Gun

Upon reading Christopher Hepp's Oct. 26 article, "Why prominent people hold gun permits," I feel compelled to respond to some of the issues discussed. I agree with the Police Commissioner Kevin M. Tucker that the number of gun permits should be reduced. But I believe that the more detailed application form, which now requires a fuller explanation of why the gun is needed and asks whether the applicant has tried other means before seeking a gun permit, is not enough. First of all, those interviewed for the article said that they rarely carried their guns.

A West Philadelphia man who shot himself with a gun that was registered to Mayor Goode in 1980 was charged yesterday with weapons offenses and making a false report to police, police said. The man, Herbert Byrd, 30, of the 1300 block of North Conestoga Street, was arrested at 4:15 p.m. at his home, a police spokesman said. Byrd was awaiting arraignment last night. Detective Gerald Whartenby, a police spokesman, said Byrd gave a false account of how he wounded himself in the thigh Nov. 18, the day the gun came to light.

Over and over, this kind of story has a tragic ending. Boy finds loaded gun. Boy picks it up. Boy dies. But Joseph Lynch Jr., 7, of the Northeast, created a different story and gave his parents, cops and friends a reason to be proud. Joey, a first-grader at St. Martin of Tours, will be honored by the Philadelphia Highway Patrol tomorrow for preventing a possible tragedy after finding a fully loaded gun in the snow. Joey discovered the black and silver pistol under a mound of snow on New Year's Eve as he and his father, Joseph Sr., were shoveling the walk outside their home on Lardner Street near Roosevelt Boulevard.

By John R. Lott Jr. With horrible tragedies fresh in everyone's mind, including Newtown, people are understandably wondering what can be done to prevent yet another tragedy. Alas, the mainstream media have already concluded that more gun control must be the answer. Passions run high on both sides. As of Thursday morning, more than 80,000 Americans had signed a White House petition asking that CNN anchor Piers Morgan, a vocal proponent of banning guns, be deported. Another petition urging the White House to "Keep Piers Morgan in the USA" had generated 4,500 signatures.

A Bellmawr man was charged last week with hindering prosecution after he attempted to recover a handgun police believe was used in an attempted murder in Bellmawr Sept. 1. Bellmawr Detective William Hanna said he and an investigator from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office were searching for the weapon at 4 p.m. last Wednesday near a ramp leading from Interstate 295 to Interstate 76 when they spotted Jeffrey Reed, 20, of the 200 block of Walnut Avenue. "I found him looking for the gun," Weston said.

New York police believe a feud between rap artists Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown turned to gunfire. According to the New York Post: "Hip-hop diva Lil' Kim pleaded ignorance yesterday in the street-corner gun battle that erupted after her crew and another rapper's posse crossed paths outside a radio station. " "Crew?" "Posse?" What are they, street gangs? We had hoped after the shooting deaths of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., that rappers would reduce the level of violence they attract and encourage.

AS POLICE Commissioner Ramsey said, it's a sad state of affairs in this city when no one will help a man being attacked by someone with a hammer. It's an even sadder state of affairs that the commissioner doesn't support the issuance of a license to carry firearms to people such as the victim. Joseph J. Catto, Philadelphia

The holdup man ran into the barrel of a gun last Oct. 21. A gun being held by pursuing Police Officer Vicki Francis at Windrim and Lindley avenues. Assistant District Attorney Max Kramer said Jason Graddick, 21, turned a corner and "was stopped in his tracks" when he realized what he was up against. Graddick "threw up his hands" without a fight, said Kramer. The prosecutor said that shortly before running into Francis, Graddick, of Windrim Avenue near 11th Street, and an unknown armed accomplice robbed Perry Riley, 38, when he walked into a food store at Franklin Street and Loudon.

A surprise witness testified yesterday that he saw a gun in Wilfredo Santiago's waistband in the hours before Police Officer Thomas Trench was shot to death on May 28, 1985. But the testimony of Glenn Strickland, of Mount Vernon Street near 17th, was immediately impeached when, under questioning from defense counsel Bruce Franzel, Strickland placed the date of the incident in December 1985. Strickland said he remembered the date because his birthday is Dec. 9. Assistant District Attorney Barbara Christie has spent the first two days of the murder trial trying to establish firmly that Santiago had a gun of the .38-caliber type used to kill Trench.