WM' Slh I K
Gun sellers need to be careful
Last week in West Palm Beach,
Fla., a jury ruled that the Kmart
Corporation must pay more than
$11 million in damages to a quadri
plegic woman.
The woman, Deborah Kitchen, was
shot by Thomas Knapp, her drunken
boyfriend, shortly after he purchased
a rifle from a Kmart.
Knapp is serving a 40-year prison
sentence for the 1987 shooting and
must pay approximately $1 million in
damages himself.
Immediately,I’m sure,all the NRA
supporters out there will vehemently
protest the decision to punish Kmart,
but hold your ire, please, and read on.
The jury foreman said Kmart was
negligent in its training of the sales
clerk who sold Knapp the gun.
The Kmart salesclerk said Knapp
did not appear to be intoxicated when
he purchased the rifle, even though
the soon-to-be criminal was unable to
fill (Hit the required Federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms forms
necessary for firearm purchases.
Because Knapp’s handwriting was
unintelligible, the clerk recopied
Knapp’s information and then had
Knapp sign the form.
The clerk filled out the requisite
form for him. Obviously Knapp was
in no condition to be handling a fire
arm if he could not even fill out a very
simple form.
How simple?
A Lincoln Kmart sporting-goods
clerk said the form consisted of yes or
no questions and a slot for a signature
and date.
Besides showing a Nebraska driv
er’s license to prove they are at least
18, all potential gun buyers must do is
answer the yes or no questions — all
of which deal with criminal record,
chemical addiction/abuse, mental
competency and patriotism.
But the federal form doesn’t con
sider that anyone who wants to pur
chase a gun would not be stupid enough
to answer “yes” —obviously if they
say they’ ye been convicted of a crime
they wtwnbe able to get afciiii.Cori
I
In essence, if they are that
stupid, they have one last shot
to change their mind and take
home their very own shotgun
Oft rifle from Kmart’s wide se
lection of both.
victs can’t get guns. Neither can the
mentally ill or drug addicts.
If someone is stupid enough to
answer “yes,” the Kmart clerk said
salespeople must then make sure the
person understood the question.
In essence, if they are that stupid,
they have one last shot to change their
mind and take home their very own
shotgun or rifle from Kmart’s wide
selection of both.
Once the form has been filled out,
the gun can be purchased, whether the
purchaser is lying or not — because
there is no way for the Kmart
salesperson to know.
Yes, this has been discussed ad
nauseum.
But that doesn’t negate the seri
ousness of this subject matter.
All of this is frightening enough,
but an even more burning issue is the
availability of firearms — soon to
become even more accessible in Lin
coln.
The new Lincoln Kmart store is
scheduled to open Oct. 25. The plans
call for a 24-hour superstore: all de
partments open 24 hours a day. _
And while Kmart does not sell
handguns, it does sell handgun am
munition. That hardly makes sense to
me, but selling guns and ammunition
24 hours a day hardly makes sense to
me, either.
Soon, at any hour of the day people
can enter Kmart and purchase rifles,
shotguns and ammunition for their
firearm of choice. That’s at noon, at 4
p.m., even at 2 a.m. after a late night
of argtiirig and BudweiserS. Or after
being kicked out of a party they thought
they belonged at. Or after a particular
ly vicious night of bickering with
their spouse or significant other. Or
after a long, difficult night of depres
sion.
This frightens me. I don’t want
ammunition accessible 24 hoursaday
to anyone.
ff hunters need more bullets, they
should think ahead and pick them up
the day before.
The verdict in Kitchen's lawsuit
shows that decent, upstanding citi
zens finally are doing something about
the accessibility of guns. They, like
me, are sick and tired of being fright
ened. Now they’re hitting the gun
sellers where it hurts—their pocket
books.
Kmart’s lawyer said the company
would appeal the verdict. I under
stand that. I’m not entirely sure they
should be held responsible, but I know
that this should send a message to
company officials: They need to be
more careful. r -
Kitchen said in an interview after
the verdict was announced that gun
sellers should be held responsible for
the actions of gun buyers. “Just be
careful, conscientious and aware,” she
said.
I hope the new Kmart store takes
those words to heart and acts upon
them.
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