From the Publisher

By Louis A. Weil III

When we wrote about the 464 Americans who died of gunfire in a single week last May, we received more than 2,300 letters, the largest response to a TIME cover story last year. Many readers praised the story, while others, including members of the National Rifle Association of America, accused us of ignoring the rights of gun owners. Reflecting on their arguments, our editors decided to take an in-depth look at the N.R.A. itself. The result is this week's cover articles, which include a defense of gun ownership by J. Warren Cassidy, the N.R.A.'s executive vice president, and an argument for strict new gun-control laws by Sarah Brady, whose husband James was shot in the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan.

Much of the reporting was done by Los Angeles correspondent Jonathan Beaty, a marksman and hunter who first joined the N.R.A. in the late 1950s. Beaty grew up outside Sacramento, where, he recalls, "the boys in my neighborhood could barely wait to turn twelve -- the magic age that qualified us to own a .22-cal. single-shot rifle. Taking an N.R.A. marksmanship and safety class was as much a part of the environment as Red Cross swimming lessons."

With Washington correspondent Michael Riley and Houston bureau chief Richard Woodbury, Beaty talked to hunters and sportsmen across the country. When N.R.A. president Joe Foss learned that some of his lobbyists seemed reluctant to cooperate, he ordered them to answer all questions.

Beaty found the N.R.A. members to be "a lot of honest, decent and mostly rational people caught in a turmoil over a thorny, difficult social problem. That's exactly the kind of people who are working the other side of the street." Both sides will have a further opportunity to debate the topic on Wednesday evening, Jan. 24, when Peter Jennings moderates an ABC News-TIME forum on guns.

As you may know, Time Inc. Magazines will launch a new magazine in February titled ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY. On pages 37 through 48 is a supplement that will give you some idea of what the new magazine will be like.