For Immediate Release		Call Tom Wyld, NRA Public Affairs

March 14, 1994			(703-267-3820)

NRA VICTORY FOR VIOLENT CRIME VICTIM!

Marine Corps Drops Charges Against Woman Who Defended Herself with
Gun Purchased 3 Days Before Being Attacked

NRA Chief Lobbyist:  "NRA not only teaches self-defense.... NRA
protects that right -- and the victim who exercises it."

Washington, D.C. -- For a young mother who defended herself and her
infant daughter with a gun, a months-long nightmare is over.  In a
case supported by the National Rifle Association of America and the
NRA Firearms Civil Rights Legal Defense Fund, the Commanding
General, Marine Corps Base Quantico, dismissed all charges against
Lance Corporal Rayna Ross.  

"NRA not only teaches self-defense.  NRA protects that right in the
Congress and state legislatures around the country," said Mrs. Tanya
Metaksa, NRA chief lobbyist.  "And NRA stands shoulder-to-shoulder
with crime victims who exercise that right." 

Metaksa added, "Under the Brady waiting period or any of a number of
gun bans being considered by Congress today, Lance Corporal Ross
would have been denied a means to defend herself."

After weeks of stalking and a series of attacks, several while armed,
her attacker, Lance Corporal Anthony Goree, broke into Ross's
apartment in the middle of the night June 29th armed with a bayonet. 
Lance Corporal Ross fought back with a gun purchased
3 days before. Civilian authorities evaluated the incident as
justifiable homicide; the Marine Corps pressed charges, and Ross
faced the possibility of life imprisonment. 

"Lance Corporal Ross had three things going for her:  the law, the
facts and the NRA," said Colonel Michael Patrick Murray, U.S.M.C.
(Ret.), individual counsel for Ross and an attorney with NRA's
Firearms Civil Rights Legal Defense Fund.  Murray commended the
Commanding General for his decision; the Article 32 Investigating
Officer, Major Mike Keegan, for his thorough inquiry; and Ross's
appointed counsel, Captain Evan Roberts, U.S.M.C.  "In preparation
and in court, Captain Roberts' performance was not hing short of
first-rate," Murray said. 

After spending over a half-year on legal hold, Lance Corporal Ross
will be honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps at month's
end.
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