ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: SUNDAY, April 29, 1990                   TAG: 9004300227
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: F-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

COLONISTS' GUNS LIFTED OPPRESSION

YOUR APRIL 17 editorial, "Guns didn't stop Soviet tyranny," is a fine example of intellectual masturbation and is equally reflective of poor recall.

If memory serves, back in 1775 in this country, King George's minions were ordered to disarm the colonists - fearing, no doubt, that "guns in the hands of private citizens can cause governments trouble."

The existence of those guns gave the English pause, and a hell of a lot more. It established a constitutional government and freed a people of the oppression and tyranny of unwanted governmental power.

Review your history, both of this nation and those of many European countries, where an armed citizenry provided the means to gain and protect personal liberties. This country was not built, nor will it survive, with the kind of defeatist attitude you demonstrate. RICHARD P. FARKAS MONETA 


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