POLITICIANS MUST STAND UP TO NRA

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 20, 1993                   TAG: 9301200339
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
POLITICIANS MUST STAND UP TO NRA
ALTHOUGH I haven't agreed with most of Gov. Wilder's actions, I do support his legislative proposal to limit handgun purchases to one gun per person per month. As a gun-owner myself, I have no problem with this reasonable measure that will cut down on Virginia's shameful record as a gunrunning state.
Now the National Rifle Association will beat its chest in disapproval. These NRA people will use scare tactics by flooding their membership and the public with half-truths and innuendos in defense of the Second Amendment. The governor's proposal does not hinder anyone's right to own a handgun as the NRA would have us believe.
The NRA also likes to use the incredible argument that "guns don't kill people, people kill people." Well, in order for a gun to fire, there has to be a finger and hand behind it. And with the governor's proposal enacted, maybe we can reduce the number of handguns that fall in the hands of children and unscrupulous individuals.
I wish politicians had the guts to stand up to those paranoid, eccentric, militant, narrow-minded NRA types! GARY C. SCHAFER BLACKSBURG

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB