To the Editor:

When the attitudes of people change, then there can be real change. Reflecting on the recent passing of Dr. C. Everett Koop, Surgeon General under President Reagan, I'm reminded of his warnings and his battle with tobacco companies. He firmly believed in the toxicity and poisonous aspects of cigarette smoking, including the effects of second-hand smoke as a major health issue. In 1993, The National Smokers Alliance was a group formed to protest U.S. anti-smoking legislation. The NSA was a public relations front group funded by the tobacco industry. As deaths attributable to smoking increased, legislation was passed and attitudes toward smoking changed.

Now we, as a country, are faced with a similar attitudinal battle. The National Rifle Association is a front group funded by gun manufacturers. Murder by assault rifles and high capacity magazines is at an all-time high and increasing.

Until our attitudes change toward mass murder by these lethal weapons, the NRA will continue to beat its chest on behalf of gun manufacturers. Standing up to the NRA can and will reduce them to the sniveling evil they represent. When attitudes change, there can be real change.

Jane Aylor Fretz

Allentown