Date: Sun, 19 Mar 1995 22:50:45 -0500 From: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org (NRA Alerts) To: firearms-alert@shell.portal.com Subject: INFO: Letter to Atlanta Constitution in re anti-RKBA Editorials - Please contact MARCH 17, 1995 THE FOLLOWING LETTER WAS DELIVERED TO THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 1995 IN RESPONSE TO ONE OF SEVERAL RECENT EDITORIALS ATTACKING THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS AND THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. NRA MEMBERS ARE URGED TO CONTACT THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION'S EDITORIAL BOARD AND COURTEOUSLY INQUIRE AS TO WHY THEY SEEM UNWILLING TO PRINT MRS. METAKA'S LETTER. PLEASE ASK THEM TO PRINT THIS LETTER IN ITS ENTIRETY. ---------------------------------------------------------------- March 8, 1995 Cynthia Tucker Editorial Page Editor Atlanta Constitution 72 Marietta St., N.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303-2804 (404-526-5084) Dear Ms. Tucker: The foundation of American democracy really is the Constitution, so perhaps you'd set aside your utter hatred of the law-abiding American gun owner long enough to reconsider that document ("NRA's Tenuous Grip on Reality" March 5) and what it guarantees -- even to peaceable Americans who choose to keep and bear arms. Take the right to be secure in our homes. This past summer, fifteen to twenty armed men (IRS and BATF agents) burst into the rural Pennsylvania home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lamplugh. The family cooperated -- opening safes, handing over papers -- but cooperation did not cool the intruders' wrath. One held a machine gun in their faces. Another uttered a racial slur. One emptied vial after vial of cancer medicine, crushed it on the bathroom floor and confiscated cancer treatment records. Another stomped a pet cat to death. The Lamplughs are gun show promoters. BATF's purpose here seems clear: reduce or eliminate lawful commerce in a lawful product through intimidation, if not blatant terrorism. Your basic editorial equation is fewer guns and gun owners equal less crime, a theory struck down by decades of research. Yet, it must be gratifying to learn that, when your theory is translated into action, federal agents rough-up cancer patients. Remember the Fourth Amendment? Monique Montgomery doesn't. All the St. Louis woman remembers is four masked men breaking into her bedroom at four in the morning. The glaring lights and the timing of the hit were meant to maximize Monique's disorientation as she woke from a deep sleep. She accessed a gun for self- defense, but the intruders -- BATF agents -- already had their guns drawn and shot her four times. In covering this government assault on an innocent woman, the St. Louis Dispatch wondered editorially whether BATF learned any lessons in patience from the debacle In Waco. The Atlanta Constitution wonders whether NRA leadership, aghast at such outrages, has "lost touch with reality." Finally, consider effective crime control. You state, "The Brady Law" (you should refer to it as the Brady Act, by the way) is "cracking down on bad guys." Since when does one crack down on criminals by telling them "no?" And that's what Brady does. It says no, usually to the good guys. That's why the NRA-backed Instant-Check is better. With it, authorities can effect an arrest. Denial means nothing. Arrest means no. In the ad you criticize, the National Rifle Association called upon the Clinton Administration to (1) regain control of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; (2) expose and prosecute those guilty of civil rights abuses and (3) institute strict policies that honor the Bill of Rights. That prescription is indicated by the facts. It's that prescription you oppose. Who has really lost touch with reality? With nearly an editorial a day on Second Amendment issues, odds are you'd get it right at least once. But you've defied the odds. Sincerely, Mrs. Tanya K. Metaksa =+=+= This information is presented as a service to the Internet community by the NRA/ILA. Some useful URLs: http://WWW.NRA.Org, gopher://GOPHER.NRA.Org, wais://WAIS.NRA.Org, ftp://FTP.NRA.Org, mailto:LISTPROC@NRA.Org (Send the word help as the body of a message) Information can also be obtained by connecting to the NRA-ILA GUN-TALK BBS at (703) 934-2121. NRA.org is maintained by Mainstream.com mailto:info@mainstream.com