‘Outrage in War on Guns’

Your article on semiautomatic firearms reflects a noble, albeit misguided effort, to deal with a problem from the wrong end. In spite of solid evidence that most criminals (i.e., gang members and drug dealers) who use so-called “assault weapons” are street-wise thugs who laugh in the face of a weak criminal justice system, there are still some legislators who would have us believe that yet another knee-jerk law will somehow reduce crime. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Trying to control a legitimate class of firearms that have heretofore been legal will open up a can of worms that even anti-gunners aren’t prepared to cope with. Conversely, instead of writing new legislation to fill an already fat penal code, we should be looking at ways to hold the violent criminal to answer for his deeds.

The NRA supports a common-sense approach to crime: Arrest the career criminal, aggressively seek prosecution and, if the offender is found guilty in a duly appointed court of law, offer a sentence equal to the severity of the crime. This formula for gaining back the streets from the mindless animals who prey on innocent victims will no doubt be unnerving to some theorists because of its elegant simplicity. But then again, those who battle windmills have never been known for their logic.

FRED ROMERO

NRA Field Representative

California and Nevada