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Show o Reeheater polk have experimented with a new film process. It enables them to take night photo without a flask. - brutal statistics I have cited. We are going to have to bear in mind, first and foremost, that the , effect of crime on the community is not only the cost in life and property but more importantly the ero- sion of moral fiber. Its' presence tends, to set an intolerably low standard of behavior. We must demand from those who represent, us in the community, state, and nation the elimination of the sharp contrast between penalities provided by law and those ac- -' tually imposed by some of our .courts. f a criminal knew for certain that committing robbery with a gun guaranteed him a stiff stretch in jail instead of a suspended sentence with probation, I'm sure we would see a rapid drop in that particular type of crime. And so on down the list of serious offenses. We will have to take a much harder look at the arguments for abolition of the death penalty. Many police officials feel that wiping out that stark sanction has led felons to choose killing rather than capture because they know that, even if caught and given a life sentence, most Hkely they will serve only a fraction of In this connection it will pay us in a surging crime situation to take an even harder look at guns. As an instrument of death, the gun is six times more deadly than all other weapons combined. The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports which are made up of sta- -, tistics supplied voluntarily by .agencies throughout the nation reveal that shootings cause death 13 percent of the time, but all other weapons together cause - death only 2 percent of the time. ' Part of the reason is, of course, that the criminal with a gun can easily - . ' - it kill on impulse. Of 335 policemen slain in the last seven years, 323 met death from g. criminal guns. As a sidelight, it is worth noting that these killers of law officers included II criminals previously charged with murder and 179 previously charged with an assaultive-typ- e crime. Jet-ag- If that doesnt hit home hard enough, remember that last year more than 60,000, Americans were killed or assaulted withjruns. For JtheseTTeasons.lJ'm-unalter--ab- ly persuaded that we must act without further delay to ban the purchase of guns, to control interstate transport of them, and to require and enforce local gun registration. legislation, once enacted, can be swiftly translated into action by the FBI's, new National Crime Information Center, a computerized facility inaugurated at the Department of J ustice in Washington last January. If a repository of pertinent information regarding firearms is established, it will become possible to get investigative leads for the tracing of stolen guns and those used in crime into the hands of policemen anywhere in the country in a matter of seconds. use of the NCIC , Accelerating data banks by local police departmental implemented by an increase of anticrime computer links at the state level, is one of the most prom- -, ising factors we have to rely on in the struggle to come to grips with modern crime on its own ruthless terms. In my opinion, the center; already operating effectively within one year of conception, has come into being not a moment too soon. For with its usual misguided ge mail-ord- " er Gun-contr- ol crime-contr- nius, crime, too,, has made techno--- ,, logical advances. Lethal weapons of unlimited range are its fortheask-ine transportation makes it possible to commit crime far "from home base and be back in time to establish an all but airtight alibi. Communications tor nefarious purposes are instantaneous and, for the most part,, impregnable. Criminal conspiracies, once ; elaborate and clandestine in manner and setting, now are casually planned through the sanctity of modern communications circuits in utmost privacy. But even with the NCIC and other scientific advances in crime detection, there remains much that a determined citizenry can do to help us cut the crime rate drastically. As a starter we can reduce the opportunities for crime. That would include the unselfish cooperation of the business community in helping to secure its own enterprises. Householders and car owners, too, can help thwart crime by making sure all doors and windows are locked when they should be, and by not leaving keys in the ignition or . cars unlocked. We must provide every community with enough policemen of the highest quality, equipped with up- apparatus of every kind for g response to rapid, 'criminal activity. We need laws that help rather than hinder police in their efforts to protect honest citizens, laws that honor the freedom rathand security of the er than that of the criminal, laws that uphold the rights of decent people to live in peace as energetically as certain laws now uphold the criminal. "rights" of our hard-cor- e We need jurors who are not blind to evidence. We need 'judges who are out to determine guilt or inno ol -t- o-date hard-hittin- . law-abidi- ng rather than search for technicalities on which to' exonerate. We jaeed all these Jhings are ever going to cut our. soaring crime rate, but we arexiot going to get them unless we have the backing of a responsible citizenry. As cm experienced New York jurist put it years ago, "It is not the criminals, actual or potential, who need a neuropathic hospital. It is the people who slobber over them in an effort to find excuses for their crime. The demand of the hour in America above all other countries, is for jttrori with conscience, judges with courage, and prisons which are neither country clubs nor health re--i sorts." The hour he spoke of ticked: into history 41 years ago, yet the de mand persists. We have waited far too long for action. We dare not wait longer. schoold Long ago, a teacher said to us one day, "I hope you learn in my classroom that the three R's stand for not only reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic, but also the three R's of Americanism reason, respect, and responsibility." I never forgot that. And I never forgot something else she said. "You will also find there is a fourth R that is sacred to America,' she told ' .us, "one that you will need to achieve true happiness and success in life. It is religion." The reason I have always remembered her words is that a long life convinces me she was right, and more sethat until we home in and the school, curely church our nation's primal link with the Source of all law and good citi- zenship, no remedy is going to avail us against crime. For as the Bible says, "Unless the Lord build the house, those who build it labor in vain." cence, jfwe well-love- Family Weekly, November it, 1997 |