Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 10, 1993 TAG: 9302100371
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
GUN CONTROL MAKES CITIZENS VULNERABLE
AS A LONG-TIME member of the National Rifle Association of America and of Gun Owners of America, I feel I am much better qualified to comment on the aims of these organizations than your staff writer Warren Fiske.Fiske accuses these organizations of lying about the one-handgun-a-month bill. I say he is committing the same sins of which he accuses us in his Jan. 31 article, "Gun lobby firing off misinformation about one-a-month."
First, the NRA is not saying the one-a-month bill applies to long guns. It is pointing out the fact that the Virginia instant-background check was originally proposed as a handgun bill, but was later revised to cover all firearms. This has been the tactic for years with the anti-gun crowd. They sell the idea of handgun control to the public, then work to expand these bills to include all firearms. This is the point the NRA is warning its members about!
Second, any law that requires the police to be given the name of a firearm purchaser, along with the make and model of firearm purchased, is a gun-registration law. It makes absolutely no difference that the serial number is not also reported.
Third, we all know that Gov. Wilder aspires to be president of the United States. The media has convinced him that the popular trend, at this time, is to jump onto the gun-control bandwagon. With the gun-control fanatics pulling his strings, is there any doubt that he will eventually sell out all law-abiding gun owners of Virginia and propose further restrictions on all firearms? Not in my mind! Wilder can be counted on to put his political ambitions first and foremost, as he has done in the past.
Several independent studies have shown that in communities where law-abiding citizens had free access to firearms the violent crime rate has actually diminished. Why should Virginia make its citizens more vulnerable by limiting honest citizens` access to a weapon for self-defense? LARRY E. COE ROANOKE