its way through the US Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved that legislation -- the so-called McClure-Volkmer bill -- by a 13-3 vote. The McClure-Volkmer bill does have some beneficial aspects. But it would also gut the landmark 1968 Gun Control Act. On the one hand, the measure would provide for a 14-day waiting period during which a potential handgun buyer could be subjected to a criminal records check. The measure would also extend the minimum federal prison sentence for using a handgun in the commission of a crime from one to two years. On the other hand, the Senate bill would: ?Allow mail order sales now barred. ?Allow for the private sale of handguns by dealers, now prohibited. ?Totally exempt many retailers and dealers from registration procedures. A memo circulated within the Reagan administration reportedly argues that the bill would represent a "serious setback for law enforcement and for the safety of our citizens. . . ."The administration, however. 'continues to support the measure. Surely, after all the tragedies of recent years resulting from gun misuse, is there any reason to emasculate the Gun Control Act of 1968? The House Judiciary Committee would be amply justified in proceeding very slowly in considering such a dubious measure. It's a SmalF^^ orld by Bill Lindau A guy asked me the other day why I didn't go to the political rally barbecue. "Cause you can't eat pork?" he asked. Sure, I can eat pork. I told him. Not often, though. 1 eat it about as often as 1 eat tenderloin steak. 1 feel like the guy who came into a supermarket, looked at the beef, then the prices, and picked up a package. "I'm not gonna eat it." he informed the butcher. "I'm just gonna take it out and smell it every morning before I go to work." But this is getting off the track, which is traditional with this practice. I feel free to eat pork. I also eat meat on Fridays. And when Wake Forest plays Southern Methodist, or Notre Dame plays St. Andrews, 1 don't care who wins. (That's bor rowed from the definition of an atheist: guy who watches Notre Dame play Southern Methodist and doesn't care who wins.) The real reason I didn't go to the barbecue rally is I was just too darn lazy. ? ? ? Larry Cheek had some twisted proverbs (or whatever you call them) in one of his FayettevlUe Times columns the other dav. Like Puppy Creek the guy who bought an island full of terns, and he wanted to get rid of them. So he got a bunch of rocks. And he didn't quit throwing them till he had left no tern unstoned. Betsy threw this one at me the other day. A guy named Will Famy was a great pitcher. But he had one weakness. He liked to have a few beers before a ball game. One day he had his few beers and went out on the mound and started pitching. He walked the first batter. Then he walked the second batter. Then he walked the third. And the fourth. And the fifth. After the game was over and the players were leaving the stadium, one of Will Famy's opponents noticed a billboard advertising a brand of suds. Pointing to the sign, he informed his wife, "That's the beer that made Will Famy walk us." ? * * Some time when you have time on your hand waiting to see someone or go somewhere and don't want to do the usual time killing things, try solving this riddle: You know the sound of two hands clapping. What's the sound of one hand clapping? Philosopher household applitfhce that sputters out just after the warranty expires has ever been built by a worker on his coffee break. Nor has it been, after playing out. ever half-way fixed by a repairman while he was on a coffee break. And what's more important, most of the big problems Congress wrestles with and can't solve are solved easily dozens of times at almost any coffee break you hap pen to sit in on. Secretary of State Alexander Haig could save hund reds of thousands of dollars, thou sands of hours of flying time and all that wear and tear on his airplanes and himself if. instead of shuttling around the globe he'd just drop in on a coffee break in Raeford or any other place except Washington. In Washington, they don't solve problems at coffee breaks, they invent new ones. Yours faithfully, J. A. Dear editor: According to an article I read in the paper the other day a Washing ton research group says "the average American worker will have to work two hours and 44 minutes of each workday to pay his part of this year's taxes." What I want to know is can I keep a record each day of my time spent working and turn that into the IRS every April 15 instead of a check? If my report showed I'd worked more than two hours and 44 minutes a day could I get a refund? Furthermore, can you count coffee breaks as work time? If so, there are millions of coffee drinkers in the country who, if they put their minds to it, could stretch their breaks out to cover their entire tax liability and be in line for a refund too. Don't ever belittle the worth of coffee breaks. Remember, no CLIFF BLUE . . . People & Issues PRESIDENT REAGAN ... President Reagan in his speech to the nation Thursday night called for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to balance the budget. This is a long over-due call and should have been in effect after World War 11! The proposed amendment will not be easy come by after all these years of liberal spending with little thought about balancing the budget and who would pay the bill. Balancing the budget is an issue that sometime must be faced up to and the sooner the better. However, when that time comes there will be some loud cries as to why Congress and Presidents let such a debt build up in days of pro sperity! BRIGHT NOTE. ..One bright note about North Carolina govern