European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 15, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 2.ourguest is an assault on Freedom Jeffrey Cruz is easy to believe that allowing citizens to own semiautomatic firearms a a assault weapons a in medias Cak is a terrible evil. After All criminals Are a oui gunning the police assault weapons Are the a weapons of Choice for gang members and other criminals a they a serve no sporting purpose a and the Only people who own them arc a gun crazy these military weapons Are designed Only to Kilt people i Twar time. They have no place in the cities of our nation. Then there is the biggest argument of All a if Only one life can be saved they should be Cut wait. When the government and the Media agree you Seldom hear the other Side. What you hear is twisted version of reality which in this Case makes the Era and gun owners took like evil kill Happy psychopaths with a penchant for destruction. For the past few weeks a cast of clowns ringleaders and Bloodthirsty beasts a a group otherwise know As Congress a a has bombarded the Ether with images and messages designed to gain support for a ban on so called a assault As the Parade of politicians traipsed before the cameras holding aloft evil looking guns and even in the Case of Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen shooting these Nasty old guns to the Awe of cameramen and reporters it seems they have missed nothing in the Campaign to Clear these monsters from the streets. In fact they missed Ope important fact the guns they Are discussing Are hardly Ever used in crimes and would result in absolutely no do crease in the crime rate f. Who says so the Fri the Justice department and All other Law enforcement agencies that have researched this subject. That a who. For the record the Fri and the Justice department both say that the semiautomatic rifles with the cosmetics that cause them to be classified As a ugly Brave new guns or Quot assault weapons Are used in Only 1 to 3 percent of crimes in the United states. There is nothing to indicate that the number of murders would drop if the Sale of these guns were stopped. Congressman ringleader Charles Schumer says this gun ban would affect Only 19 types of guns but he knows that spokesmen for Bat say it would actually ban at least 185 different models. This Bill basis any gun that looks like one of the named models a purely on the basis of cosmetics. Just what is an a assault weapon a anyway its a semiautomatic Rifle. It fires Only one time when the trigger is pulled. It functions just like several models of Deer rifles and this Type of gun has been around for about 100 years. The Only a a crime these so called a instruments of death have committed is that they have Unco Mely features. Military look alike semiautomatic rifles Are used by millions of americans for informal recreational shooting they Are fun to shoot and for formal target Competition specifically limited to this Type of firearm. When politicians say these guns have no sporting use they Are either ignorant or they Are lying. Probably both but either one is inexcusable Bentsen reached a new Zenith in arrogance two weeks ago when he told Congress to ignore the letters and phone Calls from their constituents on this Issue. Many of us in Germany have worked hard to get others to Call write and fax their congressmen to urge a vote against this gun ban. This is grass roots democracy at its Best. It was astounding to hear a member of the Cabinet calling on Congress to ignore me and millions of others As we participate in the political process. 2 the data is in. Gun control As a Means of controlling crime is a Complete failure. This ban will not decrease crime and it wont be Long before the prohibitionists Are Back calling for a ban on some other segment of the firearms Market. Jeffrey Cruz lives in Wio Badon Germany. A. Thomas Milley take exception to the do our guest column tilled a racing toward a stronger Mankind through cloning March 20. To 1st it. Christopher Zeitvogel will give the the Benefit of the doubt that he has researched his views on genetic engineering. Zeitvogel is to be com mended on his ambition to a use this gift of knowledge that he god has Given us in order to create a better future for our it is most unfortunate that the views he expresses would not enhance but More Likely would do severe damage to the future of our children. His. Argument implies that Conception created by the random result of Dan linkages such As sexual Intercourse or random in Vitro fertilization is neg-ative1, and parents have to accept it. Recalling Aldous Huxley a Brave new world he would require All a concerned parents to give up this primitive random god ordained Way of perpetuating our species. While it is. Not currently possible to completely raise a zygote in infancy As in Brave new world you assert it is not too far into the immediate future that the a a advances of genetic engineering will enable a concerned parents to abort a not have to accept a child on the grounds that it bears some undesirable chromosomal pattern such As fair skin or Blue eyes. This truly would be a step Forward for a those feminists who adhere to the a pro choices stand. Finally we would be Given a situation in which the title would make sense As up to now the Only Choice they Are in favor of is abortion. Lets take the argument a step further. If this worked so Well for us then Why not make this the Only Legal Way of making babies lets penalize those unfeeling parents who refuse to consider their children a future. Sure we ought to make sex illegal. Why not we can do it better in the Laboratory. The next problem is your Lack of biological forethought. Selective narrowing of genetic pools has been demonstrated in nature to weaken not strengthen a species. A the final problem is who a doing the choosing. Maybe Zeitvogel is or some scientist. This child is made to their order not to gods order. God does no to need my help and he certainly does no to need theirs. C Apt Thomas Milley is stationed in Augsburg Germany. Contents from the cover .4-6 tragedy plus 50. S i Eili cd hts a a a a a 9 Andy Rooney labors Over the work scene. Odds 10 Erma Bombeck plugs belter to. In tune u Jim Carrey s . This weeks films. 12-13 military circuit listings. Chuck Linch a a Cut does no to Mak the Grade. Television listings .14-17 local Cable and satellite schedules. Home entertainment. 18 Nixon is Back on tape. Voices. 20 Joe Bob Briggs backs smoking. Words amp wit. 21 James Kilpatrick All Tensed up in movies. 22-23 Spike Lee a Maverick Quot and James Bond. .24-25 Dan Quayle uncovers a possible presidential run Virginia Kelley is a leading with my 26 tile Mcpherson and Cindy Crawford on Parade. 27 to spank or not to spank last laugh. 28 Dave Barry s hairy situation. Sunday is a weekly supplement of the stars and stripes editor Bucky Fox cover Story design Susan Harris production Bernard Jensen editorial assistance Louis Pierce sunday May 15. 1994 to
