I am no hunter, and have never owned a gun. I am nonetheless suspicious of efforts by many well-intentioned people to limit the rights of gun owners guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. I found the following article on gun ownership and gun laws to be thought-provoking. It is written by Mark D. McLean of Springfield, Missouri. Mr. McLean gives a unique perspective on the recent carnage in Killeen, Texas, where a disturbed man killed 23 people in a cafeteria.

Gun Control and Sheep for the Slaughter

"Two outrages took place at Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas in October. George Hennard's murder of 23 people garnered all the publicity. But the fact that a madman could crash his truck through a cafeteria window, climb out and methodically kill one-fifth of the patrons without any of the 100 or so law-abiding private citizens having the means to resist is an outrage as well.

"It is likely a number of those patrons owned firearms. Some may have been carrying firearms in their vehicles, as allowed by Texas law. But Texas law, and that of many other states, allows only sworn law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons on their persons. Texas law does allow one to carry an unconcealed handgun. But try exercising this `right to keep and bear arms' in a shopping mall or on a city street without some recognizable law enforcement or security uniform.

"The first recorded examples of weapons control are found in the Old Testament. The Judge Deborah remarks in her victory song, `Neither shield nor spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel' (Judges 5:8). 1 Samuel 13:19-22 records that the Philistines would not allow the Israelites to have any blacksmiths `lest the Hebrews make a sword or spear.' (1 Samuel 13:19). As a result, on the day of the Israelites' battle with the Philistines, none of the 600 men with Saul and his son Jonathon were armed with swords or spears. Only Saul and Jonathon had weapons.

"The purpose of weapons control has not changed over the centuries. Its goal is to control any segment of the governed population seen as dangerous to the `public safety.' Governments have always found it easier to impose the `will of the people' upon the people if the people are unarmed. The question that needs to be faced with as little emotional baggage as possible is `who in the U.S. constitutes the population we need to control with gun-control laws?'

"In spite of the great psychological and physical harm done to individuals and our society as a whole by violent criminals, no matter what weapon they use, violent criminals still represent a small percentage of our total population. Approximately 3 percent of the American population committed violent crimes in 1990. The issue is how best to control that violent minority. Given our limited resources of both law enforcement personnel and finances, how can we best use them to lessen the criminal abuse of weapons?

"Well-crafted legislation allowing qualified private citizens to carry a concealed weapon for the defense of their own lives or the lives of others in a legitimate act of law enforcement would have made Hennard's attack unlikely; at the very least, it would have made it impossible for him to kill so many people.

"It is no coincidence that the same criteria that make one ineligible to own any firearm are those that make one ineligible to vote conviction on a felony charge, certification as mentally incompetent, or being an alien. By what criteria have congressional supporters of more restrictive gun legislation judged their constituents incompetent to own and bear firearms safely and legally in defense of themselves and their communities from the violent criminal minority?

"The homicide rate in Florida fell after the permit-to-carry laws were eased. The same is true of a similar easing of carry laws adopted in Oregon in 1989.

"Ask yourself: Do I believe myself mentally competent to own and bear arms, including a concealed handgun, safely and legally in accordance with all local, state and federal regulations? Then contact your elected officials and ask them if they believe they and their constituents are mentally competent to do the same.

"If they don't have faith in their own mental and moral competence, do you want them to be your representatives in government? Ask those who don't believe you and their other constituents are competent to own and bear arms what you have done to warrant such a verdict against your ability to function as a competent citizen. Where does this radical lack of faith in the character of the American public come from?

"How easy will it be for the next madman to find a group of people to slaughter with nearly 100 percent assurance that none of them will be able to resist his onslaught? That will depend on the kind of gun control legislation we embrace between now and then."

Mr. McLean is an associate professor of biblical studies and philosophy at Evangel College. He is also a volunteer police chaplain in Springfield, Mo. He carries no weapon.