Letter to the Editor: Editorial just gun-control propaganda

September 26, 2004
Dayton Daily News

Re "Bush gun pledge just weasel words," Sept. 10: The sunset clause on the assault weapons ban was put into the legislation for the simple reason that many rightly believed there was no need for it. Now that the 10 years has elapsed, I challenge the Dayton Daily News to provide evidence that there is a need to renew it.

The editorial's hyperbole about "preventing a flood of high-powered guns into American communities" speaks to the DDN's ignorance. The ban isn't about caliber or kinetic energy, it is about cosmetics. Your typical deer or elk hunting rifle is more powerful than the class of firearms addressed in the legislation.

The DDN betrays its partisanship when it claims that there is "broad public support for the legislation." I challenge the DDN to provide evidence that there is such support. Most people don't even know the law exists unless they have been impacted by it.

Lastly, the editorial demonstrated a lack of familiarity with the law (or disingenuousness) when it claimed that the law only affects 19 specific firearms; the law also defined the prohibited class based on a combination of features, so that the true number of affected firearms is more like 10 times the number cited.

If the DDN wants to engage in Bush-bashing, it should at least get its facts right instead of parroting gun-control propaganda.

Clyde H. Spencer
Fairborn