Driving home from dinner two weeks ago, Senator Mark Hatfield was suddenly confronted by a reality that has become commonplace for less exalted residents of Washington. Only six blocks from the gleaming Capitol dome, the Oregon Republican watched as a man 20 yards ahead of him blasted away with a gun at another man. Hatfield zoomed through a red light to flee the scene. He did not call the police. "I assure you if in Washington you tell the police you saw somebody shooting somebody, they'd say, 'So what?' " Hatfield explained.
Last week Washington recorded its 120th murder of 1989;...
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