Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 30, 1993 TAG: 9302010244
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
MEDIA DIRTY TRICKS FUEL ANTI-GUN EFFORT
THE CONSTANT assault gun-owners have taken from the press and the government is truly despicable. There were some public hearings that were held on Mondays during working hours on new gun laws, which received scant publicity. Although these were held by Gov. Wilder's cronies, they still were met with overwhelming opposition for any new gun laws. Citizens who found out about the hearings in time to attend made their feelings amply known.Well, we can see that Wilder and his associates do not care about the results of these hearings, and are determined to shove this one-handgun-a-month ration down the throats of Virginians. Supporters of this bill want gun owners to compromise and support the gun-ration bill. They even invoke the example of driver licensing, but where in the Constitution is the right to drive guaranteed?
Compromise is made by opposing parties, each giving up something for the sake of reaching an agreement. What is Wilder giving up, and what are the proponents of gun control putting on the table for compromise? Nothing. And what will they want us to compromise next year and the year after? They already want to ban military-styled semiautomatics, misnomered "assault weapons."
The media blithely ignore a statistic provided by the government - that three out of five felons killed in their line of activity are killed by armed private citizens protecting their own life and limb. Instead, the media go out of their way to milk all the publicity from any accident or criminal misuse of a firearm. This type of subtle editorializing is one of the dirtiest tricks the American people are subjected to from the press.
One is forced to wonder why the media are so determined to eliminate a civil right that is directly adjacent to the guarantee of a free press. DAVID S. JOHNSON ROANOKE