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

DATE: FRIDAY, February 5, 1993                   TAG: 9302050420
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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IN ROANOKE SCHOOLS, CONSTRUCTIVE ACTION

FINALLY, your readers see some constructive action concerning guns in schools. I have read so much dribble in your paper putting the blame for big-city crime and high-school violence on the handgun. It was refreshing to read that Bill Hackley Sr., assistant superintendent for administration for Roanoke schools, is working with students to combat this problem (Jan. 29 story, "Administrators say kids really best defense against armed classmates").

Any student carrying a gun to school, and parents who allow the student to do so, is breaking the law and should be dealt with. The key word is responsibility! We all are responsible. Until there is adequate enforcement of laws concerning the ownership of guns, there is no sane reason to enact further legislation.

Is Gov. Wilder planning to pull some elite, magical force out of a hat to enforce the new laws he proposes? Will this force also clear the streets of drug dealers so that their stray bullets will no longer claim all these innocent people we are hearing about?

Please, let's be sensible concerning guns. Let's put pressure on elected officials to do the job they were elected to do and to quit resorting to scare tactics and sensationalism to make their mark on Virginia history. Let's keep the freedoms we have before we wake up and find them all gone. SHEILA MYERS MARION

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