European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 6, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                To not High noon anymore it May be that the editorial staff of the stars and stripes is not re possible for opinions of contributors nevertheless 1 think you should tool some Dis Tress about the june 20 brows ing with Benny column Ander. Ralph Bennington s pro gun  seems or. Bennington you ruse of words such As written pot shots half cocked politicians hysterical legislation frenzied amendments far fetched thinking publicity Happy campaigners and Shell shocked congressmen is distortion sensationalism an smells mightily unprofessional. It May be that the Public majority including members of Congress Are tired of a minority will imposed upon them and that rather than have "20,000gun Laws which obviously Are not effective Yant to enact re medial legislation. I simply do not believe legislators want to take away your gun or. Bennington but to want to curb the massive flow the indiscriminate Purchase of deadly weapons seems Sensi ble. To your ant Blackjack anti goof balls list you might include antediluvian. It is no longer the same country As when the second amendment was needed As you still inter pret it today. Frontier Days Are gone and i m sorry if you re living in the wrong Era. But Ashe new York paper put it it is not High noon in old Dodg City  few will argue that gun legislation will save a individual from a determined Assassin but legislation can re Duce the reported 6,500 Homi cide deaths a year attribute to guns. To keep promoting this desire and need for guns can not but produce an eventual Aura of  insinuate that if the pub Lic does not stay  we need fear an inva Sion. Aside from the fact that automobiles dogs boats Are estered regi automobiles dogs motorboats Etc. Are registered. Any person is Well aware that Vio Lence and killing will not Dis appear by having mandatory registration of All firearms. What thoughtful citizens realizes the degree of violence and the vast number of killings by Means of firearms people kill people by having at their disposal a Quick and lethal Means to liquidate an adversary j. E. Danyo Wuerzburg Germany an outside armed invasion i unrealistic in this technological Day. What you maybe should insinuate is that we May need fear an internal invasion i.e.,an insurrection partly made possible with the caching of weapons now Legal under present  use that old tactic of fear in your article regarding rus Sia and red China that irrational extremism we be hear before. Or. Bennington you re guilty of the hysteria you criticize and instead of writing an intelligent and impassioned article you be produced a pile of verbal garbage. Additionally it s rather easy to see your Polit ical alignments that shallow thinking is so revealing it is pitiful. Barbara a. To Snyder Munich Germany 7 grew 1/0 with guns. I cherish Pheni this letter is a reply to you article browsing with Benny concerning gun  was Good to hear a voice in the stars and stripes to speak up against restrictive someone con permission literacy tests Are a tradition Al Way to insure that a negro must ask permission of a Whiteman in order to vote. Now it appears that gun registration Wujs become a Means of making a negro ask Permis Sion of a White Man in order to have a  you have to ask per Mission to do someone can deny the permission. Are negroes to have to choose Between being disarmed and defenceless against criminals or suing the government for denying them a constitutional right of. Glenn  Germany political expediency or. Ralph Bennington. It required no Little Cour age to speak out against the proposed gun control Bills when most writers Are jumping on the bandwagon of the Antigua  is my opinion that much of the congressional support forthe proposed Antigua legislation is simple political expediency and that the popular support comes from people whose Only acquaintance with guns is through the Media of television movies and spectacular head . James p. Mcgregor Darmstadt Germany grief kills hardly anyone guns do ,. / it disturbs me deeply to see that a Micro minority of o u r population is powerful enough to dissuade Congress from making into Law something that would Benefit All americans this group  refer to the recent mass lobbying techniques employed by the National Rifle association certainly a Little disappoint ment at the loss of free gun buying will occur. But grief Kwh hardly anyone guns tougher firearms legislation would merely result in the Page 14 curbing of free gun sales no the total obliteration of the game of hunting., the main reason i write this letter is that i wish the Mili tary personnel overseas would Start a lobby of their own write to their congressmen. A mass Appeal would be particularly effective because we know More about firearms than the average person. And More important those who protect their country deserve to be protected in it or if need be from u. Tobert i Walton age 16 Sujung Uhlem Germany gun control measures. I Gre up with guns and invested a Good size of my income int Hunting rifles and target pistols. I cherish them and i m proud to own them. The current anti gun hysteria reflects not Only the anguish Over the death of sen. Kennedy but also a cer Tain state of mind. " persons or better men that won t have anything to do with weapons and would he to do away with them forever apparently have no desire to de fend themselves or others when need arises. Maybe