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University Daily Kansan
Opinion
Thursday, April 17, 1986
Guns and money
There's no connection, of course, between the shooting deaths of two FBI agents Friday and the eased restrictions on gun sales approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on April 10.
The present law did nothing to keep guns — an automatic weapon and a shotgun — out of the hands of the two killers.
But the FBI killings help explain why police officers lobbed so hard against passage of the bill, which permits the interstate sale of rifles and shotguns in some instances and reduces paperwork for gun dealers.
The dead agents join the roughly 70 police officers who are killed each year, mostly by handguns, and officers are correct to worry that any law making it easier to buy a gun will only add to that number.
So what swayed House members to approve the bill over the protests of law enforcement officers? The money and power of the National Rifle Association.
Since 1968, when the federal Gun Control Act was passed, the NRA has made a priority of gutting gun control laws and has dedicated $1.6 million to that goal. In addition, it contributes generously to the campaigns of sympathetic lawmakers.
The House action comes at a time when citizens increasingly are worried about crime and terrorism, and cities and counties are putting strict limits on the sale and even the possession of handguns.
But the fat NRA war chest and its 3 million members can persuade even the most reluctant legislator, especially in an election year.
The House did defeat a measure to permit the interstate sale of handguns and banned outright the sale of machine guns. But any easing of already inadequate gun control laws will only make a repeat of Friday's killings more likely.
A fitting anniversary
On April 15, 1961, a tacky band of Cuban exiles and Alabaman Air National Guard set off from a base in Nicaragua to attack airfields in Cuba. On April 17th, part of that landed in the Cuban "Bay of Pigs," with high hopes of bringing down the communist regime of Fidel Castro.
Twenty-five years later, Congress is debating whether to give $100 million in military aid to a tacky band of Nicaraguan exiles in hopes of bringing down the Sandinista regime of Daniel Ortega.
The House has killed the proposal for now, but the anniversary of the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion should give us pause to consider the lessons of history.
That invasion was orchestrated by the CIA to appear as a revolt from within Cuba. Ancient B-268 were resurrected from the Air National Guard and painted with the markings of Castro's air force.
The air strike failed to wipe
out Castro's air force. The out assault force that landed two days later was separated from Cuban rebel forces by a large swamp and lacked air support. Within three days the battle was lost.
The plan's success hinged on the support of forces within Cuba who were hostile to Castro's regime. It is nearly impossible to topple a regime from the outside without popular support from within, and that support failed to materialize.
interaction is no evidence that such popular support exists within Nicaragua, certainly not to the extent necessary to topple the Sandinista regime. $100 million in aid would not have given the contra forces that base of support.
We repeated in Vietnam the mistakes of the Kennedy administration and are now spinning those wheels again. Unless we change our way of looking at the world, we will be doomed to repeat the blunders of history.
Procrastination
State legislators are in the midst of a 10-day recess and will have just three or four days when they return to finally make a decision on the 1-cent sales tax. The legislators join Congress in their propensity for leaving decisions about revenues till the last minute and then making them in haste.
A compromise decision is awaited anxiously by University of Kansas administrators and others who know that
Both chambers managed to pass sales tax increases, which probably should be hailed as an achievement in itself, although they didn't agree on how to go about it. The Senate called for a full 1-cent increase effective July 1. The House opted for a graduated increase with a half-cent increase to go into effect May 1 and another half-cent effective January 1.
without the full 1-cent increase, drastic budget cuts are likely.
It is to be hoped that legislators will return from their break with a renewed commitment to the state's educational and economic priorities. At least the recognition that higher education is intimately involved with economic development cannot help but aid the cause of the Board of Regents budget, which is languishing in the indecision.
A pool of well-educated young people will make the difference between a state that bumbles into the 21st century or a state that rides on the crest of economic development and prosperity. Either the state retreches and stagnates or legislators make the bold strokes necessary. The time for decision is here.
News staff
Michael Totty ... Editor
Lauretta McMillen ... Managing editor
Chris Barber ... Editor
Cindy McCurry ... Campus editor
David Giles ... Sports editor
Wilfredo Lee ... Photo editor
Jimmy Shaw ... General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Brett McCabe ... Business manager
David Nixon ... Retail sales manager
Jim Williamson ... Customer service
Lori Eckart ... Classified manager
Caroline Innes ... Production manager
Pattie Let ... National manager
John Ozarzan ... Sales and marketing adviser
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Reagan must like odds on shootings
consider the big fight that's been going on in Congress over efforts to weaken the federal gun law.
