Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 18, 1995 TAG: 9502200017
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
As usual, you're promoting hysteria over a simple issue because it involves gun-owners' rights.
Fortunately, Thomas and Griffith are clear-thinking individuals who see beyond the media hysteria and realize it's the criminal, not the gun, that's the real threat to our civilized society. They were able to see that such a law would tend to entrap honest, law-abiding citizens who were passing through a park on their way to another destination, or who stopped to enjoy the park but had a handgun in their vehicles. This law wouldn't prevent criminals from having guns in the park. By their definition, criminals don't obey the laws in the first place.
Such a law would simply ensure that honest citizens were unarmed and helpless if a gun-related incident should occur in a city park.
This would create a situation similar to that at Lubys cafeteria in Kaleen, Texas, where an armed criminal was able to methodically murder victim after victim with no resistance from the patrons. Several of them, who regularly carried a handgun for self-defense, had to watch helplessly as the slaughter continued. Though presented with many opportunities to stop the gunman with return fire, they had been left unarmed by an ill-conceived gun ordinance.
Is this the type of environment we really want to create in our city parks? Wouldn't it make more sense to deal with the criminal misuse of firearms rather than the constitutionally protected right to possess them?
LARRY E. COE
ROANOKE
Armey's apology wasn't required
THE ONLY thing House Majority Leader Dick Armey did wrong when he referred to Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts as a ``fag'' was apologize for it.
After all is said and done, truth is truth and refuses to be colored in any other way. If it is, then it's no longer truth.
Frank freely chose to adopt a lifestyle that's foreign to a proper lifestyle. Say what you want, but the truth still dictates that it isn't normal. Frank should be willing to accept the responsibilities and descriptive terms that reveal his lifestyle.
ROBERT L. JOHNSON
FERRUM
Respect lacking for the dead and living
I'D LIKE to comment on the driving habits I observed while recently in a funeral procession.
The funeral was held in Rocky Mount. Policemen from Rocky Mount, Franklin County, Roanoke County and Roanoke city did an excellent job of escorting the processional from Flora Funeral Home to Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens by using flashing lights on the various vehicles.
I was in the seventh car in the procession. I counted five vehicles that cut into or through the procession while we were on Interstate 581 from Virginia 419 until we got off onto Peters Creek Road.
To me, this was very disrespectful. What was worse than the disrespect was the danger one car's driver put me in. He came onto I-581 from Virginia 419. He had to ``floor'' his vehicle and immediately apply his brakes to avoid hitting the person in the car ahead of me.
Are we all in such a hurry that we cannot show a little respect as well as consideration for the safety of others?
DAVID E. SMITH
ROCKY MOUNT
Hard-sell tactics took center ring
MY HUSBAND and I took our three young children to the Shrine Circus on a recent Saturday afternoon. What ruined this circus were the ringperson's hard-sell tactics.
At the beginning of the show, she hawked a toy, stating that there would be a special activity for those children who have one. (The toys were not free.) Most disturbing was at intermission when she announced: ``Parents, for $2 your child can have a circus coloring book, and there's a prize for every child who buys one. Only those children who have coloring books will be winners.'' As the lines grew to obtain the prize (a cheap plastic whistle), she then said, ``You're not a winner unless you have a coloring book.''
If an organization has to resort to such callous commercialism to raise money, a close examination of its fund-raising techniques is warranted. Having activities only for parents who buy additional items and suggesting that children without the items are losers is appalling. I'm sorry my children were subjected to this poor display of crass commercialism.
LAURA WEST
ROANOKE
by CNB