European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 30, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 letters the stars and stripes monday july 30,1990 a Fly a readers react to stories on gun purchases the stars and stripes recently printed an a article. Quot Oft shelf rifles help terrorists Congress  i Fina the actual Issue of the Story to be the vulnerability of the . Electrical Supply system to terrorists hurricanes and earthquakes. Yes there is a mention of the vulnerability of the electrical system to Rifle fire from off the a _ the headline and the Lead of the Story strongly imply even the most common off that terrorists Bui shelf Hunting Rifle Story a rifles off the shelf i buy Mies Ott the Shelt a an entirely different Issue. This is an example of Quot gun bashing in the headlines. The major wire services and the new York times and the Washington Post As Well As a number of editorial cartoonists Are clearly biased on the Issue of firearms and take every Opportunity to support Quot gun control Quot while bashing the National Rifle association and gun owners in general. Why does no to the Media Ever run stories about the things the Era is for. Like the Era sponsored a Federal Law proposing a positive identification and computer system much like credit card companies use to instantaneously Check the background of firearms purchasers to prevent felons from purchasing firearms. All you heard in the newspaper was that the Era opposed a seven Day waiting period sponsored by Sarah Brady and handgun control inc. The Era sponsored in Congress the terrorist firearms detection act of 1988 a now a Federal Law increasing Airport Security and setting minimum Dot. Identifiable in Airport Metal detectors. All you heard Metal requirements for handguns to ensure they Are about in the newspaper was the nral a opposition to Banning Quot plastic  the Era sponsored a Federal Law limiting the Sale of Teflon coated pistol bullets the ones that significantly increase the probability of penetrating a police officers bulletproof Vest. That did no to make the news. But when former congressman Mario Biaggi wanted to ban All Bullet types that could possibly penetrate these vests a All Hunting Rifle bullets and a number of Standard pistol calipers a the headlines screamed about the nral a opposition to Banning a cop killer bullets and did no to mention that the Federal Bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms also opposed this Bullet ban. The Era supports mandatory jail time for criminals using firearms and also supports building More jails to put them in. But a up and the print Media never mention that. The news services give great coverage when the association of chiefs of police comes out favouring More gun control Laws like the proposed bans on some a a assault rifles a but Are strangely quiet when a Large contingent of police officers Street cops lobbied the Congress and presented a petition signed by thousands of line police officers who opposed this ban and support the right of the individual to have firearms and protect himself and his family. The Media is Quick to Point out that England has very restrictive gun Laws and Little gun crime. They done to report that gun crime is increasing rapidly in England despite their Laws or that the Irish Republican army gets machine guns despite a total ban on guns in Northern Ireland. They also done to report that Switzerland has even less gun crime than England gun Laws almost As Liberal As the United states and More guns per capita than the United states. In a tired of Only one Side of this Issue making print. The Era and i Are both for gun control a the kind that keeps criminals from getting guns easily while not unduly restricting the Public. A maj. Jim Davenport Ramstein a West germany9 another cult heard from what s going on in the Augsburg military Community what kind of crazy cult sends six soldiers to Florida to look for the Antichrist i find it disturbing that reasonably intelligent soldiers could convince themselves to undertake this bizarre quest. Anyone with a Little knowledge and some common sense should know that the Antichrist  be in Florida. Has t been for some time our cult has reason to believe that he is Cooling his heels in Southern California and that the rapture will take place in Gary ind. The exact time and place for this will be revealed in Iron Maidens next album providing you play it backwards. I Hope this dears up some very serious misconceptions. Thank you. A Harry Mallory Miessau West Germany i strenuously object to your practice of publishing gun control articles from the new York times. I was extremely dismayed to open my newspaper recently to see yet another emotionally charged pro gun control Quot news article. I had almost forgotten the last time you obtained a a objectives material from the same source May 7, 1989. I was thankful that at least this article was limited to a single Page instead of last years two Page spread. In the interests of fair reporting when will you publish one or two decidedly anti gun control articles i become angry when first amendment freedoms Are used to attack constitutional rights protected by the other amendments. The events of the past year m China Nicaragua and Lithuania demonstrate the importance of the right Quot to keep and Bear  in the military we have taken an oath to defend the Constitution against All enemies foreign and Domestic. We swore to protect All of the Constitution not just the parts we liked. Lets adopt that viewpoint in the future and try harder to balance the Quot news coverage on All of the controversial contemporary issues. A Jack a. Borah Ramstein a West Germany i would like to comment on your recent article entitled a Sarah Bradys  once again we see a tragedy where the victim tries to blame the wrong party. It is sad that James Brady was left brain damaged and partly paralysed by a $29 handgun when John Hinckley attempted to assassinate president Reagan in 1981.  