ment, it appears that the State's tourist industry hit $2.7 billion in 1981. Top countries in the tourist industry include Mecklenburg, $388,504 million; Wake County. $249,673 million; Buncombe S18S.8S6 million; Guilford, $180,999 million; Forsyth, $147,007 million and Dare $141,513 million. DRUNKEN DRIVERS.. .With the many wrecks and deaths on the highway, we feel that driving under the influence of intoxicating beverages, beer, wine or liquor, is the cause of the majority of ac cidents and deaths. A University of North Carolina poll shows that 69 percent of those polled said that the courts are not strict enough in the sentencing of the drunk drivers; 63 percent of those inter viewed said DUI offenders should have their licenses revoked for one conviction, and another 30 percent said licenses should be revoked after the second offense. N.C. law makes revocation mandatory after the third offense. TAXES... In Congress all kinds of tax proposals surface: Here are two we take from The Wall Street Journal: "An intellectual groundswell is washing over Washington for the notion of a greatly simplified tax system with a single rate and few deductions if any. Nobody expects it to take the town by storm soon, but support for it crosses party and ideologican lines. Citizens Choice, a conservative, business oriented group, sponsored a seminar on it. The liberal journal New Republic is interested: says publisher James Classman; "We'll be writing about it in the future." "Some say interest was whipped up by the 1981 tax act, which load ed the code with many tax breaks. Flat -rate-tax advocates want to reverse the trend to a narrow tax base and high rates by expanding the base and cutting rates drastical ly. Rep. Hance, Democrat, of Texas, Sam Grassley (Republican of Iowa) and others sponsor bills calling for a Treasury study of the idea. But Tom Bell of Citizens Choice says it could take three years of work to pass a flat-rate tax. HAWLEY POOLE. ..Hawlcy Poole, former State Representative and State Senator from Moore County, died last week at the age of 92. He was also a member of the N.C. Board of Agriculture from 1937-75. He had been a member of the UNC Board of Trustees at Chapel Hill, and a Director of the Tri-State peach growers society, and a former president of the N.C. Peach Growers Council and a rul ing elder in the West End Presbyterian Church since 1935. He was an outstanding man and leader. NUCLEAR BOMBS... We read much about "nuclear bombs" these days and we think more should be done against the idea. We think that people of the United States should sign petitions and send them to President Reagan and let him know that we are not satisfied with his idea to build ad ditional "nuclear" weapons to match the Russians, if it can be helped! We think President Reagan in a letter to Leonid Brezhnev should say something like this: "You have enough nuclear weapons to protect your country in every way possi ble, and so do we in the United States, but we don't want to use them. "Let's get together and have a face to face talk as soon as you can do so. "We would like to work out an agreement to the extent that you can see everything in our weapon pile, and we can see everything in your weapon pile. Our doors will be wffl? open to you, if you will do the same with us." E row sing in the files I of The News-Journa^ 25 years ago Thursday, May 2, 1957 Sam Homewood, chairman of the Kiwanis-led community drive for funds for a summer recreation program for young people from six through 18 years of age, said tonight that SI 775 of the S2500 goal had already been raised and that the drive would be completed within another week. * ? * Harriet Suzanne Cameron, a senior at Hoke County High School who wants to enter the teaching profession, got a boost toward her goal today when she received a National Merit Scholarship. ? ? * Fifteen contestants turned out late Wednesday for Raeford's first Teenage Road-E-O sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce. ? ? ? From Rockflsh Newt: They have some good stout foreign made nail kegs at the Wood Store now, which will come in handy next fall. Full of nails they'd be hard to move in and out now, but there are lots of crates. * * * Civil Defense leaders and chair men in Raeford held a meeting at the courthouse Friday night with T.C. Davis, Jr., new Raeford CD director, presiding. ? ? * Fire alarm about 5:30 Friday afternoon called firemen to the city water plant on Dickson St. Nothing is there to burn but a new motor had caught Fire shortly after being put in operation. 15 years ago Thursday, May 4, 1967 Hoke County Commissioners voted in favor of proposed legisla tion which would increase the North Carolina Sales tax from 3 to 4 percent on sales. * ? ? Gilbert McGregor, Jr. Hoke High School basketball star, has signed a basketball grant-in-aid with Wake Forest College in Win ston-Salem. * ? * An estimated 1500 spectators including exhibitors, turned out for the third annual Raeford Woman's Club Horse Show here Friday and Saturday apparently assuring Fi nancial success of the event. * ? ? Hoke Drug Co. is holding a grand opening this week and its new location next door to the former store. * * * All principals were re-elected for all Hoke County schools at the Board of Education's meeting Monday night. * ? * Fifty spots remain open in the second annual Raeford Lions Club Golf Tournament on tap Saturday and Sunday at Arabia Golf Club, but the field is filling fast, a tournament official said Tuesday. * ? * Hoke County's director of Civil Defense, Alfred Cole, has been named "Director of the Month," by the North Carolina Civil Defense office. YOU CAN'T VOTE ... If You Don't Register