THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Now here's a case of the world turned upside down. A National Rifle Association board member proposes disarming Americans.
Not just any Americans, of course. And the bigwig isn't just any NRA board member either. He's Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and he wants federal officers who patrol national forests, parks and wildlife refuges to turn in their weapons.
Craig's rationale is bizarre. He may qualify as the first member of the Senate to embrace the kind of conspiracy theories spouted by the farthest right elements of the militia movement. Or maybe he's just prepared to follow any script the NRA provides.
On this issue, Craig says people in the West are so frightened of ``an armed federal entity'' that the only way to allay fears is to disarm federal personnel. ``There has always been a healthy suspicion of the federal agent. Now there is developing a healthy fear especially if the agent is armed.''
This is cracked. Fear of federal employees is unhealthy and unfounded. Craig says guns are not needed by agents of the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But if anyone has a right to be afraid, it's the feds.
Violent anti-government zealots have begun targeting such people, taking potshots at them, burning and bombing offices. Rangers in Nevada now travel in pairs for fear of attack. Many government employees in the West have begun driving personal vehicles because government cars make them easy targets.
Does Craig seriously believe the way to deal with rising violence against government employees is to leave them defenseless? It looks a lot like a case of blaming the victim for the warped notions of his attacker. Does the same logic apply elsewhere?
Drug dealers are fearful of ``an armed federal entity.'' To let them sleep more easily, should we tell the DEA and police to lay down their arms? Foreign adversaries are fearful of ``an armed federal entity.'' To avoid hurting their feelings, should the armed forces disband?
Clearly Craig has lost his bearings. Forest rangers and land managers are no threat to the law abiding and for a member of the Senate to imply they are is shameful. He is lending support to law breakers.
The way to deal with the paranoid fears of government-haters isn't to pander to them by disarming endangered government employees. It's to tell the crazies they are no longer living in the Old West. If they don't obey the law, they will face a lot more potent ``armed federal entity'' than the local game warden. And far from being heroes, they will go directly to the hoosegow to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. by CNB