One of the things I like about President Reagan is that he sticks to his beliefs. He doesn't back down or switch positions on an issue because of pressures or emotional appeals
The White House supports the changes because Reagan is a big booster of the National Rifle Association, there should be a gun law at all.
Brady doesn't actually run the press office in the White House anymore. He's still partially disabled as a result of taking a bullet that was intended for his boss.
As everyone remembers, Brady was shot in the brain by a loomy who had bought a cheap gun in a Texas pawn shop as easily as if he had bought a used guitar.
Dougler a ever since her husband nearly died, Sarah Brady has had serious questions about the availability of
Mike Royko
Chicago Tribune
handguns in this country. She developed strong views.
developed strong feelings.
And not long ago, she decided that
she couldn't keep quiet any longer.
So she got in touch with Handgun Control Inc., and has become one of the most vocal lobbyists opposing the NRA
during hearings on the changes in the gun laws, she testified against them and has made numerous appearances across the country.
Some people thought that her involvement might persuade Reagan to rethink his position.
After all, James Brady, who has long been one of his most trusted and loyal workers, will never be the same man as a result of getting between the President and the deranged gunman.
through when a Saturday Night Special wound up in the hands of somebody who was insane.
And since the President also knows Sarah Brady pretty well, he could see what a wife and family were out
sometime.
But that's what I meant about Reagan sticking to his guns, so to speak.
We called the White House press office and got one of James Brady's aides on the phone and asked how the President felt about Sarah Brady's
He said, "We don't have any comments on Mrs. Brady's opinions." And he said that the White House was "strongly concerned" about the changes in the gun laws.
changes in me. I'm sure that can't be easy for Reagan. Every time he sees Brady struggling to regain his health, he's got to be reminded of what one pawn shop gun can do.
But Lean see Reagan's side of it.
But I can see Reagan's side of it. He's now well into his second term in office, so at that time, how many of his press secretaries have been sho'? Only one.
Expanding the statistic — how many of his hundreds of other staff members have been shot? Still only Brady.
So, I'm sure that if you do what the
president has surely done — if you take the broad picture and keep everything in perspective — you decide that it's silly to get excited about a change in the gun laws when only one White House press secretary has been shot in the head while you were president.
So, what are the odds, really, of another Reagan press secretary being shot in the head? As any bookie would tell you, pretty slim, pretty slim.
Looking at it that way, I can understand Reagan's position. On the absolutely remote possibility of another press secretary being shot in the head, is it worth putting owners of gun stores to the trouble of keeping proper handgun sales records?
Of course, Sarah Brady might look at it from another perspective. She has only one husband. And he caught the bullet in the head.
But once again, I will try to answer that by taking the broad, presidential view.
The odds are that her husband won't ever be shot again, so what the heck?
Campout nudged immovable object
On March 17, I took a tent to West Campus intending to stay until the Kansas University Endowment Association divided itself of stock in corporations doing business in South Africa.
This campout was an act of desperation. For eight long years, students and faculty members had been urging the Endowment Association to divest as a tool to battle aparteid. Student Senate had passed seven resolutions urging the Senx Enz, University, and the Association of the American Association of University Professors also passed resolutions.
The resolutions had been ignored by the Endowment Association. So had many demonstrations, letters, arrests and petitions.
artists and porters.
The campout was intended to demonstrate to the Endowment Association that the University it was formed to serve would not be ignored. After 24 days, the camp had grown to eleven tents, a tool shed, a shanty and a group of dedicated
Chris Bunker
Staff columnist
Last week, the Endowment Association announced a policy of selective divestment from corporations operating in South Africa brd and Brazil. The Saltilian September Executive Order.
This is a great victory for those dedicated students and faculty members who have urged divestment over the last eight years.
campers.
More important, it is a victory for the University. It marks the first time that the Endowment Association has taken action in response to the resolutions of the University governance system. It demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that the Endowment Association's executive
committee no longer believes that divestment is illegal, as it had claimed.
cultured.
