Ban the Bullet

The campaign to regulate the sale of handguns more closely has consistently been thwarted by the argument that limiting a person's right to buy a weapon is an unconstitutional abridgment of his liberties. Now Susan Sullivan, a housewife in Winnetka, Ill., is trying a new and imaginative approach to the problem that might be summed up: If you can't ban the gun, ban the bullet.

Mrs. Sullivan's Committee for Hand Gun Control maintains that bullets are obviously dangerous objects that should be controlled by the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Petitioning the Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington, D.C., the group asks that bullet sales be restricted to the police, the military, and licensed pistol clubs and security guards.

"There is no way we can lose," Mrs. Sullivan declares optimistically. "How can they talk about bicycles and medicine cabinets and pins being dangerous, and not bullets?" She has some strong support. Free of charge, the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency is preparing a public relations blitz. Television spots, bumper stickers and posters feature the slogan YOU NEED A BULLET

LIKE YOU NEED A HOLE IN THE HEAD.

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