Correction, please!

Exploiting Terrorism Fears

ITEM: "Amid the raft of antiterrorism bills passed by Congress since Sept. 11, some lawmakers have spotted what they consider a glaring omission: tougher gun control laws," according to the Copley News Service in the San Diego Union-Tribune for January 19th.

Several lawmakers vowed to push the issue, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), for example, "said she would propose legislation requiring background checks for all gun purchases. 'It's actually been documented that terrorists are buying their weapons in this country at gun shows,' she said."

CORRECTION: The holes in the senator's logic are big enough to fly an airline jet through. In a free country, of course, there is a possibility that airplane tickets or guns might be bought by people with evil intent. Yet, it's absurd to think terrorism would be stopped by, for example, imposing federal licensing procedures on private individuals who might wish to sell a spare hunting rifle to a friend.

David Kopel of the Cato Institute has pointed out that "existing gun laws apply just as much to gun shows as they do any other place where guns are sold." Undoubtedly, the gun controllers hope to eventually regulate gun shows out of existence. Yet, according to a 1997 study by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the Justice Department, only 2 percent of criminal weapons come from gun shows.

Stem Cell Discovery

ITEM: "Striking new research at the University of Minnesota" by Catherine Verfaillie and her colleagues suggests "that adults carry a reservoir of 'master cells' inside their bone marrow capable of rebuilding almost any damaged tissue, findings likely to shake up the national debate over stem cell research," wrote Sylvia Westphal in the Boston Globe for January 24th.