THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 18, 1994 TAG: 9408180006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
As long as we have columnist Guy Friddell, readers need not fret about the liberal view being absent from the newspaper. (``NRA vs. police: Which knows more about reducing crime?'' Aug. 10.)
The events of Aug. 11 on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives suggest to me that the American people have persuaded their congressmen that the crime bill is a bad bill in its present form, as evidenced by the ``bipartisan'' refusal to bring it to a vote.
I will not defend the National Rifle Association, because I dislike special-interest groups' pressure on our legislators whether the group is conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat. I will point out, however, that the so-called ``assault weapons'' to be banned by this bill are not: They are semiautomatic weapons, a technology that has been around for 100 years. The targeted weapons are used in less than 1 percent of crimes committed with a firearm, but they sure look more dangerous than a Remington Woodmaster, don't they?
As to experimenting with community projects to help solve our crime problem, how many times will we try that type of solution before we run out of money failing again?
Remove the pork, fix the bill and everyone will vote for it.
NATHANIEL B. DYER
Virginia Beach, Aug. 13, 1994 by CNB