Restrictions on Gun Sales

In the editorial “Target Practice” (Sept. 30) the writer bemoans the proliferation of “cheap, easily obtainable handguns” while neglecting to point out that the teen-ager who reportedly fired the shot in question could only have “easily obtained” the weapon illegally. The California Penal Code prohibits the sales of handguns to persons under 21 years of age. The federal laws mirror those of California. The lack of enforcement of the state and federal laws pertaining to the control of handguns is a fundamental factor in the proliferation of firearm-related crime.

Rather than add redundant restrictions to an already unwieldy bulk of gun-control laws, we should bite the economic bullet and accept fiscal responsibility for the enforcement of those laws on the books. Let us not encourage the steady erosion of personal freedom in the name of security.

JEFFERY REPS

Monterey Park