we will have no enemy or criminals in som far away future which i doubt but until then a Man should have the right to defend him self and his loved ones with Al Means necessary. If All the current Laws would be enforced by the courts the criminal punished and not coddled there would be much less crime on the streets. Re cent court decisions indicate More concern for the constitutional rights of the criminal than the Protection of the la abiding citizen. If new York with its restrictive Sullivan Law has shown no improvement in the Crim Inal rate How does anyone be Lieve this would be the Casein the nation i m sure that we we have gun Laws in the near future but the question is what kind of Laws if they help to keep guns out of the hands of minor or unstable persons i m for it a very Good example would be Switzerland. I Don t think any one will claim that Switzerland has a High criminal rate per capita but every male adult Swiss citizen is a member of the armed forces or of the militia and has a Rifle or pistol and ammunition at  Swiss citizen or for Eigner residing in Switzerland and having a Good reputation can buy and carry a handgun even concealed. I think this is a deterrent for any would be Holdup Man or any other Crim  we need in the states is better firearms education safety better sense of re ability to our fellow Ett ind better enforcement a existing Laws. Josof w. Schneller Ingolt Todt Germany i agree with your views or. Ralph Bennington reference your column in the june n edition of the Sta Sand stripes Well done i agree with your views 100 percent. Please add my name to any petition or letters that maybe sent to our congressmen. A. Sgt. Leo e. Washer Moron air Baue Spain the stars and stripes Cornery c. J. Pfitz Tsuno be of the favorite stamp producing countries has Lon been Liechtenstein. Its Early Issue offer countless Pix us ties for specialized research while its later issues have attract collectors with their colourful but tasteful Eye Appeal. At the Sam time the country follows a conservative policy win Only n or separate Stamps appearing each year. For some time Liechtenstein has been issuing booklets with explanatory notes describing each stamp issued. These illustrated booklets were produced in limited quantities and were distributed free As presentation souvenirs. Many collectors have asked for such booklets and the demand has become so great that they Are now being produced in  Booklet accompanying the Issue of aug. 29 serves As an example. It appears in three languages the English Section alone covering 14 pages. Three separate sets Are illustrated and de scribed the 75-centime single commemorating the Silver wedding anniversary of the Royal family two values in the Patron saints set a 5-Centirae St Joseph Planken and a 1.50 franc value Stmary benders gamer in and three additional values in the fairy tales set showing the treasure of St. Mamerta 30 Cen-times1the Goblin of the be Gerwald 50 centimes and the three Sisters 80 centimes. This Booklet and All subsequent ones will be sold for i franc. Liechtenstein also has improved its new Issue service. In Addi Tion to a subscription service where subscribers automatically receive a specified number of each new stamp and stationery Issue the philatelic service maintains a list of prospectus recipients. Customers in this group receive notification of every Forth coming Issue approximately six weeks before Issue Date. For details on Liechtenstein philatelic services write the Post Wertzer Chestelle Al 9490 Vaduz Fuerste Tum Liechtenstein. I challenged readers Las week to find the reason Why the 1967 . 5 cent commemorative honouring the sesquicentennial of the Erie canal should be included in an Independence collection. The answer is simple because it was issued on the fourth of july. Readers earn an a plus if they also realized that the groundbreaking for the canal took place at Rome n.y., on july 4. 1817. This is the next to last Day of the Praga 68 International stamp exhibition. It s a fitting time therefore to remind readers of some of the new czech stamp issues. Prague Art work is the theme of Athree value set with topics from the Middle Ages. Art work of a different Type is presented in two 2 Kcal Stamps showing Lovely asses from paintings now in the Prague National galleries. A third set also honors the czech capital in this Case commemorate _. A a f. J. Pc. A i a. N it fitting the Praga exhibition fee u Low values show scenes from Prague while the 10 pcs souvenir Sheet is a masterpiece design and engraving by Jjlia Sven Sbur. A stylized presentation of the City with a coat of arms and official Seal. I two major exhibitions have exhibits displays of Rouie Zabeen planned for new to Jolt from . And foreign pos City. The american stamp administrations and confess san 9 has new Madison Square Garden enter 33 to 34, on easter weekend 1969, the Lith annual Intersex show will be at the new Industrial exhibitions Cen Ter both Are truly National level attractions with prize winning Grams. Information on to Asda show is available from Phillip f. Robbins 116 nassaust., new York 10088, while de tails on Intersex will hf., or shed by Industrial exhibitions inc., 131 West 45lh St., a York 10039, the Iran philatelic Bureau has nine earlier  on bund to addition to the International Tennis champs ships pair and u rials which we appear on july w. Address is general director of posts philatelic Bureau r1j" Avenue Tehran Iran. Saturday july 6, 1968