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"Should the manufacture and sale of cheap 'Saturday Night Special'
handguns be banned?"
(asked at the Bellevue Regional Library on 09-11-97; published in the EJ on 09-14-97)

Candis Wester, Library worker, Seattle

"I think that's way too wimpy. I think they need to ban almost every gun except maybe hunting rifles and that it should be very difficult to get a license for even one of those."

David Barber, Teacher, Redmond

"I don't think they should be banned. I agree with the Brady Bill and the waiting period -- but I think that's the best way to protect individual liberties while at the same time protecting the citizenry from dangerous people."

Meade Pedersen, Retired, Woodinville

"I think so. A Saturday Night Special doesn't have any special use other than to shoot somebody. You take your target rifles and pistols, shotguns -- they have other uses. The trouble is you can ban all the guns you want but the big, hard-core criminals will get them. It's really hard to legislate something so that it's effective."

Jennifer Maychrzak, Technical recruiter, Seattle

"That's a really tough question. I'd say they need to be regulated -- security checks -- but I don't think they should be banned completely. Even if the regulations aren't working, we have certain rights under the Constitution. I think there's a lot of violence out there but there should be other alternatives to taking away our rights."

Victoria Wise, Escrow paralegal, Seattle

"No. I think that we have a right in the Second Amendment to own a firearm and I think if you start infringing on that right by controlling the manufacture of weapons, where would the infringement stop? To me, it's more up to the people to educate themselves and decide what they want to purchase than for somebody else to decide."

Perrin Robinson, Civil engineer, Renton

"I would say no. There's a lot of instances where they've been used other than for people to run around and kill people -- for inexpensive home protection, I can certainly see their justification. Not everyone earns top-dollar, but they should be able to afford safety."

© 1997 by the Bellevue, WA-based Eastside Journal (née Journal American) newspaper.

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