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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1974)
r V W V f eoibno $mmu p . , j liking Puritanism too far nancy stohs v. TO 1 I R UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION 1 t f ( H r l page 4 Yxanawah Vaiif-v, w Va . Archaeoloaists here report they have at last uncovered in the hills of West Virginia that famous legendary . lost city, . Puritanis. "It's like nothing we've ever found before, said chief excavator Dr. Ed-ucated Elite, "a . community alive and thriving in a mist 100 years behind its time. Incredible." According to his observations, the society professes to a creed of three ancient American values Christianity, patriotism and moral purity. "Amazing they've survived, isn't it?" Dr. Elite said. "The symptoms point to an acute case of the common working-class syndrome, future shock itis. They can't accept the changes of the modern outside world, so they cut off all contacts with it, especially from the schoolchildren." "How dare they!" "Them's even a ritual to it. Everytime they see an objectionable word (obscene, un-American or blasphemous) in a textbook, they say 'Hallelujah!' and build a bonfire to burn it. Then they bomb the school buildings, and the local minister puts a death curse on the school board. " "Why those radical right-wingers! That smells of arr earlier era, one of witch burning or mob lynching." "Exactly. Remember, to them it's still the nineteenth century." "Just what do they find so objectionable?" "You won't believe it . , . passages they say erode respect for authority and law or advocate violence, stories about whores and homosexuals, four-letter words, and such conservative national spokesman as Eldridge Cleaver, Dick Gregory and Mrs. Gerald Ford." "Mrs. Ford?" "Oh, yes, she's one of the worst. You know she announced publicly her children have tried marijuana. And then she talked so openly about having (shh) breast cancer. That's unforgive able." . "Dr. Elite, is there any hope to saa society like this from itself? Surely if the stud knew of the important education in eri?.cism and corruption they're missing, they'd boycott their classes." " " "Curious phenomena. They "doKhowr and about i-fl third of them have boycotted iuit iter the wrong 1 reason, just like the 6,000 of their coal miner fathers who went on strike over the matter." "I suppose next they'll want the pledge of allegiance and the Bible back in school." "Don't worry. They wouldn't have a prayer . . . except every morning before the bell. "Their big problem is, they can't seem to. respect the sacred rights of minority groups to be heard in this country. Communists and atheists have every right to their say in the classroom, too. We're going to do all we can to suppress this dangerous element we've uncovered.' ' Two weeks later, I read Congress passed a law banning the Puritanists' three main weapons the Bible, the Constitution and the sixth command mentfrom pring. "Halleluhah!" I said. Freedom of ideas has prevailed! Nation's gun "control needs strengthening periods in the city's history since the St. Valentine s Day Massacre of 1929. .- The following weekend, seven persons were- killed and another 41 were wounded In Chicago shootings. The deaths followed no particular pattern. Some appeared to be gang-related. Some were committed in the course of robberies. Some involved narcotics. One 17-year-old youth died after an argument over a piece of chicken, another over $10 in a dice game. In yet another incident, an elderly man, enraged because the windows of his house had been broken, rushed out the door with his shotgun and opened fire on three teen-agers. He killed one and wounded the others. . What bound the incidents together was the gun. At least 26 of the 33 victims on the two weekends were killed by firearms, and of these, all but one by handguns. Ail of this points to the need for stronger gun control laws. Chicago police estimate that the 3.2 million citizens of Chicago now own 1.5 million guns, of which scarcely a third are legally registered. The police, who contend they are '.'simply outgunned" by the criminals, say these weapons are playing an ever larger role in the city's crime. In 1965 Chicago recorded 396 homicides, of which 156, or 39 per cent, were committed with handguns. Last year, the city reported 864 homicides, and 543 or 63 per cent of them involved handguns. Local gun legislation in Chicago, as in many other U.S. cities, is grossly inadequate. Although it is difficult to obtain the city permit needed to buy a gun in Chicago, a person easily can buy one in almost any Chicago suburb. He need present only an easily acquired $5tate form, as well as proof of Identity. Cities enforcing tighter gun restrictions, such as New York and Boston, have been able to hold down the use of guns in crime somewhat. But their efforts are undermined by the guns that come in from other regions, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The cities' experience has shown that only limited progress on gun control is possible at the local or state level. Any strong advance in this field will require acting together as a nation. . Congress has not held hearings on gun control in more than two years. It's time it did. Otherwise, Americans" can look forward to shooting reports becoming almost as prevalent as traffic violations. Jane Owens w Y A K t If 'a A 4 A 1 w; 1 w . t I II' I I 1 Y li 1 H 1 V ll h u nil I X ( (TV 1 ( I 1 j daily nebraskan thursday, november7, 1974
