46 - Friday, August 26, 1994 - North Shore News a S. ut arms versus gun control IN THE United States, more and more people including young children and teenagers are dying every day because it is too easy to buy a gun. Guns are available everywhere, including the black market. Fortunately, the situation isn’t quite as bad here in Canada ... yet. Those who defend current gun control laws argue that every house- hold should own a gun in case of armed break-ins and say: “Guns don't kill people; people do.” These are good points, but I find it hard to agree with those “trigger happy clowns” when I read the statistics. ®in the U.S.A.in 1991, 38,317 people died of gunshot wounds. That’s more than 100 per day. A hand gun is produced every 2C seconds in the U.S. These will end up in the hands of any American: a wealthy lawyer, * a farmer, or 8 youth from south cen- tral Los Angeles who’s willing to do anything for gang entry. As if this weren"t frightening enough, the U.S. government isn’t doing a thing to control firearms.: Obviously, if there were stricter laws concerning gun control, there would be a dramatic decrease in murders involving firearms. Anybody who wishes to argue this point is obviously unaware of the carage across America. . Not too long ago, the U.S. gov- emment passed a bill to ban all AK- 47s shipped out of China, arriving in the States. So the Chinese gov- *ernment built the exact same gun, only with a different grip, and ‘called it a hunting rifle. Many of these AK-47s are sold on the black market, where ycu don't even need ID to purchase one. This means that these guns are being distributed to kids all over the U.S. This is why there are metal-detectors installed at the doors of most inner-city high schools. Why is it that the National Rifle Association (NRA) still believes that every household should have the right to bear arms? Are they unaware of what’s going on out there? How can they continue to use the argument that an automatic assault rifle is necessary for hunt- ing? The use of an automatic rifle completely defeats the purpose of the so-called “sport” of hunting, when it's easier to kill a deer than to buy a package of meat at the store. As long as the ancient Second Amendment exists, the NRA will continue tc encourage Americans to buy firearms. [ think it's about time to abolish that out-dated right. However, some good things are being done out there concerming gun control. For example, not toa long ago, the New York City police came up with idea that if kids found any guns, or even had any, they could hand them in to a police department in exchange for toys. This campaign was called “Toys For Guns,” and the results were overwhelming. I believe we need more ideas like this to get guns off the streets before we start to see even more deaths per year involving guns. lL asked one of my peers if he thought there would be a significant drop in murders if there weren’t any guns on the streets, He replied, “No. they would just use knives!” It's true that Knives kill people, but have you ever heard of a drive-by knif- ing? Obviously there is a problem concerning firearms, particularly in the U.S., but. it's also a growing issue in Canada. Perhaps.we should lear a lesson from the United States, and do something before it’s too late. Argyle Secondary school student Jeremy Jackson, 17, enjoys sports, music and European travel. Project challenges youth CANADIANS AGED I8 to 25 who are looking for adventure vand who have an interest in global development are invited to apply to participate on a Youth Challenge International project in Costa Rica, Guyana, or the Solomon Islands. Youth Challenge International is a non-profit organization that encourages young people to be active and responsible participants in issues of local and global devel- opment. Young people from around the world will work on a variety of community developmen:, he :it}., and research projects fer te. -eeks next spring and summer. No experience is necessary: just a willingness to work hard and an interest in global development. “Participating on a YCI project provides young Canadians with the chance to earn valuable experience, to gain new skills, to learn about a different culture, and to meet other young people from around the world.” says Greg Smith, commu- nication director at YCI. The deadline for application is Oct 7. To receive an application and for more information contact the YCI office at 1-800 979-INFO. NEWS f WHAT ARE your impressions about Woodstock '9.47 Did you wateh iton TV? Did you hear about 2 Do you think the issues that were big in the "60s — world peace, environmental protection -— are as important today as they were then? 28¢-KIDS Ata UR ova NEWS photo Mike Wakefisid RIDE THE lightning, dude! The Lonsdale recreation centre’s skateboard park is open for action till Thursday, Sept. 1. The rec centre offers skateboard camps for kids aged nine and up. Drop-in sessions take place Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 2 to 7 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 9 p.m. Phone the North Vancouver Recreation Cemmission at 987-7529 for more information. RECENTLY, WE asked if you think prime-time soaps like Models, Inc., Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place mirror real life, and if these shows create unreasonable expectations for leens. @ | feel that these progranis don’t mirror real life. { think that (most) kids who watch them don’t take them seriously. Buf unfortunately there are too many young minds watching these programs. Be Recently. we also asked if you think marijuana should be legal- ized, and if more money should be spent to educate and encour- age people to choose a life with- out drugs, including alcohol. ®@ It’s very easy for us as young people to say: “Sure, legalize it. Hey, it‘s cool.” But I dont want to grow up one day and have my own kid and have to worry about marijuana being legalized and maybe worry about that kid being on a bus with a driver who’s been smoking up. Or walking in the streets and worrying that some crazy driver is going to come around and kill my kid. I don’t think there would be any way to (regulate that). With aicehol you can take a blood test or breathalyser, but with marijua- na, it’s very hard to do and I think it would just be out of hand. Uf you have a comment about this week's Talkback question, one of the articles we have pub- lished, or any other teen-related issue you care about, call the North Shore News’ Talkback line — 980-5437. If you would like to submit a letter, poem or article for publication in the Zap! sec- tion, please address your submis- sion to Zap! c/o North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, V7M 2H4, or fax it to 985-2104.