BLAGOJEVICH is trying to ban a gun that accounts to <b><i>503</i></b> out of 18,729 weapons. He is wanting it banned because:

-Gangs use it
-It is specifically designed to kill people
-It does not enhance a gun collectors collection
-It killed a first grade girl

My reply:
-Gangs use all types of guns
-All guns are designed to kill
-Government thinks it decides what enhances someones private gun collection
-All guns can kill a little first grader

Line that refutes the entire article:
<b>”There’s no such thing as a good or bad gun. It
depends on whose hand it’s in.”</b>

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GUN FOES WARN OF `POCKET
ROCKETS’
BLAGOJEVICH TAKING ON GANG WEAPON

By Lauren Comander, Tribune Staff Writer. Tribune
staff writer Eric Ferkenhoff contributed to this report.
July 18, 2000

The gun fits in the palm of your hand. It packs three
times the power of its predecessors. It holds up to 10
bullets.

It’s a deadly combination, and some warn that it is the
new weapon of choice for Chicago street gangs.

It is what police call a “pocket rocket.”

The issue snagged the attention of U.S. Rep. Rod
Blagojevich (D-Ill.), a champion of anti-gun legislation
who on Monday said he would introduce a bill to ban
the weapons.

“These are new high-tech guns designed specifically for
killing people,” he said during a news conference at the
Dirksen Federal Building. “They have no real sport
purpose, and they don’t do anything that enhances a gun
collector’s collection.”

Of the 18,729 guns police recovered from Chicago
crime scenes last year, 503 of them fall into the “pocket
rocket” category, said Thomas Ahern, spokesman for
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in
Chicago.

The number of such weapons found at crime scenes
nationwide almost tripled from 1995 to 1997, Ahern
said.

More recent data were not available Monday, but
Ahern said the weapons are becoming more prevalent.
“It appears these are the weapons of choice for the
day-to-day operations of gang members throughout the
city and suburban areas because of their caliber, their
capacity and their concealability.”

Cmdr. Eugene Williams of the Chicago Police
Department narcotics division doesn’t dispute the
presence of these types of weapons on Chicago’s
streets. However, he and other department officials said
the number of “pocket rockets” remains small compared
with the overall number of recovered weapons.

“There’s no significant increase as far as we’re aware,”
he said. “There are no red flags going up. They’re out
there and we are recovering them.”

Bob Smith, group supervisor of the firearms section of
the Illinois State Police Crime Lab, said analysts at the
lab haven’t noticed a spike in the number of these types
of weapons recovered or submitted for processing by
area police departments.

Among those murdered by one of these tiny handguns
are Michigan 1st grader Kayla Rolland, whose
classmate brought one into the school and shot her, and
those in the line of fire at the North Valley Jewish
Community Center in California when self-proclaimed
white supremacist Buford Furrow started shooting.

Alan Gottlieb, founder of the 2nd Amendment
Foundation based in Bellevue, Wash., maintains that the
guns fill an important niche.

“They serve a very important purpose for people’s
self-defense, especially for women who want to put it in
their purse,” said Gottlieb, who said about 22,000 of the
organization’s members or contributors come from
Illinois. “There’s no such thing as a good or bad gun. It
depends on whose hand it’s in.”

Blagojevich, who said he would introduce the bill in
Congress Wednesday, acknowledged that he faces an
uphill battle against Washington’s powerful gun lobby but
said there’s a history of progress passing legislation on
similar weapons.

The ban on the sale, transfer and possession of these
weapons would apply to guns less than 7 1/2 inches long
that can hold two or more rounds of ammunition.
Violators could face fines and a maximum of 5 years in
prison, according to a copy of the bill.

Blagojevich was the first member of Congress to file
legislation that would require background checks at gun
shows, said spokesman Matt Devine.

Blagojevich’s announcement was made in conjunction
with the release of a 25-page report that warns of the
dangers of “pocket rockets” by the Violence Policy
Center, a Washington, D.C.-based group that
researches gun violence.

The weapons started gaining popularity in 1994, and
today, virtually all major gun manufacturers produce
them, said Tom Diaz, senior policy analyst at the center.

Diaz also said the industry has promoted “pocket
rockets”–a term coined by Austrian gun manufacturer
Glock to market a small, high-powered pistol–in
tandem with a wave of state laws that permit licensed
people to carry concealed weapons.