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

DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992                   TAG: 9203020220
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: E-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

GUN BANS FUTILE IN FIGHTING CRIME

I WAS EXTREMELY horrified to read Geoff Seamans' column Feb. 16, "Maybe it's time to repeal the Second Amendment." I seriously doubt that he (or this newspaper) would stand for a revision of the First Amendment that would prohibit publication of things like the Pentagon Papers, or any other amendment to the Constitution; and I resent his attack on the Second Amendment.

As an avid sportsman and an employee of a gun store, I am concerned about the ramifications of gun control on the average citizen. One need only look to Washington, D.C., to see the futility of gun bans in fighting crime.

Well-meaning citizens and legislators appalled at the recent rise in drunken-driving incidents did not immediately seek to ban alcoholic beverages, but sought stricter penalties for these crimes. The National Rifle Association has long advocated stiff sentences for persons convicted of committing crimes with guns.

Mandatory prison sentences make a better deterrent than trying to rid society of a tool that millions of sportsmen and women use legally each year. I seem to recall a bumper sticker that proclaims, "Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns have." Yet the esteemed senator still has a driver's license.

Instead of banning a symptom of society's problems or trying to toss away our constitutional rights, I hope this newspaper will start to address these problems and maybe help solve them. Perhaps an improving economy and a reunification of the American family would be a good place to start. JOHN F. SHIVES RADFORD

by CNB