To the Editor:

On Dec. 20, the vice president of the National Rifle Association appeared on television and informed the country that the NRA has 4 million members. As the voice of these members, he called for the immediate stationing of armed guards in every schoolhouse in America. He implied that because the NRA has 4 million members, it has a clear mandate to demand of Congress that it follow the legislative edicts of the NRA.

As of today, the population of the United States is about 315 million people. Upon doing the math, one discovers that the NRA represents 1.2 percent of the U.S. population. This is not a percentage that should mandate anything.