Curb violence by targeting bullets.

• Author: Alter, Jonathan
• Position: Controlling the sale of bullets

The first battle in America's war at home has won. That battle was over simply acknowledging that the war existed in the first place--that even though violence has not increased appreciably in recent years, we've been in a state of denial about its Vietnam-like toll. 1993 will be remembered as the year when we woke up and realized that other nations thought we were insane--and that perhaps they were right. The elements driving this first victory were a series of especially gruesome murders, a new administration receptive to some gun control, the re-definition of gun violence as a public health issue, and a news media that has moved from an unthinking "If it bleeds, it leads" mentality to at least occasionally more sophisticated coverage of the root causes of violence.

Beyond confronting those root causes, the more immediate battle requires heavier--and more creative--firepower. A complete ban on the manufacture and sale of handguns will never happen in this country, so we've got to begin thinking about other points of entry. The Clinton administration is already on track with the first part of the agenda: banning assault weapons, tightening gun dealership regulation, and establishing a national gun permit system that makes obtaining a gun license at least as difficult as getting a driver's license. Like the Brady Bill, these are small changes that require considerable work and commitment and won't make much of a dent in gun violence. But they are a start. The next, much more difficult step is to turn the gun into just another consumer product that can be regulated by the federal government. If the Consumer Product Safety Commission finds a toy to be dangerous, it orders it withdrawn from the market. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (or a successor bureau with more teeth and less baggage) should have the power to recall especially dangerous handguns and ammunition at any time, which would still preserve the overarching right to manufacture and sell certain kinds of guns.

Even this will not do anything about the illegal guns used in most crimes. By some estimates, there are already 200 million guns out there that would be unaffected by any gun control legislation.

So it's time for a different approach.

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