When District Attorney Evelle Younger studied 4,065 felonies in Los Angeles during Sept. 26-Oct. 21,1966, and found that firearms figured in 263 cases and that only a small percentage of those guns had been purchased from local retailers, the Los Angeles Times commented: "The study indicates that one argument of gun control proponents—that control over retail sale of weapons should be tightened—would have no effect on most Los Angeles crimes in which guns are used . . . doubts may be expressed that a registration law would have any practical effect on the criminal element."