Editor’s note: Political Persuasions is a weekly column featuring students who campaign for different presidential candidates. This week’s columnist, Sarah Leonard, is an organizer of Cyclones for Gore.

Buford O. Furrow Jr. used an Uzi semi-automatic and a Glock 9mm handgun when he opened fire at a Jewish community center last month.

Alan Miller used a .40-caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun when he shot two co-workers five days prior.

Mark Barton also used the Glock 9mm, along with a Colt .45 pistol, a .22 caliber Raven pistol, a .22 caliber Harrington and Richardson revolver when he killed nine and wounded 13 co-workers at his Day-Trading office July 29, 1999.

The 15-year-old in Conyers, Ga., used a .22 caliber rifle and a .357 magnum revolver. A sawed-off shotgun, TEC-DC9 handgun, pump-action shotgun and 9mm semi-automatic rifle were used in Littleton. The list goes on and on. (Newsweek, Aug. 23, 1999)

All of these horrible acts of violence can not be traced to one single cause. In fact, as shootings become more and more common, the collective finger of blame has been pointed in every direction.

Hollywood. In a recent Newsweek poll, 52 percent of those polled blamed violence in the media.

It’s easy to blame the industry that has brought us video games like “Tehchu,” and “Grand Theft Auto” and movies like “Seven,” “Scream” and “The Matrix.” Vice-president Al Gore, citing the 20,000 deaths that a child witnesses by the time he or she graduates from high school, warned the movie industry at a news conference last summer that they grossly and unnecessarily showcase inconsequential violence as a way to solve problems (The Orange County Register, June 3, 1998). However, all of the blame does not lie with these multi-millionaire movie moguls.

In that same Newsweek poll, 57 percent blame poor parenting as the cause to violent crime. Most often there was some deep-seeded hatred toward the group of victims out of frustration, fear, jealousy or ignorance.

This hatred may have been taught by the parents or a result of child neglect. No one can really tell for sure as this is the most complex and difficult to decipher of the reasons people are claiming have triggered the violence.

But from Jonesboro to the Granada Hills, there has been one common link. One direction the finger can always be pointed. Guns.

The facts are stinging. There are more than 200 million guns in circulation in the United States; over one-third of American homes contain one. The gun-related death rate is at an average of 87 people per day. We are currently leading the industrialized world in the rate at which children die from firearms.

At the rate we’re going, three years from now gun-related deaths will surpass those of car-related to become the leading cause of death in the country. (Newsweek, Aug. 23, 1999)

As the 2000 election heats up, it is becoming more and more apparent that the gun-control issue could be a major player as we approach the caucus season. And Gore has had the most experience and has worked the hardest on this issue.

As senator, Gore was a leader in composing the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act, part of the 1991 Crime Bill.

The Brady Bill did not pass, however, until the Clinton-Gore administration took office when it blocked the sale of 400,000 handguns. (AP, June 15, 1999; Washington Post, Nov. 28, 1991). Also as a senator, Gore supported legislation that would have banned the manufacture and importation of nine assault style weapons [S. 1970, Senate Roll Call 147, July 11, 1990; S. 1241 (H.R. 3317), Senate Roll Call 125, July 11, 1991]. As vice-president, he fought for the 1994 crime bill which took 19 deadly assault weapons off the street (Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1994).

The 1994 crime bill also included the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act which increased sentences for hate crimes by one-third (Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1994, p. 290). The vice-president spoke at the first White House Conference on Hate Crimes in 1997.

During the conference, the administration announced initiatives to get tough on hate crimes including the addition of approximately 50 FBI agents and federal prosecutors to enforce hate crimes laws, improve data collection and implement new education programs to educate the public about hate crimes (The Los Angeles Times, Nov. 11, 1997; The New York Times, Nov. 11, 1997).

As president, Gore would require every gun owner to carry a license, just like a driver’s license. To drive a car you need to pass a minimal test, to improve safety, especially for beginners.

This same procedure should be used in the case of handguns. If they are truly used for protection and sport, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Gore would also ban the manufacture and sale of easily concealable handguns, and require child safety locks on all handguns.

You would never guess it by the gross amounts of “special news coverage” we have been seeing; but under the Clinton-Gore administration, violent crime has actually dropped 21 percent to its lowest level since 1973.

In addition, the murder rate is the lowest it has been in 30 years (1997 National Crime Victimizations Survey, Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, December 1998; Justice Department release, January 1999).

As a recent Newsweek editorial stated, “evil can not be legislated out of existence.” People have been and will continue to murder one another for whatever reason by whatever means.

But we can take steps to significantly better the situation, and Gore has the plan.

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Sarah Leonard is a senior in journalism and political science from Lawler.