It also demonstrates to the rest of the world that KU is deeply concerned about the practice of apartheid. It adds KU to the list of partially divested universities.
This is the first time the Endowment Association has considered the moral, as well as the financial aspects of its investment, to allow it to the apartheid system and to South Africa's international reputation.
downtion Association. The stated goal of University governance is total, rather than selective diventation. As the Endment Association's policy moves toward this ultimate goal, it should reach out to the University in the spirit of cooperation rather than con-
ever. This policy change, the Endowment Association deserves some credit. But the issue is not settled. Credit should be conditioned on the continuing development of the Endowment Association's policy
Intermediary goals should include:
frontation, remembering that insufficient progress will force the campers to return.
Intermediary goals should include:
- Divesting from those Sullivan Principles signatories whose compliance has rated only fair or poor. Those companies have not taken their commitments seriously.
+ Adding a student member to the Endowment Association's executive committee, even if that student sls ex officio.
- Itleasing financial statements confirming that the announced policy is being adhered to.
is being taught to
■ Establishing an ongoing policy of constructive dialogue.
Total divestment remains the appropriate goal of the South Africa movement and of University governance. But after eight long years, those who have worked so hard on a 'takejaktible' still unstable force moved that unstable object last week, if only just a little.
Mailbox
Rationality is key
In Noelle Jibril's and Nida Zada's letter (Kansan, April 9), they say that the Palestinians have wandered from country to country in search of a home and that Jordan lost the Palestinian homeland.
Seventy percent of the Palestinians live in Jordan and Israel, 24 percent live in other Arab states and 19 percent live outside the Mid-East.
The Palestinian Arabs have already achieved all the elements of national fulfillment. They constitute a majority within an established political system, which happens to be on most of their territory of Palestine. Jordan — not terror and bloodshed — is the answer.
Zahair Mushin, a former official in the PLO, inexactly pointed to such a solution. He said, in 1977, "The existence of a separate Palestinian identity serves only tactical purposes ... After we have attained all our rights in the whole of Palestine, we must not
postpone, even for a single moment, the reunification of Jordan and Palestine."
The way to peace in the Middle East is to break the cycle of violence and revenge by negotiation and understanding. Each side must put aside emotions and bring about peace through knowledge and rationality, which can begin right here on this campus.
Kelly Jernigan
Lenexa sophomore
Jordan Yochim
Lawrence senior
Letter is missing link
The centerpiece of the pretext for the U.S. attack on Libya is the letter linking Khadifa to the Berlin disco bombing. Isn't it strange that this letter isn't triumphantly displayed as the key link connecting Khadafa with the disco bomb?
ficial U.S. proclamation.
When the U.S. government wants war, it lies. The pain and
Instead, the key link is the missing link. The gap is filled with official U.S. proclamations.
Thanks from 'Billy'
Bob Mears Lawrence resident
enders
The pretext for the attack on Libya is a hoax.
suffering of the war in Vietnam drove this lesson home to a whole generation. Time has blurred that lesson and I hope this generation learns it with less anguish than its elders.
while the local competition was
I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to those who gave of their time and money to the fight against multiple sclerosis. I particularly would like to acknowledge the committee for S.A.M.S., the "Look Alike" contest, the commercial sponsors throughout the city of Lawrence, my Phi Kappa Theta fraternity brothers who gave personal encouragement and support and last, certainly not least, the generous students, faculty and staff of KU. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and working with many wonderful people.
need last month here at the University, the Midwest Regional competition was held the evening of April 5th at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The other participants in Columbia included representatives from Tulane, Marquette, Creighton (first place: Kenny Loggins, "Footloose"), Arkansas State, University of Wisconsin (second place: Weather Girl, "Down Pour"), Iowa State, Wichita State, University of Minnesota, North Dakota State University, Iowa, Kansas State, and Missouri-Columbia (third place: Twisted Sister, "We're Not Gonna Take It").
As a reminder, the University of Kansas raised over $26,000 locally. I am pleased to inform you that of the seven regions throughout the country, our Midwest region raised the most money for the fight against M.S.
Stephen Pope
Prairie Village freshman
"Billy Idol" for M.S.