Jeff Chan xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx May 12, 1994 Editor San Francisco Chronicle Fax: (415) 512-8196 Editor: George Snyder's front page article about hunters and gun control contains several factual errors. First, the NRA was not "originally founded to promote the sports of hunting and target shooting." NRA was founded after the Civil War by former military officers with the goal of improving the marksmanship skills of the general population. Second, the armor-piercing ammunition ban as originally proposed would have banned nearly every hunting round since most can penetrate body armor. NRA crafted the legislation with the help of the bill's sponsors to ban only the Teflon-coated KTW pistol round specifically designed to penetrate car doors. Then as now the KTW round is only available to the military and police. Media sensationalism surrounding the "Teflon bullet scare" lead to the murders of several police officers by shots to the head. Police had to plead with the headline-grabbing media to stop increasing criminals' awareness of police body armor. Third, the "AK-47" is indeed a "Russian-designed...assault rifle." As such is is not generally available in America. According to the Department of Defense, an assault rifle is capable of fully automatic fire -- that is, it's a machine gun. Virtually no legally owned machine guns have been used in crimes since 1934. The "AK-47S" is a semi-automatic rifle that fires a less powerful round than most hunting rifles. Like other semi-automatic hunting rifles it can fire only one (but less powerful) round per trigger pull. Other semi-automatic rifles being banned like the M1A and AR-15 are commonly used in organized marksmanship competitions and for deer hunting. (The AR-15 round is not legal for hunting in some states because it's not powerful enough.) Fourth, where in the Constitution do the words "hunting" or "sport" appear? Please read Federalist Papers 29 and 46, the 1939 Miller Supreme Court decision, and Professor Van Alstyne's article in the current Duke Law Journal before writing about "hunting rights." Finally it's remarkable that 43 column inches are spent on an organization with a "100 or so members" when the NRA is fast approaching 4 million members. Snyder's article heaps praise on the American Firearms Association while the Chronicle chronically bashes NRA at every turn using hate-filled distortion and "facts" like those above. Sincerely, [sig] Jeff Chan