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

DATE: FRIDAY, May 12, 1995                   TAG: 9505120035
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-20   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE DISEASE

TALK ABOUT grim. Susan White-Bowden, 55, is a TV reporter and anchor in Baltimore who is well-known for her work with children and charities. She was asked recently to testify before a congressional subcommittee about gun control, even though she herself is not anti-gun.

"I grew up as a country girl . . . . in a family that kept guns for trapshooting, hunting and target practice," she says. "I am not against guns."

White-Bowden simply warns that guns in the home can be as dangerous to family members as to intruders. She knows. She and her husband kept a handgun in their house, for self-defense. In 1974, after an argument, he used it to kill himself.

White-Bowden got rid of that gun, but thought nothing of keeping several rifles and shotguns in a gun rack in her home. In 1977, her 17-year-old son, who was having problems with his girlfriend, killed himself with a rifle.

White-Bowden recounted her story in the hearings, carried live on C-SPAN. She spoke mildly, quietly, reasonably, for just a few minutes. "My only message is an awareness message," she said. "It is about the danger of mixing guns and kids."

But that is not what this editorial is about. It's about a letter, from Seneca, Mo., that arrived at her home a few days later. As reprinted by Roger Simon, a columnist with the Baltimore Sun, here's what the letter said:

"Little Susie, boo-hoo, boo-hoo. Enjoyed your crying liberal performance on C-SPAN - we laughed all thru lunch.

"Don't you do gooders ever see how FOOLISH you are??? The only way to save this country is to FIGHT back. Too bad about your (child), but some adult was a fool - at least the poor thing won't have to be around to hear your nonsense & be exposed to your liberal insanity.

"The shame is that a fool such as you is even allowed to reproduce - idiots such as you should be sterilized when your first liberal nonsense and cries are noticed.

"You are what has (caused) this country to degenerate into a whine-bag, limpwristed sack of liberal goo. You babies who want Uncle Sam to hold your hand and take care of you from cradle to grave are NOT fit to live in the HOME OF THE BRAVE.

"Do us all a favor, go and learn how to use a handgun, load it, and try to blow away your pea-sized brain - BETTER YET, aim for the heart - you have no brain."

Beware, America. Hate is a disease, and it is spreading.

by CNB