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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 11, 1992                   TAG: 9202110383
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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RIGHT TO SAFETY ENDANGERED BY GUNS

THANKS for your excellent series on youth and guns!

Too often we read in the paper of ever-increasing gun-related tragedies and sigh, "What is this world coming to?"

It is high time concrete actions are taken to put a stop to the sad stories. And I am thrilled to see your articles spelling out possible first steps.

For years, citizens who favored even mild forms of gun control have been represented by complicit media as kooks, or somehow un-American. This, while one of our most basic rights - to walk down a street or live in a neighborhood without fear of violence - has been severely endangered by the easy availability of deadly weapons.

Perhaps the tide is turning at last and a simple truth becoming recognized: A laissez faire policy toward gun proliferation is nothing less than murderous. KATHLEEN Z. BALL LEXINGTON

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