EMERSON REJECTS GUN BILL

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Bill Emerson voted against the Brady Bill Wednesday. The bill would establish a seven-day waiting period for handgun purchases.

The bill was approved by the House on a 239-186 vote.

Emerson said, "Criminals who want a gun are not going to be deterred by a waiting period. They'll steal the guns as they already do."

The Cape Girardeau Republican was one of four House members from Missouri who voted against the bill. Five Missouri congressmen voted for it.

Supporting it were Missouri Reps. William Clay, D-St. Louis; Richard Gephardt, D-St. Louis; Joan Kelly Horn, D-Ladue; Alan Wheat, D-Kansas City; and Tom Coleman, R-Kansas City.

Opposing it, besides Emerson, were Reps. Ike Skelton, D-Lexington; Harold Volkmer, D-Hannibal; and Mel Hancock, R-Springfield.

Emerson said, "I am firmly committed to the war on crime. Crime control should not be confused with gun control. The law breakers, not the law abiders, should be the targets of our crime battles."

Said Emerson, "The fact of the matter is that the only folks who will be affected by the Brady Bill are law-abiding citizens who wish to purchase a gun for their own personal use for hunting, for collecting, or for shooting."

He said that "the best solution to the so-called `gun problem' is to have mandatory sentencing for people who commit crimes with guns.

The Brady Bill is named after Jim Brady, former President Reagan's press secretary who was shot and permanently disabled in a failed assassination attempt on Reagan.