Criminals

ROME -- Everyone, it seems, is preparing for the arrival of the new European single currency -- bankers, businesses, consumers and, yes, also international criminals.Mafia men and white-collar crooks are among European big spenders anxious to exchange their outgoing currencies before they lose their value with the debut of euro cash and coins in 2002.Authorities say the coming of European single-currency bank notes will create an unprecedented make-or-break phase in the billion-dollar battle to curb money laundering -- with both criminals and police looking to capitalize on the rush to turn in the outgoing 11 euro-zone currencies.

Damien West took the stand last week and aired his dirty, bloodstained laundry. He talked about shooting the federal witness at the center of the current case, about dealing cocaine in Baltimore, about robbing random people and about being the chauffeur and protege for James Dinkins, who's on trial accused of drug conspiracy and multiple killings. So far, West is the Department of Justice's best witness. The federal government is relying on some serious criminals - murderers, drug dealers and gang members - to make its case in the double death penalty trial under way in Baltimore's U.S. District Court.

Flanked by schoolchildren on the State House steps, the governor and legislative leaders yesterday signed into law a major gun control bill limiting handgun purchases in Maryland to one per person per month.Gov. Parris N. Glendening hailed the new law, one of the toughest in the nation, as an important step in the fight against gunrunning and illegal sales to criminals. He said its main beneficiaries are children, often the victims of senseless shootings."The Gun Violence Act of 1996 will not limit the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms, but it will help take guns out of circulation from the hands of criminals," he said at the well-orchestrated ceremony.

Several recent articles in The Sun have focused on Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed assault weapons ban ("O'Malley battling for gun controls," March 22). These articles all seem to have a common theme, the push for Marylanders to get on board the governor's agenda. It seems this push for support comes after many thousands of Marylanders who support their Second Amendment rights and disagree with Mr. O'Malley's approach to the state's violent crime issue have stood up and made their voices heard.

Who doesn't love a tree? Apparently, criminals. Researchers have found that leafier places in Baltimore tend to have lower crime rates than those with few or no trees. A new study looking across Baltimore City and Baltimore County has found that with few exceptions, the frequency of crimes reported in a particular block or neighborhood goes down as the tree cover gets thicker. Just a 10 percent increase in leaf canopy was associated with a 12 percent drop in crime, it concluded. The study, published online in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning, supports arguments by advocates that environmental factors, and not just more police, can fight crime.

We in Maryland have good gun control with the exception of those moving to Maryland and bringing their firearms. My suggestion to improve the situation: Upon moving to Maryland, you must register your firearms within 30 days. That regulation, along with existing regulations on private sales of guns, would help to track the rest of the legal guns in the state. As for additional legislation on firearms, we don't need them. Just enforce the laws we have. Any legislation, new or existing, is moot unless it is enforced.

KOFI APEA Orleans-Lindsay was just a number -- one of 54,000 Maryland convicts on conditional release -- until he allegedly killed an undercover state trooper 19 days ago. The 23-year-old dope dealer simply didn't stand out in the bizarre world of the Maryland Division of Probation and Parole. Yes, he had missed eight meetings with his probation agent, had failed three drug tests and skipped 61 others. But he had also kept 12 probation appointments and passed 45 drug tests. So nothing was done to lock him up. Until it was too late.

It seems like every time I watch the news or read the newspaper Baltimore City has reported homicides all the time. This city is no longer a safe city to live in. Most homicides are due to robbery. What is this city coming to? I think our mayor needs to fix it. Milton Hill, 70, was the eighth homicide victim last week. Having eight homicides in one week really shows how dangerous Baltimore City is. Most of the homicides were people who did no wrong and were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

THE HOT HOUSE: LIFE INSIDE LEAVENWORTH PRISON.Pete Earley.Bantam.381 pages, $22.50. The federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan., was designed to resemble the Capitol in Washington.The architects weren't making a joke. At the turn of the century, when Leavenworth was built, many correctional experts believed that a well-designed, well-run prison could convert hardened criminals into model citizens.What would those innocents have made of Leavenworth today? Eight decades after it opened, it houses 1,400 of the nation's most brutal and least repentant criminals -- mobsters, bank robbers, rapists and cop killers.

The only "good and substantial reason" citizens should need in order to obtain a concealed carry permit for their firearm is that we live in a society some of whose members have no respect for the lives of others ("U.S. appeals panel upholds Md. gun law," March 22). As it stands now, the only people who pack guns are the criminals who prey on innocent citizens knowing that the odds of their victims carrying a weapon in Maryland are close to zero. So criminals have nothing to fear.