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Wednesday, February 26, 1997
Record checks curb gun sales
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Police background checks since 1994 have blocked more than 186,000 illegal over-the-counter gun sales. Seventy-two percent of those blocked were would-be buyers who were convicted or indicted for a felony, the Justice Department estimated yesterday.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that 6,600 applications to buy handguns or long guns are rejected each month not only in the 32 states covered by the federal Brady Act but also in those states that have similar laws authorizing background checks of gun-buyers.
The figures cover the 28 months from Feb. 28, 1994, when the Brady Act took effect, through last June.
The largest reason for blocking gun sales was the discovery that the buyer had been involved in a felony, which occurred in 72 percent of the cases.
Fugitives accounted for 6 percent of the rejections; those barred by some state law provision, 4 percent; those under court restraining orders, 2 percent; mental patients, 1 percent. Some 15 percent were rejected for other reasons including that they were drug addicts, juveniles, illegal aliens or violators of local ordinances.
"Today's Justice Department study provides dramatic new evidence of the importance of the Brady law's background checks in stopping criminals from obtaining a firearm," said Sarah Brady, chairwoman of Handgun Control Inc.
Blocked gun sales
Reasons that gun sales are blocked
*Other includes: juveniles, drug addicts, and illegal aliens.
**SOURCE:** Bureau of Angie Kuhn/KANSAN justice Statistics
The law was named after her husband, James Brady, the former White House press secretary who was seriously wounded by a gunman who also shot President Ronald Reagan.
The Brady Act requires that gun dealers wait five days before selling a handgun and ask local police to do a background check on the buyer during that time.
Cost of Internet use could be increasing
Access taxes worry some industry leaders
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - To hear Internet and technology executives talk, new state and local taxes rank with computer viruses and 14-year-old hackers as threats to the global computer future.
The Clinton administration opposes federal taxation of the Internet, where business dealings could rise to as much as $150 billion in the next few years, by some estimates. So the battleground is shifting to the state and local level, and the industry is working hard to halt piecemeal taxation.
The emerging market for electronic commerce could be crushed, industry leaders say, if cities and counties begin approving taxes for telecommunications, data processing services or even sales via the Internet.
They say Internet service providers could be driven out of business if local governments receive the right to tax an electronic transaction that just happened to be routed through a local computer server en route to its final destination.
For example, someone in Atlanta buying clothes from L.L. Bean through the Internet might have the connection routed through Maryland and Connecticut before reaching Maine. Also, Internet service
Clearly you're talking about a potential increase in both the costs and complexity of Internet
Internet
transactions."
Kenneth Glueck
Oracle Corporation tax expert
providers might use multiple computer servers in different cities so they could stay in business if one crashed again creating confusion about when taxes should be applied.
For the estimated 30 million individual Internet users, state and local taxes would make it more expensive to use their home computers to buy clothes or check on stock prices because Internet service providers would pass these taxes onto the customer's monthly bill.
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"Clearly, you're talking about a potential increase in both the costs and complexity of Internet transactions," said Kenneth Glueck, a tax expert for Oracle Corp., a major database company.
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Welcome Aboard Delta Gamma Girls!
Love, Your Delta Gamma Sisters
Spring Break is coming soon and you'll get your fair share of beer. But what about your feet? You can to satisfy them by coming to Jock's Nitch and checking the new Terrain Lite by Adidas.
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INTERESTED IN APPLYING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL? PreMed Informational Meeting
On Wednesday, February 26 in the Kansas Room of the Kansas Union at 7pm
In celebration of Women's History Month, join us for a special program on the many contributions of women to history.
Come and learn more about herstory.
Tuesday, March 4, 1997
International Room, Kansas Union
7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Sponsored by The Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center,
115 Strong Hall, University of Kansas. For more information contact Jennifer Joseph at 864-3552.
749-2424
925 Iowa
The Women's Fitness Facility
TAN & EXERCISE"til Midnight 3/10 to 3/14 and 3/17 to 3/20
Congratulations, Jayhawks!
Enjoy Great Food & Drink Specials!
Congrats to the Men's Basketball Team on winning the 1st Big 12 Championship! Join us for the Big 12 Tournament
3300 West 15th Lawrance, Kansas 841-0033
it's -60 out, your car won't start and you need a job before Friday
don't sweat it
www.kansan.com classifieds now online