The latest manifestation of The Star's anti-gun bias is its urging of Congress to renew the ban on sale and possession of selected semiautomatic rifles (5/16 editorial).

The editorial led readers to believe the current legislation (passed in 1994 and not set to expire until September 2004) imposes a ban on all semiautomatic weapons.  That is not the case.  It bans sale and possession of only 19 specific, named semiautomatic weapons. (A correction ran on May 17, stating the editorial mistakenly referred to "semiautomatic weapons" and should have referred to "semiautomatic assault weapons."),  Most semiautomatic weapons were legal to own and sell before this legislation was passed and remain so to this day.

The editorial staff's ignorance on gun issues is not limited to the opinion pages.  Whether the topic is federal gun-control laws, concealed-carry legislation in Missouri, or military weaponry used by U.S. or enemy forces in Iraq or Afghanistan, The Star can always be counted on to mislead, mislabel or misconstrue.

Now that two federal circuit courts of appeals (5th in New Orleans and 9th in San Francisco) have taken opposite stands on the interpretation of the Second Amendment, the day of gun reckoning is coming to the Supreme Court., Does this amendment protect the right of citizens to possess firearms for personal use or does it only permit the states to form and arm militias?  I'm betting on the rights of individual citizens, because that was the intent of our founders.

James F. Gebhardt
Leavenworth