THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 6, 1994 TAG: 9409030025
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Don Feder (op-ed column, Aug. 15) shows up some liberals for what they are by telling about some of the lies they live by and by showing how hypocritical a liberal can be. Some conservatives live lies, too, and are hypocritical.
The late W. P. Glover (letter, Aug. 18) throws light on one conservative lie: ``Guns don't kill! People do!'' by reminding us that people kill with available guns!
Mr. Glover highlighted another conservative lie: ``When liberals ban guns, they take away our personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution!'' ``The Second Amendment,'' said Mr. Glover, ``should be repealed because there is no longer a need for it.''
He was right. The only armed militia I know about are ghetto-gangs; reducing their firepower would improve law and order. Law and order is the cornerstone of the conservative reed! Sounds like hypocrisy to me.
Alice Mountjoy (letter, Aug. 18) casts light on a conservative lie: Liberals would obstruct free trade by banning assault weapons. ``Firearms,'' says Alice, ``should be subject to the same controls as any other consumer product. Just as we do not allow race cars on our highways, we should not allow military-style assault weapons with their large-capacity magazines to be freely exchanged by our civilian population.'' She presents constructive argument, not destructive confrontation, as so many conservatives are doing these days.
A conservative lie I loath is: ``I live on an island in a tranquil middle-class sea. Don't bother me!'' One day, a wife or daughter will be driving home from work toward that tranquil suburban sea when she will stop at a stoplight and a gun will be in her face; her purse will be snatched and she will be blown away.
``I have mine and mine have theirs. You go get yours!'' is a particularly onerous lie some conservatives live by. One night, the son, attending an urban university, will enter the 7-Eleven on the borderland between rich and poor neighborhoods. His wallet will be wrested from his hand, a gun put in his face, and he'll be shot dead by someone who will be heard calling out as he runs away, ``I got mine! You get yours!''
No man is an island. And no man is secure until all men are secure. That's what spreading the wealth means, and that's not a liberal lie but the liberal dream.
BILL SMITH
Norfolk, Aug. 20, 1994 by CNB