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

DATE: TUESDAY, March 10, 1992                   TAG: 9203100388
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ONLY 4 PERCENT OF GUNS TRACEABLE

YOUR "STORY" Feb. 24 decrying "gunrunning" belonged on the editorial page, not the news section.

Your writer dolefully stated that 30 percent of guns traced are traced to Virginia, while blithely ignoring the fact that only 4 percent of guns are traceable, due to serial-number similarities. Thirty percent of 4 percent is not much.

That one person lost life or limb to those hoods is intolerable; your attitude on gun control is equally repugnant.

This episode proves two things: No matter how tough the law, the felon will circumvent it; and criminals buy high-dollar, high-quality guns - not "Saturday night specials."

The direct effect of tough gun-control laws is to embolden criminals (only the police have guns: a crooks' paradise) and strip individuals of the right to self-protection. PAUL PETERSON CHRISTIANSBURG

by CNB