Ann Reiss Lane

Re "NRA Aims at the Messenger," editorial, July 10: The Times has erroneously blamed that convenient demon the NRA for the House of Representatives' move to trim funding from the Centers for Disease Control's gun research. But the National Rifle Assn. has never presented testimony to Congress on this matter. In fact it was two national physician groups (Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership and Doctors for Integrity in Policy Research) that testified in Congress for cutting the CDC's funds for gun research.

We object strongly to the commentary by John Shepard Wiley Jr., on the study of taggants in black and smokeless powder (Nov. 11). The National Rifle Assn. devoted considerable time to educating the Congress on the problems with immediate inclusion of taggants in gunpowder. The NRA, not President Clinton, called for matters of safety and effectiveness to be resolved by an independent scientific panel. The government's own research in the 1970s and early 1980s found taggants to be potentially very dangerous, as they were found to increase chemical activity and prompt spontaneous combustion when mixed with some powders.

Mike Feuer's commentary ("Cut Ambiguity of Inspector General's Role," Nov. 19) reminds us that the role of the Police Commission is as a watchdog. Feuer points out that when an ordinance or charter amendment--or the Christopher Commission report--is unclear about accountability and responsibility, parties may differ on what the proper relationship should be. This issue is not about whether Chief Bernard Parks is doing a good job. Surely no chief has ever been a firmer disciplinarian.

Albert A. Dorman, president and chairman of Ashland Technology Corp., Los Angeles, has been named Engineer of the Year by the Institute for the Advancement of Engineering. He will receive the institute's George Washington Award at Friday's Honors and Awards Banquet at the Almansor Court restaurant in Alhambra. Dorman also serves as chairman of three of Ashland Technology's seven subsidiary firms, including Daniel, Mann, Johnson, & Mendenhall, Los Angeles.

I have a friend named Jeffrey who is 5 years old and wears magic shoes. The shoes are a pair of blue Nikes with transparent bubble-like additions on the back, which is probably where the magic is stored. They allow Jeffrey to run like the wind, to leap like a gazelle and to spin like a tornado over the ground he occupies. It was my privilege to buy him the shoes in a mall where, he knew beforehand, cool shoes are kept.

In writing a few weeks ago about my day as honorary fire chief, in which we covered a great part of the city by helicopter, I ended by reflecting on its vastness: "It is a fantastic realm; more fabulous than many an ancient kingdom; more prosperous than many a modern state. "We should indeed appreciate our excellent firemen, who are trying to keep us from burning it down."

As I follow the frightfully sad story of the wretchedly violent death of 14-year-old Carl Dan Claes (May 24, 25), and worry about the future of my 4-year-old son, I wonder what is the position of the National Rifle Assn.? Should Carl Dan Claes have carried a gun of his own and fired first? LARRY GOLDBERG Laguna Hills In the past The Times editorialized that fear of drug sellers, or street gangsters, or even terrorists did not justify abrogating the procedural guarantees of our law under the Bill of Rights.

A veteran Los Angeles fireman who was suspended for five months for slapping the buttocks and trying to touch the breasts of a woman firefighter while on duty at a Westchester firehouse is in trouble again at another fire station. Anthony E. Morales, 33, has been suspended for 30 days without pay for "repeated violations" of department regulations at a station in the Glassell Park area, according to a report by Fire Chief Donald O. Manning to the City Fire Commission on Thursday. Capt.