Gun Control and Tragedy in a Stockton Schoolyard

The time for effective gun control was long ago, but I fear it is going to take more tragedies in the manner of the killing and wounding of innocent victims in Stockton on Jan. 17 to spur citizens, the governor, Legislature, President and Congress to see the clear need for comprehensive gun control laws.

How many more outrages will it take? I would think the examples of the Kennedys, King, Reagan and Brady, San Ysidro and Winnetka, Ill., just to name a few, should be enough. Now, however, we have to add Stockton to the list.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that the need for a well-regulated militia justifies the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Can anybody tell me that Patrick Purdy and his military assault weapon constituted any part of a well-regulated militia? Our Founding Fathers in 1791 wrote a law for their times, not for the needs of 1989.

Our leaders need to ignore the arguments and campaign contributions of the National Rifle Assn. and enact sensible laws regulating gun ownership.

Let the prospective weapon owners wait as long as it takes for law enforcement organizations to check out their backgrounds before they get their guns.

Just about everything in our society is regulated, from operating a motor vehicle to obtaining a building permit. Owning a gun should also be regulated. It should be a privilege, not a right. As for weapons like the Uzi and AK-47, they should be banned except for use by the military and police. They have no place in the hands of a civilian.

If some of that comes to pass, maybe those five innocent youngsters at Cleveland Elementary School will not have died in vain.

GARY A. LYNCH

Los Angeles