it just As easily have been a $600 Hunting Rifle i think James Brady was aware of the risk in a High visibility Job when he was Reagan a press Secretary. his wife wants to set things right and ban All handguns. Why should i be punished for the acts of a criminal i was raised around firearms and was taught safety and the dangers of misuse. I am a member of the Era and am offended that Sarah Brady Calls them a the evil  on Sarah Brady and done to let me discourage your right to lobby for handgun control. I would never deny you your rights but you will do everything you can to try and take mine away. A William Early Hanau West Germany. James Bradys injuries from the 1981 assassination attempt Are horrible and a grievous tragedy for himself and Sarah Brady. However no mandated waiting period or background Check would have stopped this criminally insane Assassin in 1981, the so called Brady Bill background Check and seven Day wait would have turned up no felony convictions for Hinckley. The 15-Day wait in California that was also mentioned would not have turned up any felony convictions on Purdy the Stockton schoolyard murderer because All of his extremely violent crimes Over a 10-year period were plea bargained Down to misdemeanours. Mrs. Brady says her chief foe the Rifle association is a Quot horrible organization a they lie a  not so May am. A recent congressional poll found that the two lobby groups which provide members of Congress with reliable information Are the american Library association and the National Rifle association according to a research paper. The same scholarly paper by professor Don b Kates a respected civil rights lawyer teacher and noted criminologist Points out the incredible intolerance and bigotry by anti gun groups toward gun owners generally and the Large amount of misinformation from those anti gun groups. Quot guns murders and the Constitution a realistic assessment of gun control. For what reasons do americans own firearms several. First the sport use of firearms ranges from formal organized target shooting competitions to Hunting to informal recreational target shooting or  next is owning firearms for the purpose of Sel defense. The anti gun groups Are strangely quiet when their own surveys do not reflect their own Prei dices that nobody needs a firearm for self defense because the police will protect them. Their own surveys show that about 645,000 civilians successfully defended themselves against serious violent crime with handguns annually. Kates p. 24hciks advice is to just give the criminal what he wants so he might not Hurt you. The National crime surveys conducted for the National Institute of Justice show this advice to be absurd. Only 12 to 17 percent of gun armed resisters were injured. Those who submitted to the felons demands were twice As Likely to be injured gratuitously. Those resisting without guns were three times As Likely to be injured As those with guns. Kates p. 33i encourage the Reader to obtain and carefully read professor Katesy paper. His Neutral position is very refreshing. I find his proposals for Fine tuning the current gun Laws very sensible and workable even if they do bother the Era by Quot his favouring of restrictions on lawful firearms ownership Era official journal May 1990, american Rifleman p. 43 a tech. Sgt. David l. Gerber Hahn a West Germany i am deeply concerned with the current anti gun attitude seen in the Media. One of the most troubling aspects of the whole gun control Issue is the Way in which the Media covers it. To be Blunt Media discussion of the gun Issue is often one sided irrelevant and fallacious. For example the stars and stripes has in the past published the address of handgun control inc yet i have never seen the address of the Era or the citizens committee for the right to keep and Bear arms published in the stars and stripes. Furthermore accidental gun deaths account for a Mere 2 percent of All the accidental deaths in the United states. Quot under the gun pages 15,132. So during 1983, for instance when there were 1,695 deaths from firearms accidents there were also Over 44,000 deaths caused by car accidents Over 12,000 death caused by accidental Falls Over 5,000 deaths caused by fires Over 4,500 deaths due to accidental poisonings and Over 5,000 deaths from drowning. According to a Media general associated press poll in 1984, 44 percent of americans keep a gun at Home to protect themselves from a crime. Evidence that guns Are useful in self defense was provided by Quot the armed criminal in America a a 1985 report for the National Institute of Justice by James Wright and Peter Rossi. The study surveyed Over 1,800 convicts currently serving Anson terms in 10 states. According to the report 56 percent of the convicts agreed that Quot a criminal is not going to mess around with a victim he knows is armed with a  eighty one percent agreed that a a smart criminal always tries to find out if his potential victim is  then 57 percent agreed that most criminals Are More worried about meeting an armed victim than they Are about running into the police. One reason burglars avoid houses when people Are at Home is that fear of being shot during the crime was agreed to by 74 percent. Gun rights fact Book gun control does nothing to deter crime. A criminal who is breaking the Law by committing murder rape robbery etc., is not going to be greatly concerned about breaking one More Law by carrying a gun. Anti gun legislation does not prevent the criminal from obtaining a firearm it Only prevents the honest citizen from having the right to defend himself against violent attack from an armed criminal element. The addresses mentioned earlier Are National Rifle association era1600 Rhode Island ave. N.w., Washington . 20036 and the citizens committee for the right to keep and Bear arms ccroba12500  10th place Bellevue Wash. 98005 a Michael a Chesbro Offenbach West Geihm any a Retiree shopping policy in Spain clarified a. Quot m a although a reply to the letter about Retiree privileges in Spain has already been published in the stars and stripes we wish to inform you that the office of defense cooperation  in Madrid has advised us that the 1982 agreement on Friendship cooperation and detente Between Spain and the United states was superseded by the 1989 agreement on defense cooperation the e new agreement effective May 4, 1989, did not change the shopping policies for military retirees in Spain that have been in effect since 1984. We regret the oversight in the reply provided to you. It. Col. William a Brady or. Chief Community services division Deputy chief of staff engineering and sen ices he Safe