CRIME WATCH : Gun Culture

Astonished Europeans, observing America’s crime scene, often remark that ours is a culture of open season on celebrities. They cite, for example, the killing of John Lennon; and they might have cited, until the facts became known, the murder of James Jordan.

In fact the murder of the father of basketball superstar Michael Jordan had nothing to do with who he was and everything to do with guns and random violence. “What happened to Mr. Jordan was the kind of random violence that all the public are concerned about and afraid of,” said Jim Coman of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. “It could have been any one of us.”

Police say the senior Jordan pulled off the road in the early morning hours to nap in his luxury car, a gift from his son. How many tired motorists seek the same respite?

Authorities have not recovered the murder weapon, but they have charged an 18-year-old ex-convict and a second 18-year-old with the crime. Police suspect they were armed and looking to commit either an old-fashioned highway robbery or a more contemporary crime, carjacking.

Americans own 200 million guns. Absent stronger gun control laws, that arsenal threatens us all, simply because there are too many guns in circulation--and too many in the wrong hands. If the teen-age suspects did indeed murder James Jordan, where did they get a .38-caliber handgun? From a parent? From a friend in rural North Carolina? From the streets of a nearby city? The answer should prove instructive.