The Nation - News from June 28, 1989

Compelled by Congress to craft a plan to try to keep guns out of the hands of felons, a Justice Department task force published an options study in the Federal Register that outlines dozens of variations on two major approaches, the Washington Post reported. One would target potential gun owners by requiring pre-sale certification that they have no criminal record. The other would target gun dealers, requiring them to check with police agencies that would be equipped to search criminal records quickly. One proposal calls for all Americans to be issued a “smart card,” an identification card that would be encoded with electronically imprinted identification information, including fingerprints.