
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 17, 1994                    TAG: 9406170016 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A18    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: Short 
DATELINE: 940617                                 LENGTH:

CRIME FIGHTERS

{LEAD} As a proponent of the Second Amendment, I find myself looking forward to Richard G. Parise's letters to the editor. Now I see that he is condemning a newlywed couple's use of a firearm to defend their lives. If a kid today is committing a robbery using a sawed-off shotgun (felonies No. 1 and No. 2), what's to prevent him from eradicating the eyewitnesses (felony No. 3)?

The Second Amendment is a right granted to the people, not to the states. the Constitution begins ``We the people,'' not we the states. It is as much a right as the First Amendment, which enables me to write this letter.

{REST} I don't completely condemn Mr. Parise's reasoning. I feel all new firearms owners should be given lessons in the safe handling of their guns, including keeping them out of the hands of children. But when Mr. Parise calls the newlyweds' ordeal a tragedy, I strongly disagree. In my opinion, they were warriors in the face of crime, and instead of becoming victims, they took three violent criminals off the street, one for good.

D. MATTHEW KELLY

Virginia Beach, June 2, 1994 by CNB