Law, Order and Gun Controls

For a group that talks loudly about law and order, Congress seems not to hear very well when police officers call for help in getting handguns off the streets. Many police chiefs and police-union members oppose a bill that would seriously weaken the meager gun controls now on the books. The House has a chance to pay attention to them today, and at least hold the line on handguns.

The House has two measures before it. One, sponsored by Sen. James A. McClure (R-Ida.) and Rep. Harold L. Volkmer (D-Mo.), would allow interstate sales of all guns--and that includes handguns--and relax existing record-keeping requirements for dealers. Interstate handgun sales have been restricted since the 1968 Gun Control Act passed. Now is not the time for retreat, but the National Rifle Assn. is pressing hard.

The House has an alternative, even though it also would somewhat dilute existing law. The option, sponsored by House Judiciary CommitteeChairman Peter W. Rodino Jr. (D-N.J.) and Rep. William J. Hughes (D-N.J.), chairman of the crime subcommittee, would allow interstate sales of only rifles and shotguns. It would require dealers to notify law-enforcement authorities of a gun purchase so that they could check whether the buyer was legally entitled to own it; the sale could go through in the meantime. What is really needed is a genuine waiting period to allow the background check to be made before the buyer gets the gun.

The House should listen carefully to the families of 700 police officers murdered in the past decade by people using handguns. And to Sarah Brady, whose husband, Jim Brady, President Reagan’s press secretary, was gravely wounded with a $29 handgun. Brady is recovering, slowly, so his family can look to a brighter future now. It will be even brighter if Congress makes it harder, not easier, today for a person to buy a gun, point it at someone and pull the trigger.