Word: banning
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...nation saturated with weapons is a terrifying place -- where people feel safer if they own a gun. The ambivalence shows up over and over. A TIME/CNN poll this month found that 70% of Americans favor gun control and 78% favor mandatory registration of all guns. Yet 74% oppose a ban on handguns, up 10% in the past two months alone...
...much as they may dream of an innocent and gun-free state of nature, the majority of Americans have only limited faith in gun control. A complete ban, many fear, would leave them defenseless against criminals who will always be able to buy a gun on the black market. Less than half of all Americans -- down from 68% since just last March -- believe that stricter gun control would have any impact on violent crime. "There is absolutely no way the legislation is going to stop the bad guys from getting guns," argues Sergeant Robin Cook, a 14-year veteran...
...Wichita, Kansas, where drive-by shootings hit a record high this year and local legislators are debating tighter gun laws, pro-gun activists argue that instead they should make it easier for citizens to carry a concealed weapon -- the deterrent approach. The District of Columbia has enacted a handgun ban -- but some residents think that may bring new dangers. "I live close to D.C.," says Rafael Escalera, 24, as he buys more bullets for his 9-mm Taurus, "and I've heard people say they would rather rob someone in D.C. than in Maryland because they don't have weapons...
...current move toward tighter laws has produced the same response. California has some of the strictest in the country; Senator Dianne Feinstein is leading the charge to outlaw assault weapons and semiautomatics. A series of polls last June indicated that 45% of Californians favor a handgun ban. Meanwhile, in the month after the Los Angeles riots, gun sales jumped 45% over the previous year...
...buying frenzy suggests that people see the Brady Bill and the semiautomatic ban as being tougher than they actually are. California's laws are far more stringent, requiring a 15-day waiting period, but they could not prevent Ferguson from buying his gun perfectly legally. Many people sense, however, that the legislative momentum will grow. "People fear, 'Will they be coming to my home to get the guns?' " says Houston gun-store owner Judy Chmiel. "They're afraid that if they ban some rifles now, the government will come banging on their door at night." Many of her customers...