Group Urges Tougher Gun Safety Rules

A gun-control advocacy group urged Congress on Thursday to subject firearms to the same kind of regulatory treatment as other consumer products and called for a ban on the sale of any new handguns.

The Washington-based Violence Policy Center included its recommendations in a study of gun violence underwritten by Rolling Stone magazine.

In the report, the group argued that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be granted authority to set “safety standards for firearms and ammunition, recall defective products and, when necessary, ban products that present an unreasonable risk of injury to the public.”

Toasters, teddy bears and trucks face tougher safety standards than guns, the report said.

“The time has come to hold the gun industry to the same standards we apply to manufacturers of lawn mowers and lawn darts,” said Kirsten Rand, counsel of the policy center and co-author of the study. “The result would be a significant reduction in firearms violence.”

In effect, the group argued that the ATF should have the same powers as agencies responsible for the safety of other products--the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for example.

Richard Gardner, legislative counsel for the National Rifle Assn., Thursday disputed the report’s assertions that firearms are under-regulated.

Interstate sale of firearms is banned outright, he noted, adding that unlike teddy bears or toasters, “firearms are sold as products that are dangerous, not products that are supposed to be harmless.”