THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, October 31, 1994               TAG: 9410270013
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   34 lines

TOYING WITH REAL GUNS

I find ``Fake guns real peril'' (editorial, Oct. 19) ironic. Because they are being mistaken for real guns, major toy retailers are either pulling their stock of realistic toy guns or will not reorder once current stocks are depleted. You hail these retailers for responsible actions.

Although stopping the sale of these toys represents a significant loss of revenue, you and the retailers are willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of public safety. If retailers of real guns were to say they weren't going to sell them anymore because people are killing one another with them, you would be screaming about the Second Amendment and loss of industry.

According to this convoluted logic, if toy guns weren't available they couldn't be used while committing crimes. No argument there. Since real guns are just about as easy to get as the toys, real ones would most certainly be used instead, increasing the possibility of someone's getting shot by 100 percent.

I consider the retailers' act as one of self-sacrifice and concern for the public. I am merely saddened by the necessity for it.

Not long ago, if a kid pointed a gun at someone, no one doubted it was a toy. Today, if a kid points a gun at someone, no one doubts that it's real. And so we have come to the obvious solution.

CHRIS MORRELL

Chesapeake, Oct. 24, 1994 by CNB