis of murder compared to the rest of the with the military. This country strict gun-contrOl laws but to through temporary insanity population led by the Sandan- which is very bad on human their criminal justice systems (whereby through a long wait-L~:::::::::=:::======================~ which have fewer loopholes ing period, a fit of insanity for criminals to slip through. could be ruled out as an Ms. Craig, however, pointed excuse for a killing). Mr. Aqil- Junior Follies out that these countries have ina responded that most guns relatively few gun deaths be- used in crimes of passion are cause of the difficulty in get· not newly-bought but are over March 16, 17, 18 at 8 p.m. ting handguns, despite many a year old. He also added households in these countries that "spontaneity does not In Alumni Hall having rifles. Ms. Craig used depend on the gun, but on these examples to stress that the desire to kill." her group wants to control Dr. Charles Wallace (WMC Tickets $2.50 just handguns instead of rifles Assistant Porfessor of Philoso- because handguns are con- phy and Religious Studies) cealable and are primarily asked both parties for their used in crimes and murders. groups budget. Ms. Craig To Mr. Aquilino's claims that said Handgun Control Inc. regulations don't screen out (HCI) had a budget of $2 potential abusers of guns, Ms. million; Mr. Aquilino said the Video MCAT.LSAT:GMAT ~' Craig cited an instance in NRA has a budget of $40 California where 1200 people million. SAT·ACT·DAT·GRE were refused guns after hav- HCI is a ten-year-old citi- Party I~Unitytomakeup ing background checks made zens action committee with rnimdl,UOI'l$. upon them during a waiting two million supporters, is sup- lYolurninousllollHtudr =:sbf~!.~J.ers period. This check found ported entirely by donations, Friday, cases of crime, drug addic- and is a Washington lobbying IQltrtlnlhlirlil1d. tion, mental iIIess, etc. "If group. March 16 .~unityIOI"""'I ... to Indc:onllnueSludylllny California didn't have those The NRA is a t ta-vear-oto 01 our OWIr 120c:enter. rules, they (those 12(0) would group with close to three In the OTHER COURSES AVAILABLE have walked away with hand- million members, and is also GRf PSfCH ~ '11(1. MAl· PL\I UCAI ~AT mut guns," said Ms. Craig. An a Wahington lobby. Mr. Aquit- Forum ".I';KP . WI,S • ~Q£ • ll:f'.'G FLD NDB· ~N 8QS additional example Ms. Craig ina (a handgun competitor ~SAI PSAJ SAl ACHlllLMUHS brought up dealt with the himself) defended his group's SP
