LANDMARK

Pistol-Selling Verdict

West Virginia attracts drugs-for-guns criminals because the state has
no limit on the number of pistols a person may buy. Dope dealers come
to the Mountain State, peddle their illicit narcotics, use the profit
to buy trunkloads of cheap pistols, then return to major cities where
they sell the guns to street thugs at a fat markup.

But this ugly business may be crimped, thanks to this week's
breakthrough lawsuit outcome. The insurer for Will Jewelry & Loan Co.
in South Charleston agreed to pay $1 million to two New Jersey police
officers who were wounded by a pistol from Will. Here's the background:

New Jersey crack cocaine dealer James Gray, whose felony record
prevented him from buying guns, offered cash and drugs to a Charleston
cab driver if she would be his stooge to buy pistols. Since Charleston
has a one-pistol-per-month limit on purchases, the pair went to the
South Charleston shop, which had a record of selling guns later used
in crimes.

Gray picked out a dozen pistols, then handed the cabbie $4,000 for the
purchase, while a store clerk watched. When asked why she wanted so
many guns, the "straw buyer" laughed and said she was starting a
shooting range.

Later, the store's manager grew suspicious and notified federal
agents, who set a trap and caught the couple when they returned to
make another gun purchase. Gray got 15 years in federal prison, and
she served a year.

Meanwhile, one of the pistols from the first purchase was bought by a
convicted felon in Orange, N.J., who used it to shoot two policemen in
early 2001. The disabled officers sued the pawnshop, and its insurer
coughed up $1 million.

Although it's a shame that the store manager's cooperation helped
bring a lawsuit onto his neck - and although we're leery of lawyers
who look for lucrative targets to sue, and pocket large shares of the
settlements - this case may enhance public safety.

Will Jewelry & Loan already has changed its methods, and now sells
only one pistol per month per buyer. This will dampen mass purchases
by drug dealers using stooges.

Further, the outcome should reduce pistol sales to other criminals,
drunks, psychos, juveniles, tavern-brawlers, wife-beaters and sundry
people who shouldn't be armed. Word of this case will spread among
gun-sellers nationwide, and among plaintiff lawyers. Hereafter, every
victim shot by a pistol that was funneled to an undesirable owner - or
the victim's survivors - will be more likely to sue the dealer.

Republicans and other right-to-bear-arms advocates in Congress nearly
passed a law to ban such gun suits. The attempt probably will be
revived. We hope West Virginia's members of Congress do their utmost
to prevent it.

Meanwhile, the Legislature finally should muster enough courage to
follow Charleston's example and limit pistol purchases to one per
buyer per month. No law-abiding person needs more than 12 new pistols
a year.

We hope this week's lawsuit outcome builds momentum for the crusade to
protect Americans from dirty guns in dirty hands.