
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 21, 1990                   TAG: 9007230283
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ALSO BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS IN MOVIES

IF THE FEDERAL government is going to ban a whole class of firearms because they are called assault weapons, then I think it only fair to ban Hollywood filmmakers and writers from representing the use of these weapons in movies. Hollywood glamorizes the use of these high-tech weapons in order to sell movies and to make heroes of their stars.

It seems that the general public has a real fascination with such weapons, and I doubt that they would go see the blockbuster movies without the high-tech firepower and destruction involved. When I was a child, I did not emulate a person with an automatic weapon; I had my Roy Rogers six-shooter. So who is to blame? If there needs to be control, it should be equally and properly applied.

I would suggest that you approach your lawmakers with the same verve and vitality concerning this First Amendment abuse as about the so-called abuse of the Second Amendment. ROBERT D. O'NEAL National Rifle Association member PULASKI

by CNB