University Daily Kansan / Thursday, October 8, 1987
Nation/World
9
Loophole to close in Florida gun law
The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida House unanimously voted yesterday to close a loophole in the state's new gun law that had allowed weapons to be carried openly and raised concerns that a Wild West image would scare awav tourists.
The measure passed 112-0 and will be returned to the Senate, where a nearly identical bill was passed Monday. The measure would then go to Gov. Bob Martinez, who has already announced his support of the revision.
Rep. Ron Johnson, the author of the original legislation said, "I think we've sent a message across the country.. Florida is a safe place for individuals to live and an excellent place to visit."
Johnson's legislation, which created a statewide system of concealed weapon permits, inadvertently pre-empted a statute prohibiting an open display of weapons, according to Attorney General Bob Butterworth.
Johnson added, "I think it would be irresponsible for us to leave here
without adopting the change in the law which clarifies in the public mind exactly what the law is."
Legislators and the governor would like to dispel an unwelcome "Dodge City" image, fearing that national law would the gun law would scare away tourists.
"I think the main thing is to keep everybody's guns at home," Mar-
rue Smith said.
One representative said earlier this week that the Sea World attraction near Orlando had received out-of-state calls from people wanting to know whether it was safe t visit Florida.
Sen. Bob Johnson, who is guiding the bill through the Senate, said that even the most conservative supporters of the concealed-weapons law in the Senate thought the law needed to be clarified permanently.
The concealed-weapons law was intended to make it easier to get licenses to carry concealed weapons. But it also struck down an 1893 statute that prohibited people from openly carrying their guns in public.
More than 40 sharks kill Dominicans
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — Doomed refugees from a sinking boat thrashed wildly in the bloody water to fend off more than 40 frized sharks, but officials flying above them could do nothing to save them. authorities said yesterday.
The Associated Press
Estimates of the number of people killed Tuesday when the overloaded boat capsized ranged from 70 to more than 100. Officials said some of the missing may have made it to shore and bodies were expected to surface later.
Survivor Eddy Ventura said 168 Dominicans crowded onto the old 50-foot wooden boat about 4 a.m. Tuesday that was to smuggle them to Puerto Rico, the more prosperous U.S. commonwealth 100 miles across the shark-infested Mona Passage, at a cost of $300 to $500 each.
"Most of those who made the trip were women and hardly anyone knew how to swim," said Ventura, 39. He was a man. The clutching an empty gasoline tank
Eugenio Cabral, civil defense director of the Dominican Republic, said scores of bodies probably would surface and float to shore.
"That takes about 48 hours," he said. "I expect that between today
and tomorrow, bodies will begin appearing in large quantities."
By yesterday afternoon, 32 people had been rescued, said hospital officials in Nagua and Cabrera on the northeast coast of this Caribbean nation, which shares the island of Hispaniola withHiaiti.
Four bodies had been brought to shore, Cabral said, and he thought two others had been recovered. He put the number of passengers at 100 people said about 30 people probably made it to shore but fled to avoid arrest.
Cabral, who was aboard a plane that flew over the site Tuesday, estimated the herd of sharks at "more than 40."
"People signaled to us with their hands to please help them, but in our little plane we could do nothing."
"We would have . . . about 70 missing." he said.
Luis Rolo Navelare, civil defense director for Puerto Rico, was with Cabral in the plane. The Fort Lauder Sun-Sentinel sent an email as saying
"When I saw the overturned hull, there were survivors on top of it and swimming next to it. A few minutes before should see the sharks attacking them.
Knight-Ridder Graphic
"There were several schools of about 15 sharks each, just attacking the refugees in the water. The sea was red around them. I've never seen anything more horrible in 22 years of civil defense."
Cabral criticized the Dominican armed forces for not sending helicopters immediately and not asking the U.S. Coast Guard for assistance. The Dominican government asked the U.S. Embassy yesterday for help and a Coast Guard helicopter from Puerto Rico was dispatched.
Ventura said the wooden boat started taking on water as soon as it leapt into the water.
A plank attached to the prow gave way three miles offshore, water flooded in and the boat "sank very rapidly." he said.
Lt. Gen. Antonio Imbert Barrera, the armed forces minister, said other survivors told rescue officials several passengers started arguing with the boat's captain about the fare and the plank broke after a fight broke out.
British pilots admit to sleeping in flight
The Associated Press
LONDON — British airline pilots on long-hauled flights said that their entire crews had fallen asleep at the controls because of strenuous work schedules, researchers report.
Under a 5-year-old confidential reporting program, one-third of almost 800 British pilots who disclosed problems affecting their performance mentioned a demanding work schedule and the fatigue it caused. The Royal Air Force Skimmer of the Royal Air Force Institute of Aviation Medicine.
Audrey Burdick, Prairie Village freshman, practices her tennis volley skills. She was practicing yesterday at Robinson Center.
The researchers quoted a range of pilots — either flying alone or with a large crew, in helicopters, freight or passenger aircraft — who said that they had nodded off while the automatic pilot did the flying.
Green, an aviation psychologist, and Skinner, a retired military pilot, said that pilots on long-distance night flights were often about difficulty in staying awake.
Some specified being unable to sleep in noisy hotels between night flights, enduring long stopovers at congested airports, or becoming complacent in cockpits that were highly automated.
Writing in the issue of October The Log, the British Airline Pilots Association monthly journal, the researchers quoted one pilot on a long-haul flight to meet him but he and his crew were delayed unless (or 12 hours at an airport).
"During the cruise we all fell asleep, only to be woken by the Mach (speed) warning bell," he added. "At the constant power setting, the aircraft had slowly accelerated, causing it to skid and not land." All allsep for about 20 minutes. Fortunately, we were between reporting points."
Another pilot was quoted as saying he fell asleep for 30 minutes on an eight-hour flight that he boarded one hour after a 53-minute flight.
WRITE THE GOVERNOR!
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WEDNESDAY, OCT.14 Take 3 minutes to protect your educational investment! Higher Education Rescue Operation
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