Dear Editor:
The Post continually brands the National Rifle Association (NRA) as a mouthpiece for the firearms industry [The NRA Lobby Strikes Back, June 7, 1999]. In fact, the NRA is not an industry lobby, but a membership organization. The NRA's influence does not derive from it's ties to the industry, but from the support of its 3 million members. Would the Post similarly criticize the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) for lobbying on behalf of its members' interests or mobilizing them to fight legislation which negatively impacted them?
On another note, the House leadership's delay in considering additional anti-gun legislation allowed for constituent input and analysis of gun control issues outside of the media-fueled, post-Littleton hysteria. This is how a representative democracy should operate, i.e. through careful consideration of the issues, not from ill-considered legislation passed swiftly in an emotionally-charged atmosphere.