America's ignored epidemic.

America suffers from an epidemic of staggering proportions. It strikes suddenly, usually without warning. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anyplace. Sometimes it is accidental. Often it is intentional.

Every year, more than 24,000 Americans lose their lives to this epidemic. In the four years from 1988 to 1991, more Americans died from this plague than were killed in the entire Vietnam War. Every day in the United States, 15 children die from this cause. Fifty of the 68 police officers who died in the line of duty in 1991 fell to this epidemic.

This plague is handgun violence. Every handgun--regardless of type or cost--was designed, built, marketed, and loaded potentially to end a human life. Each gun is a death in waiting.

According to the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, the rate of nonhandgun killings has declined by 11 percent since 1987, while the rate of handgun killings has increased a whopping 52 percent. Firearms are already the second-leading cause of fatal injuries in the United States, and unless present trends are reversed, guns will shortly surpass cars as the leading cause of injury-related death.

What is truly astounding is that this is a uniquely American experience. No other nation comes even remotely close. In 1992, a year in which 13,220 Americans were murdered with a handgun, only 13 Australians, 33 Britons, 60 Japanese, and 128 Canadians were killed by a handgun.

Gun violence is not, of course, limited to handguns. Semiautomatic assault weapons play an increasingly prominent role. Technological "advances," such as more "efficient" ammunition and laser sights for accurate aim, promise escalating death tolls.

The cost to society is mind-boggling. In 1990, the cost of firearm injuries in the United States was estimated to be $20.4 billion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that the $373,000 average per-death cost of firearm fatalities is the highest of any injury-related death.

For years opinion polls have shown that Americans want tougher restrictions on the availability of guns, but powerful lobbying has created an almost impenetrable barrier to these laws. It took years of struggle to pass the Brady Act, but its waiting period applies only to licensed sellers. Private sales remain unregulated.

Two new comprehensive gun bills are pending in Congress. "Brady II" (S. 1882), developed by the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, provides for gun owner licensing, gun dealer regulation, limits on gun and ammunition purchases, and strict safety standards. The Firearms Safety and Violence Prevention Act (H.R. 4903), developed by the Violence Policy Center, would give the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms authority to regulate guns as consumer products.

If enacted, these bills could do much to establish a sensible national gun policy that would stop the flow of handguns, take assault weapons off our streets, prevent the amassing of private arsenals, and make gun ownership much safer.

We regulate many less dangerous products. A child's teddy bear is covered by at least four types of federal safety standards. And look at what we have achieved by taking concerted action to reduce automoblie deaths. Through safer cars, safer roads, tougher licensing, and tightened substance abuse laws, we have reduced auto fatalities by 36 percent.

A coordinated national gun policy to promote safe and responsible ownership and use of guns will not, by itself, stop gun violence. But it can begin the process by which we reclaim our streets and communities. And it can definitely save lives.

Creating such a policy will not be easy. Those who believe that America will be safer and saner with a sensible gun policy should let their voices be heard in Washington and in their state legislatures. To help, contact the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, 1225 Eye Street, N.W., Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20005, [phone].

Soon, ATLA will address the subject of gun violence in a very public way. Plans are in progress for a national conference, perhaps as early as the spring of 1995, to help focus attention on this terrible problem and help inform all Americans about the dangers and responsibilities of gun ownership.

There is, however, much more that we can do. Individually, we can help stop the bloodshed by using our talents and skills in America's courtrooms.

There is no defensible reason why guns today do not have child-proof safeties, load indicators, and magazine safeties to prevent accidental firing. There is no justificatin for the manufacture or sale of so-called Saturday Night Specials, whose only purpose is use in the commission of violent crimes. There is no place in our society for military-style semiautomatic assault weapons designed solely for mass killing. There is no lawful purpose for nonsport, cop-killer ammunition. And there is no reason why gun owners should not be held strictly accountable when children get access to their guns.

These are principles we can fight for in the courts. It's time that people who buy handguns know how to handle them responsibly. It's time that manufcturers, distributors, and even owners who make these tools of violence available be held accountable.

Justice and human decency demand that we do nothing less.