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Lauding Reed's decision
To the editors:
The headline, Jan. 17, was, "Up in arms over outdoor show's ban," but right in the middle of the story on the ban was a picture of President Obama signing executive orders relating to gun control.
The picture also showed some children and their families, who had written to the president about the gun violence at Newtown, Conn. It would seem that these children showed a lot more maturity and foresight than the protesters over the sensible decision by the organizers of this year's Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show to ban the display of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.
To be honest, such assault rifles and high-capacity magazines have nothing to do with outdoors sportsmanship. They are, in fact, instruments of mass murder, which is not at all a legitimate outdoors activity. Reed Exhibitions is to be congratulated on its sincere attempt to minimize the acceptability of such weapons for the general public. It was not a decision of "political correctness," but a true example of moral correctness. The only disappointing development was the fact they chose to justify it as a matter of "waiting until the wind blows over" rather than making it a permanent ban as an outdoor activity.
Congress will be asked very shortly to consider permanent background checks on all purchases of such weapons, including those at gun shows, where such background checks are not required. I, for one, wholeheartedly support such legislation and would call on Sens. Casey and Toomey, as well as Rep. Pitts, to vote in favor of this legislation, as well as legislation for the outright ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazine clips.
These weapons are not weapons of self-defense, but are instruments of mass murder.
George Bergey
Lancaster
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