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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 20, 1992                   TAG: 9203200449
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SELF-DEFENSE RIGHT MUST NOT BE DENIED

MARIANNE Miller (letter, March 9) scoffs at the assertion that guns are actually useful for purposes of defense on the grounds that "statistics show that people are more likely than not to be killed by their own guns."

This argument exhibits a collectivist mentality that regards society as one big organism with individuals as appendages. All possible "stimuli," such as the ownership of handguns, are then weighed for cost and benefit against the organism as a whole.

This line of thinking is wrong because it denies the rights of individuals. As long as just one individual is capable of self-defense from crime with a handgun, denying that individual the right of gun ownership is wrong.

The problem with the gun-control lobby is that it would deny just such responsible individuals the right to own handguns to defend themselves. It is the legitimate users of guns whom her philosophy of gun control sacrifices. MARK KROSS CHRISTIANSBURG

by CNB