Clinton Orders Gun Sales Warning

Trying to keep guns from gangs, President Clinton on Wednesday ordered dealers to warn buyers that passing firearms to minors is a felony and could land them in prison.

The new rules, which will be formally issued by the Treasury Department, require about 124,000 federally licensed gun dealers to post signs and give buyers written notice that it is illegal to transfer a handgun to anyone under 18.

“I want every adult who buys a gun to see that sign and think about it before they give a child a gun that could wind up in gang violence,” the president said Wednesday in outlining his directive to a Georgetown University conference of law enforcement officers, child advocates and gun-control activists.

While crime rates are generally declining, Clinton cited Justice Department projections that current trends, if left unchecked, will see the number of juveniles arrested for violent crimes more than double by 2010.

Further, the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics says handguns are the leading cause of juvenile fatalities.