The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 19, 1970 Page: 6 of 10
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to all concerned
Handguns feed frontier psychosis
By EDWARD R. DYKES
The civilized existence of
twentieth century America is
threatened by pollution of the
natural environment, the prolif-
eration of the wastes of extra-
vagance, and also by social pol-
lution, crime.
Last year, Washington, D. C.
oat of a population of 850,000,
had 291 reported homicides
(34.2/100,000), 326 rapes, and
7071 armed robberies. The sta-
tistics for Houston ned not be
quoted as everyone is poignant-
ly aware of the lethal character
of this city from a casual peru-
sal of the newspapers.
In the tradition of the Old
West, there is a latent fascina-
tion with firearms in this coun-
try. A large proportion of adult
Americans suffer from a "fron-
tier psychosis." Organized in
gun clubs, led by the National
Rifle Association, and patron-
izing members of Congress, the
gun fanciers are a powerful
political force. Loudly proclaim-
ing their slogan, "Register Com-
munists NOT Guns" (Even
though it is the guns and the
lunatics behind them and not
communists which cause the
homicides), they seem to be in-
tent upon preserving the vigi-
lante character of nineteenth
century Texas.
In 1967, there were 13,425
homicides in the United States
(6.7/100,000). Of these, 8,332
were due to firearms and ex-
plosives (4.1/100,000). Of this
later figure, almost three quar-
ters were due to sidearms. In
comparison, countries with gun
regulations have firearm death
rates which are very much
smaller. In 1967, Great Britain
had a homicide rate due to fire-
arms of .10, Ireland .03, Sweden
.14, and the Netherlands .06.
You do not have to be a mathe-
metician to get the point.
The National Commission on
the Causes and Prevention of
Violence recommended last year
that the federal and state gov-
ernments confiscate most of the
24 million handguns owned by
private citizens. This is a rea-
sonable proposal considering
that most violent crimes ' are
perpetrated with the aid of side-
arms. Pistols simply are not
necessary except for murder
and armed robbery. Private pos-
session of weapons less than 30
inches in length should not be
allowed; only institutions such
as the police have a legitimate
need for their use. In addition,
strict registration of rifles is
necessary to help prevent the
procurement of weapons des-
tined for crime.
Certainly gun laws in them-
selves are not the only answer
to our growing crime rate (Vio-
lent crimes increased 106% for
a population increase of 11%
between 1960 and 1968). In ad-
dition, conviction of attempting
to perpetrate a criminal act
with a firearm should carry a
candatory sentence of 10 years
in the penitentiary.
Police forces are at present
undermanned for the task they
face. However, the answer is
not really increasing police
manpower. The crux of the mat-
ter is public concern and our
judicial processes. The size of
this country's police forces
could be doubled and still not
adequately protect the law abid-
ing citizen unless this same'law
abiding citizen learns that it is
his duty to aid in the prevention
of crime. The crime rate will
increase another 100% in the
next ten years unless New
Yorkers and others learn to in-
volve themselves in justice in-
stead of closing their eyes to
crime and refusing the pleas
for help of our harassed police-
men.
Our courts have considerably
added to the burden of law en-
forcement agencies with the
"legal rights" spasm of the past
ten years. Many procedural rul-
AI and Dave Maysles' 'Salesman'
conies with better sound this time
HOWDY! It's the Old Hony-
ocker speakin'. And this is the
first time I've ever written any-
thing for the Thresher, and I
guess I'm just kinda nervous.
But I'm here to tell you about
this movie that's coming to Rice
University called "SALES-
MAN" by Albert and David
Maysles.
Now this ain't a movie like
you'd see in the big theatres
downtown—there's no plot to it,
no violence, no big stars, and
not even any sex. But that
doesn't mean you shouldn't see
it. It's a documentary film, so
it doesn't need any of that stuff,
li just follows these door-to-
door Bible salesmen—and those
dudes are weird enough for ten
movies.
When I walked out of the
theatre halfway through the
film last year, I met Albert
Maysles at the door, and he
really looked sad. You see, the
sound equipment supplied by
the school was no good, and
since nobody could hear any-
thing, just about everyone left.
And Albert watched them all
go. Now, if you'd worked that
hard making a movie, and saw
your entire audience leave be-
cause of equipment trouble,
you'd probably be pretty pissed
off. Well, old Albert, he just
apologized for wasting my
V/MATS NOCK) /tr,
THE MOMMIES
WITH
THE OI.P UoisnfotlKElP,
time, and that made me feel
really bad for leaving. So I'm
going to see it again because
this time the sound will be
working, and because I owe it
to Albert and David.
And I think you should see
it too. It won three Academy
Award nominations, was the of-
ficial USA entry at the Venice,
Italy Film Festival, and look at
all the important people who
liked it:
Arthur Miller
Truman Capote
Elmo Lincoln
Norman Mailer
The NEW REPUBLIC
The New York TIMES
Don't miss this one. It's the
film event of the year. Friday
and Saturday, February 20 and
21 (that's tomorrow and Satur-
day) at the Chemistry Lecture
Hall, 8 pm. Admission $1.
I'll see ya there!
ings broadening the sense of our
jurisprudence have resulted in
an undue handicap to society.
It is not so much a matter of
malfeasance on the part of the
police as it is the guilt of the
accused with which the courts
should be concerned. A man
who commits a felony is cer-
tainly not much concerned about «
anyone's civil rights an'd yet : i
the police are so often faulted j:
because they neglected to dot i:
There are simply too many
crimes committed due to the len-
iency of the courts and the
penal system. One can not help
but be concerned when there
are so many second offenders
who got time off for good beha-
Bernard Gold Dispensing Optician
Independent
Serving Houston Since 1952
Prescriptions, Repairs, Replacements
Eyewear & Contact Lenses
Fellow In
International Academy of Opticianry
American Board of Opticianry
In the Village Off Kirby
2525 Times Blvd. JA 4-3676
10% STUDENT DISCOUNT
COLLEGIATE CLEANERS
A Friend of the Student for Over 25 Years
2430 Rice Blvd. 523-5887
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXCHANGE f
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vior the first time around and ± $285 R.T. From the West Coast—5 Flights to Choose|
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Disrespect for the law and I Also available—Flights within Europe. Student Toursf
the rights of others permeates * (Some accredited, some even to U.S.S.R.), Additional!
even the universities. Again, the t Jfiscl. Services Including Travel Tips. *
very same who violate regula- ± For further information contact I.S.E.A., Katy Suther-!
tions clamor for "due process" i land, P.O. Box 1357, Pomona, California 91766 ^
and "amnesty" while mealy-
mouthed administrators hide in
their offices indecisive until vio-
lence occurs.
Dead policemen do not justify
the arsenal of an avid deer-
slayer. Bloated egos do not jus-
ONE'S A MEAL
tify the lawlessness of "liber-
ated leftists". What good do
civil rights do anybody if, as
in our nation's capital, "Only
the foolhardy, the desperate,
and the truly brave venture onto
the sidewalks . . ."?
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COLOR
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featuring:
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ELY • ASHTON
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contemplate
the possibilities,..
screenplay TOM WOLFE and RUSS MEYER
produced and directed by RUSS MEYER
A PANAMINT FILM in cooperation with EVE PRODUCTIONS, INC.
sr
sir'
page 6—the rice thresher, february 19, 1970
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Murray, Jack. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 19, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 19, 1970, newspaper, February 19, 1970; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245076/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.