American Notes WASHINGTON

The newest nightmare for law enforcement is the plastic gun that can pass unnoticed through metal detectors at airports and courthouses. Although many in Congress want to outlaw the guns, the National Rifle Association is supporting a proposal to allow manufacturers to make plastic guns that contain only minimal amounts of metal. To spot such weapons, critics say, metal detectors would have to be so sensitive that they would be triggered by zippers on people's clothing.

Yet the minimal-metal bill got an unlikely endorsement recently as an "excellent legislative proposal" by none other than Attorney General Edwin Meese. In response, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and eleven allied groups have drafted a letter to Meese charging that his action was a "betrayal of law enforcement" to the "money and clout of the gun lobby."