THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 20, 1994 TAG: 9408200021
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
In many inner-city projects, the right of law-abiding citizens to enjoy the privacy of their own homes is being subrogated to surprise and unlawful drug raids in the name of the ``war on drugs.''
In Virginia, as in other states, citizens can be stopped in their vehicles for no reason other than ostensibly to check a license and registration and be forced to submit to a variety of degrading sobriety tests. In the event that they are unfortunate enough to fail the blood-alcohol standard set by the agenda of M.A.D.D., these same otherwise law-abiding citizens will be sacrificed in the name of the ``war on drunken drivers.''
Congress is now debating a bill which is the beginning of the end of private gun ownership in this country. In an effort to reduce gun violence on our streets, those of us who may not hunt, target shoot or own a gun simply for the peace of mind it brings to many, will undoubtedly feel that the hoped-for reduction in gun violence brought about by banning one class of firearm is well worth the price we all pay, whether gun owners or not, in the form of the loss of yet another fundamental right.
It seems that increasingly we are becoming a nation where the end justifies the means. To those of us who feel that the flashlight interrogations conducted at sobriety checkpoints are justified, who don't own a firearm and are fortunate enough not to live in one of our inner cities, I say beware: The next right taken away in the name of a cause, no matter how just, may be one that you hold dear.
T. H. NICHOLSON III
Norfolk, Aug. 16, 1994 by CNB