New Curbs on Assault Weapons and Second Amendment Rights

In your editorial “A Stand for Sensible Gun Control” (May 25) you again blindly call for gun control. Your lack of respect for the rights of citizens is shameful. What would The Times know about “sensible” gun control; never has The Times opposed any gun control laws.

Have you ever seriously discussed the Second Amendment--no. You time and time again repeat the tired old arguments of gun control activists. You choose to use emotion and political hype as justification for all your arguments. The Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting, plinking or target shooting. We have the right to bear arms, to defend ourselves from thinking such as yours.

Your assertion that criminals prefer “assault weapons” is yet another example of mindless hype. The FBI and the Justice Department studies have shown that these guns are not the favored weapons of drug dealers or other criminals. In Los Angeles in 1988, 4,160 firearms were confiscated, but only 120 could be considered “assault weapons,” that is less than 3%. Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates is nothing more than a political opportunist.

Lies and distortion are expected from politicians. But, when a supposed public guardian like The Times uses the same tactics, a person must ask himself who is left to speak for the rights of a citizen.

EDWARD WORLEY

Orange