GUN DEALER URGES STRICTER OVERSIGHT OF SALES

A gun store owner seems an unlikely proponent of stricter gun control laws _ especially one whose motto is, "I don't want to make any money; I just love to sell guns."

But Don Davis, self-proclaimed millionaire owner of three Don's Guns stores in the Indianapolis area, says state and national laws to control guns do not go far enough.

For instance, to get a gun permit in Indiana, you need to be at least 18 years old and pay a fee of $20 to the state. "They'll send you back a permit . . . Carry a gun anywhere you want. Don't even have to know how to shoot it," Davis said. "That's what's ridiculous."

"To get a driver's license you have to take a written test and a driving test. To fly an airplane you have to take a written test and a flying test. But to get a permit to carry a gun out here among all of us, 24 hours a day, all you do is simply have to send the state of Indiana $20," he explained.

Buying a gun is almost as simple. For a handgun, you must be at least 21 years old and wait seven days after you buy the gun to actually get your hands on it. "You just come in and select the one you want, pay down 20 percent and come back in seven working days and pay the balance and walk out with it," Davis said. During the interim, the gun shop sends the purchase form to the state, where the buyer's Social Security number is checked to make sure he or she isn't a convicted felon. "That's the only checking we do. We're silly with guns in the United States," Davis added.

Laws, both Indiana and federal, prohibit handgun purchases by convicted felons, people judged mentally ill, minors and drug abusers. Rifles, shotguns and assault rifles, however, can be bought on a customer's word that he or she is not a convicted felon, mentally ill, a minor or drug abuser.

The requirements are more lenient for rifles or shotguns, with no waiting period required. "If it's a long gun or a shotgun, you only have to be 18 years old, and you can walk out with a rifle or a shotgun, the most deadly I got, at 18," said Davis with disgust. "You could have just got out of jail and you can lie on your application and nobody checks your application.

"Seventy-five percent of the people shot with a handgun survive. President Reagan is still alive, shot up close with a handgun. The pope is still alive, shot up close with a handgun," Davis noted. "But no one survives shot with a rifle or shotgun."

Davis' objection to the Indiana law that requires a seven-day waiting period for handguns is that it ignores these deadly rifles and shotguns. "There should be a waiting period on all guns," Davis said.

But that's not all. Davis wants the state to enforce its law that requires new registration and a criminal background check on all people who acquire guns from other people. "The state has a state law that says after you leave Don's Guns shop and you have waited seven days and bought the gun, that if you want to sell it or give it to somebody, you should have to bring them back in the gun shop, have them fill out the papers, have them checked to see that they're not a criminal or a drug addict or so forth. That is what's not being done."

But Maj. Richard Shelton of the firearms licensing division of the Indiana State Police says the law is being enforced. "There's probably some (gun buyers) that aren't (filling out the form), but I would say the majority of them are."

Davis, given his first gun when he was 12 by his grandfather, doesn't believe children should be barred from handling guns.

"That's not the way to teach young people from being hurt with a gun. That's why young people get hurt with a gun. People buy a gun; they hide it from their children; they stick it under the bed or something. The young people are in playing and the parents are off at work and they say, `Oh, lookie here.' The next thing you know there's an accident with a gun.

"The way to train young people with a gun is (to) let you fire it. . . . Once you know a gun is dangerous and you have been taught correctly, you're not going to have an accident. It's when you find a gun and you didn't really know it was there and you don't know how to handle it."

Davis practices what he preaches. Members of his family have learned to use guns safely at an early age. "In fact, my grandson, who was 6 years old, was on a commercial with me at one time. And I taught him at 6 years old. I gave him his first gun, a little miniature .22 rifle, which he has on the wall of his room. And I taught him the safety features of a gun, and we had him in a commercial."

Children are naturally interested in guns, Davis said. "We are a violent nation. We're in love with the gun. We're in love with the movies, and when we watch movies at night, 90 percent of them are adventure movies. We love it."