GUN DEALERS REFLECT ON BRADY BILL

Local gun dealers have no qualms about the Brady bill, which will take effect early this year.

"It's what may follow that concerns me," said Don Wilson, of Money Time Pawn & Check Cashers, 701 William. "Officials are saying that the Brady bill is just the first step. It's those other steps that may be of concern."

Wilson, Rodney Phegley of Phegley's Shooters Supply, 1 West Park Village in Cape Girardeau, and Richard Rader of Homestead Distributing Co., 1401 E. Malone in Sikeston, say sales of guns have increased since early December, when President Bill Clinton signed the Brady bill.

"I don't think, however, that the Brady bill had anything to do with the big increase in sales here," said Phegley. "We always sell a lot of guns during the Christmas holiday, even the semi-automatic weapons."

The new law will require a five-day waiting period and background check on handgun buyers when it takes effect in 90 days. It was named for James Brady, the White House press secretary who was gravely wounded and left disabled in the 1981 assassination attempt against then-President Reagan.

"A number of things have spurred the increased in gun sales in our business," said Saber. "Sales started booming in October, especially on the semi-automatic rifles. Two big things spurred the sudden interest -- the proposal of the new anti-crime bill which may ban sales of certain arms, and President Clinton's import sanctions against China."

Homestead has sold about 4,000 semi-automatic firearms since the first of October.

The new crime bill has given a given a big boost to the firearms industry. "People started buying then, because they feared that once the anti-crime bill became a law, sales of certain firearms would be banned," said Saber.

Separate versions of the crime bill have passed both houses of Congress, but the final bill -- which is expected to include a ban on selected military-style, semi-automatic firearms -- still awaits consideration.

"I think that the emphasis of legislation should be on criminals, not on innocent persons," said one member of the National Rifle Association. "When you talk about restricting the sales of guns, the only people you affect are people who abide by the law."

Prices on AKS-type firearms like the AK-47s and similar weapons have also increased along with the demand.

Michael Saporito, a senior vice president of RSR Wholesale Guns Inc., one of the nation's largest distributors of firearms, told the Associated Press that 1993 has been "probably the best year the firearms industry has experienced over the past 20 years."

"People have the wrong idea about the purchase of semi-automatic weapons," added Saber. "First off, they are not automatic, as many people think. The automatic weapons are illegal. You don't just flip a lever on the weapon, making it automatic."

However, Saber, Wilson and Phegley all agree that the semi-automatic weapons can be converted into automatic firearms.

People purchase the semi-automatics for a variety of reasons, noted Saber. "Many sportsmen use the heavier caliber firearms for deer hunting. Others like to target shoot with the bigger-caliber weapons, and still others just want to collect them, like collectors of Edsels, or some other vintage year automobiles," he said.

"We really didn't need the Brady bill here," said Saber. "We have a program where anyone who purchases a firearm must appear before the sheriff's department before receiving a permit."

"That process usually takes a day or two," said Phegley. "So, another two or three days is no big deal. I don't mind the Brady bill."

"We have no problem with the Brady bill," agrees Wilson. "A five-day wait poses no problem."

Another area of concern with gun dealers is the latest proposal by Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen to increase the licensing fee and stricter controls on people who buy and sell weapons.

"They want to up our fee to an astronomical figures," said Wilson.

Bentsen's plan would hike the annual fee from $66 to $600.

This would eliminated many people who purchase the license simply to take advantage of manufacturers' discounts or some who may buy and sell solely as a hobby.

There are about 258,000 firearms dealers in the U.S., according to figures compiled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. That figure compares to about 150,000 almost 20 years ago.

Until recently, the license fee for a dealer was $10 a year. Congress last year raised it to $200 for a new three-year license -- or $66 a year -- and $90 for a renewal.