Ashcroft Orders Quicker Gun Record Destruction

Re “NRA Gets Money’s Worth,” editorial, July 4: I wholeheartedly agree with your position on Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft’s order to step up destruction of gun background check records. At the end, you kindly tell us how to contact Ashcroft to let him know our opinion.

Do you really think he cares what we want? Does anyone in the Bush Cabinet care? It certainly doesn’t seem so. They seem to have a mandate for four years, and they are going to pay back as many companies and organizations as they can in that time. Their possible intent could well be to position themselves for even higher paying positions after they are voted out. It is absolutely futile to waste time telling them what we want.

Phyllis Pircher

La Canada

*

The Times’ July 4 editorials seemed nice at first, as you praised our founding fathers for their bold risk-taking and sacrifice. However, you then went on to slap those same patriots in the face with your anti-gun-rights editorial by attacking the same rights that those brave men fought for.

Our inalienable rights to life, self-defense and many other liberties are constantly under attack, and The Times is a willing accomplice. I suggest you actually sit down and read the Declaration of Independence, as well as the Constitution and maybe even a good history book or two before you contribute further to the erosion of our rights that our founding fathers sacrificed so dearly for.

Roland Morgan

Whittier

*

On the timeline between President Bush’s inauguration and the end, four years later, of his administration, Ashcroft’s pandering to the National Rifle Assn. over gun registration checks will surely be a significant moment. Most of us, Republicans and Democrats, are baffled.

Jackie Bond

Oceanside