Just The Facts ...

? In 1986, the Firearms Owners' Protection Act made it legal for licensed dealers to sell at shows.

? Tanya Metaksa, chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, says, "2.5 million times per year, a firearm is used for self-defense, and 95 percent of those times no shot is ever fired, but people's lives are saved."

? According to Professor James Alan Fox, dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University says the rate of homicide by juveniles 14-17 years old jumped from 8.5 per 100,000 in 1984 to 30.2 per 100,000 in 1993, then declined to 16.5 per 100,000 in 1997.

? Rev. Anne E. Kitch of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Peekskill, N.Y., quotes a study by the Children's Defense Fund, which said that in 1995, 5,277 children and teenagers 19 and younger were killed by guns, an average of 14 per day. Of those, 3,272 deaths were from homicide; 1,450 from suicide; 440, accidents; and 115, unknown intent. The study also noted that children 15 and younger in America are 12 times more likely to die from guns than children are in 25 other industrialized countries, including Israel and Northern Ireland.

? As many as one-third of the guns used in crimes by juveniles and up to half of those used by people aged 18-24 were purchased within the last three years from federally licensed dealers, according to a recent report by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

? In mid-February, a jury in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn found 15 firearms' manufacturers negligent and nine of them liable in three shootings, in the first case in which the gun industry has been found responsible for death or injury cause by its products. The central issue in the case was negligent marketing.

? According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 14.9 million hunting licenses were purchased in 1997, a drop of 2 percent from the 15.2 million paid license holders that were reported in 1996. The numbers show that license sales have declined nationally in eight of the last nine years, and in each year since 1993.

? According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 14.9 million hunting licenses were purchased in 1997, a drop of 2 percent from the 15.2 million paid license holders reported in '96. License sales have declined nationally in eight of the last nine years, and in each year since 1993.