From: alane@microsoft.com (Alan Ezekiel)
Subject: Summary: "Inside" news program covers GUNS
Date: 27 Jul 92 16:35:40 GMT
Organization: Microsoft Corporation

Last Friday night (7/24/92), the episode of "Inside" covered gun control.
For those unfamiliar with it, "Inside" is an issues/news broadcast which
covers a single issue, in some depth, during the entire half-hour show;
the program is broadcast on the local PBS station, and appears to be
regional rather than national.  The program had an interview format, and
did not present information or statistics beyond what the interviewees
said.

The first portion of the program interviewed people on both sides of the
gun control debate.  Highlights included:

  * A Canadian police department spokesman, who discussed increasing
    violent crime in Canada and expressed hope that things wouldn't
    get as bad as the U.S.

  * A leading "neighborhood watch" person in a residential Canadian
    neighborhood, who is presently leading the effort to ban knives
    as a reaction against the increased number of stabbings.  He
    expressed amazement that private ownership/carry of guns was
    still allowed in the United States.

  * A gun-store owner who argued that guns are not the problem, and
    that gun controls are doomed to failure.  He expressed the
    "ratchet" problem by pointing out that Canada already had very
    strict gun control, but that gun-control advocates were asking
    for even more restrictions when they hadn't yet demonstrated
    any positive effects from the current legislation.

  * A gun-control advocate, who said that higher gun ownership
    translates into higher rates of gun-related violence, PERIOD,
    and that increased gun control was required.

  * A number of IPSC shooters, who argued in favor of private firearms
    ownership for the purpose of self-defense, saying there will always
    be "criminals and crazies" against whom citizens will need to
    defend themselves.

  * A pharmacist who has been held up several times at gunpoint, but says
    she would never keep a gun because she would never "hate someone that
    much" that she could press the trigger.

  * A resident of a high-crime area who works regularly with at-risk
    women, and said that women in the area (especially prostitutes)
    are routinely attacked and need guns to defend themselves, but are
    prohibited by strict Canadian laws.

The second portion of the show (the last ten minutes or so) was an
interview with five convicted violent criminals, most of them murderers.
They expressed a number of thoughts, nearly all of which supported a
pro-gun interpretation:

  * People should definitely keep firearms, "to keep people like me out
    of their house" (said with a grin by a self-described murderer).

  * Gun control could never work, because guns are too easy to make.  A
    ban on guns will just drive up the price of these illegal gunsmiths
    and increase their profits.

  * If citizens are disarmed, it makes everything easier for criminals.
    One described how he could get a couple of friends and some
    improvised weapons ("baseball bats are _great_ weapons"), break down
    a person's door, and "do whatever I want to you and your family".
    He implied that individual gun ownership prevents this type of crime.

  * In response to a question, one of them said that he had owned or
    carried roughly two _hundred_ different firearms during his
    lifetime, and that they were easy to get.

The first half of the program was a pretty balanced view -- the two sides
of the debate appeared to get roughly equal time, and the gun control
advocates probably looked a little better to an average viewer.

The second half of the program gave a clear pro-gun message.

                               -- Alane --
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Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns