THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 26 lines
You have to wonder why Norfolk Councilmen Randy Wright and Herb Collins would propose making guns even easier to get than they already are (``End surcharge on gun buying, council member urges Norfolk,'' Nov. 6). Aren't they supposed to act to promote the welfare of the people of Norfolk? About 40,000 Americans die each year from guns, and their constituents are among that number.
Just in the last couple of days, we find a 7-year-old boy shot and killed by his little brother with a gun probably purchased for their protection. In another case, two second-graders found a gun in a dresser drawer, and one shot the other in the head and killed him. In Virginia Beach, a man sitting in a pickup was shot and killed; the paper didn't say why, but it doesn't really matter. A gun was handy and somebody used it.
I hope these two council members see the dangerous mischief they are creating and change their minds on this matter. They should be trying to make Norfolk safer, not more dangerous.
RICHARD G. PARISE
Virginia Beach, Nov. 7, 1996 by CNB