sK&ysssu- News digest
House decides to give approval to Brady Bill
Imposes a five-day
waiting period for
handgun purchase
WASHINGTON — Responding
to public fear of street crime, the
House approved the Brady bill
Wednesday that would require a five
day wait and a background check on
people who want to buy handguns.
The House voted 238-189 for the
bill and sent it to the Senate.
The House also approved Brady
last year only to see it fail after being
attached to a larger crime bill blocked
by Senate Republicans. This time, it
is being kept separate in the hope the
Senate will send it to President
Clinton, who has promised to sign it.
During the debate, Rep. Lucicn
Blackwell, D-Pa., noted that his West
' Philadelphia neighborhood has hun
dreds of deaths each year from pis
tols.
“We need to stop these thugs from
getting these guns rapidly, and if we
pass the Brady bill, we will do that,”
Blackwell said. “What is wrong with
waiting five days to get a pistol?
What is wrong with that?”
The Brady bill, named for press
secretary James Brady who was shot
during a 1981 assassination attempt
on President Reagan, would impose
a five-day waiting period before a
handgun purchase could be complet
ed and would require a background
check during that time on would-be
buyers.
Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Ga., sup
porting a successful amendment to
set a deadline of five years for devel
oping a computerized, nationwide
system of instant background checks
and a phaseout of the waiting period,
said:
“If we can check credit card pur
chases instantaneously, if we can
have our policemen check driving
records instantaneously, then certain
ly we can check criminal histories
instantaneously.”
Rep. Butler Derrick, D-S.C., said
a waiting period of five working days
represents less time “than most peo
ple have to wait for their dry clean
ing.”
The amendment, backed by the
National Rifle Association and pro
posed by Rep. George Gekas, R-Pa.,
was approved by a 235-198 vote. Gun
control proponents characterized it
as an attempt to gut Brady’s effec
tiveness.
Rep. Mike Synar, D-Okla., called
it “a very clever attempt to derail the
five-day waiting period.”
“Using this amendment’s common
sense,” Synar said, “one would quit
giving CPR to a heart attack victim
after five minutes.”
The five-year deadline was im
posed on a provision already in this
year’s Brady bill which said that when
background information is sufficient
ly computerized and instant checks
are possible, the waiting period would
end, and instant checks would be re
quired on purchases of both hand
guns and long guns.
The House rejected by a 175-257
vote another NRA-backed amend
ment offered by Rep. Bill McCollum,
— M
If we can check credit card purchases instanta
neously, if we can have our policemen check
driving records instantaneously, then certainly
we can check criminal histories instantaneously.
— Rep. Bishop, D-Ga.
___ _
R-Fla. It would have pre-empted all
state or local laws that require wait
ing periods once the instant checks
took effect. Opponents had called it
a “killer amendment” that would
“eviscerate Brady.”
The Brady bill has been separated
from far-reaching crime bills in the
House and Senate in an effort to get
it to Clinton this year.
Last year, the Brady bill died along
with a larger crime bill of w hich it
was only a small part when Senate
Republicans threatened to filibuster
over changes in rules governing ap
peals to federal courts by state in
mates, particularly those on death
row.
¥ ¥
The Senate continued slogging
through its crime bill. Late Tuesday,
Republicans threatened to filibuster
the amendment.
The Senate planned to take up the
Brady bill after completing work on
the crime bill.
Brady, who with his wife, Sarah,
has been pushing the bill for a de
cade, was in the House chamber dur
ing the debate.
The House overwhelmingly ap
proved a Brady bill amendment that
would require police to provide within
20 days the reason for a denial of a
right to purchase a handgun, if the
person denied seeks it.
Nine Americans die in British bus accident
FA VERSHAM, England — A bus
carrying American tourists to Can
terbury Cathedral careened off a rain
slicked highway Wednesday, killing
10 people and injuring more than 30
when it plunged down an embank
ment.
Nine Americans and the British
driver were killed, the State Depart
ment said in Washington.
The coach carrying 46 people spun
out of control off the M2 motorway
in Kent county and careened 20 feet
down an embankment after appar
ently clipping a van in front, police
said.
The tour company said there were
42 Americans, two Canadians and a
British driver and guide on board.
Police said the driver was believed to
be among the dead.
Kent county police spokesman Jon
Steel said the death toll was likely to
rise to 12. Names were not being
released until families were notified.
The accident happened at about
9:40 a.m., some two hours after the
coach, operated by a British compa
ny called Travelers International, left
London. It occurred near the town of
Faversham about 50 miles southeast
of the capital.
“There were people screaming and
trying to get out,” said truck driver
Richard Hearn, who was traveling
behind the bus. “1 pulled up and
helped to get them out.”
Fleets of ambulances raced to the
scene. Paramedics treated some of
the injured who were trapped in the
wreckage until firefighters cut the
passengers free.
