
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 24, 1991                   TAG: 9102250275
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: D-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BILL'S LOSS A VICTORY FOR LEGAL GUN OWNERS

I'M NOT A member of the National Rifle Association, but after your Feb. 6 article, I think I'll join. Not only does your newspaper purposely misinform the public about semiautomatic rifles; you also subtly suggest that anyone who stands against legislation limiting the rights of firearms owners is a right-wing nut case.

One of your columnists actually supports legislation that would hold gun manufacturers responsible for damages that their product causes. If someone who owns a Ford truck hits someone with his vehicle should Ford Motor Co. be responsible for the carelessness of a citizen? Of course not, that's stupid; but I guess so are a lot of columnists too. Your Feb. 6 article only reinforces my point.

The defeat of waiting-period legislation in the General Assembly was a victory for people who legally own or who want to own a gun in Virginia; and a defeat for liberal crybabies. More than 93 percent of crimes committed with guns in the United States involve firearms that have been stolen or obtained illegally. All this bill would have done, as all strict gun laws do, is harass honest citizens who want to exercise their constitutional rights the same way that anti-war protesters exercise their freedom of speech and expression.

Last month in Los Angeles, where drugs and violence are commonplace, 1,600 drug dealers and gang members were arrested in a massive sweep; and what did they find? Not one "assault rifle," or "anti-tank gun", not even a single "Teflon cop-killer" bullet. They found mostly pistols and a couple shotguns.

So why try to ban "assault rifles" when they are used in less than 0.12 percent of violent crimes in the United States? Because they look mean and ugly; well, I'm sure that most liberal columnists do too. MICHAEL GOENS ROANOKE

by CNB