Some of the injured were treated
on the wet, leaf-strewn embankment
before being rushed to Kent and Can
terbury Hospital. Others were
whisked away by helicopter ambu
lances that landed on the highway.
Authorities said only two of the
injured were in serious condition.
John Walravcn, who lives near the
accident site, said, “It was the most
terrible thing I have ever seen in my
-44
It was the most terri
ble thing I have ever
seen in my life
There were people on
the coach and arms
and legs sticking out
everywhere.
—Walraven,
British resident
-» -
life. ... There were people on the
coach and arms and legs sticking out
everywhere.”
’$$$—
FOR ■■■■
COLLEGE
YOU Can Qualify To Earn Up To 75%
Of Your Tuition While Working At Amigos!
Dave McCoppin - UNL
Chemical Engineer
major, had 50% of his
tuition paid.
Cynthia Kizzier - UNK
“The first thing I do
with my STEP check is
pay my parents back.
They think the
program is great.”
Carrie Potter - UNL
Began working at
Amigos while in high
school and gets 50% of
her tuition paid.
If you started working for
Amigos as a sophomore in high
school, you could receive the
following amounts toward your
tuition each semester.
UNO 50%
UNL 50%
UNK 50%
Metro Tech 75%
Iowa Western 50%
Peru Sute 50%
SE Comm. College 75%
Wayne St. 50%
Johnson Co. College 75%
* This is a partial list. Many more
schools are covered.*
Itys time to go to work
for a company that
thinks about the
future...ours and yours!
Call now to apply for a
great job that offers a
bonus scholarship.
[\w*AQP®° — Call: 402-488-8500
Jk^^K * * Mon.-I n. SAM - 5PM Sal. 9AM - Noon
MEXICAN FOOD ^
-STATE WIRE
Nebraskans hope declassified records give answers
OMAHA — A Lincoln woman hopes to get
answers about her brother when the Pentagon
declassifies most records about Americans
missing in action in the Vietnam War Thurs
day.
Linda Bohac was aw aiting her older broth
er’s return so he could give her away at her
wedding in 1969 when the news arrived: Her
brother. Harold Kahler. a 44-ycar-old career
Air Force pilot, had been shot down in an F
105 over Laos.
She and her family have only sketchy infor
mation about her brother — and many ques
tions about his fate.
They’re hoping for some answers after
records about America’s 2,200 Vietnam MIAs,
including 24 Nebraskans, are declassified.
The information is long overdue, Ms. Bohac
said.
“My brother will probably never walk out
of Vietnam,” she said. “But somebody clse’s
brother could. I believe some men are still
alive, and I don’t think they are there because
they want to be.”
Jim Crabtree, president of the Nebraska
council for Vietnam Veterans of America, said
he was cautiously optimistic about what the
documents will yield.
“Any release of documents is welcome,
said Crabtree, who served in the Army during
the war. “However, we know there are still
many unanswered questions for which the gov
ernment can provide answers.
“But release of that information would prove
to be so embarrassing there is little hope ol
getting that information out in the very near
future.”
--m SPORTS WIRE
Chicago ’s Thomas unanimously wins MVP award
Ntw YORK — trank Thomas, who set a
Chicago White Sox record with 41 homers, on
Wednesday became the eighth player unani
mously voted the American League Most Valu
able Player.
Thomas, who hit .317 and was second in
the major leagues with 128 RBls, easily beat
Toronto Blue Jays’ Paul Molitor, who received
13 second-place votes in voting by the Base
ball Writers Association of America.
Thomas’ victory gave the White Sox three
of the four AL awards. Jack McDowell was
voted the Cy Young Award and Gene Lamont
was voted Manager of the Year. The last team
to have three different people capture those
awards in the same season was the Atlanta
Braves in 1991, when Terry Pendleton was the
MVP, Tom Glavine was the Cy Young winner
and Bobby Cox was the top manager.
AL batting champion John Olerud, Molitor s
teammate, was third in voting, followed by
Texas Rangers outfielder Juan Gonzalez. Se
attle Mariners’ Ken Griffey Jr. and Roberto
Alomar of the Blue Jays tied for fifth.
Nebraskan
Edilor J*r^ny Frtzprtrick Night News Editors JaH Zeleny
472*1766 Liu SIckAd
Managing Editor Wendy Mott Kristina Long
Assoc News Editors Angle Brunkow Andrea Kaaar
Editorial Page Editor Kathy Steinauer An Director David Badders
„ ^ , FAX NUMBER 472 1761
i .nrnin0^ '* ,he UNl Publications Board, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St ,
Lincoln^NE, Monday through Fnday dunng the academic year, weekly dunng summer sessions
Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between
Doilg Fiedler1 43^6407^ ,hf0U^h ^nday The public also has access to the Publications Board For information, contacl
1 Subscription price Is $50 for one year
0448°^3«concLclass^postagepairfa?LincoIn^NE***^ Union 34, 1400 R St .Lincoln, NE 68588
All material copyright 19*3 daily nebraskan