Sir: For too long, Turkey has been maligned and marginalised by the international community, which has failed to understand what Turkey is really about ("The Turkish question", 30 July). It is a sad fact that a ban on legally held handguns would in no way prevent another such incident occurring; viewed objectively, even a shotgun in the hands of Thomas Hamilton would have had a very similar result, and yet even those calling for severe restrictions on the possession of firearms are reluctant to control these weapons as well. I am not a gun user myself, have no involvement in the field beyond academic study, and support no political group or party, but I can see that no legislation passed in haste and with a people still in shock has ever had its intended effect, no matter how well-intentioned - rather, it is by rational debate and analysis that the appropriate laws are framed and in this case, effective and fair gun control is achieved, without over- reaction by either side.CHRISTOPHER M ROGERSEdgware, Middlesex. Sir: I am relieved that the Home Affairs Select Committee has voted against a total ban on handguns; appalling though the Dunblane massacre was, and wholly understandable though the views of parents such as Pamela Ross are ("Listen to me", 1 August), as a nation we simply must try to step back from the situation and attempt to assess it rationally before passing ill-conceived and unnecessary laws. Hard tests of desert ought to apply to those who get state handouts - and the ranks of those with their palms outstretched include the chairmen and chief executives of companies grown fat thanks to the underpricing of national assets. The Conservatives, ostensibly the party of the free market, are sometimes among its worst enemies.. Capitalism may appear, after the demise of Communism, to be robust because unchallenged.

That is the outcome of a game we subscribe to every time we buy a ticket But public money is not a game. If the Tory state is such a milch cow, why shouldn't the self-employed, or housing benefit claimants behave accordingly and squeeze the teats until they are cracked and dry?The public, by and large, applauds good fortune and just rewards. Self- made millionaires and rich inventors; well-off actors and entrepreneurs - they are all a cause for celebration. The National Lottery has been such a great success because people cheer when the wheel of chance spins and some lucky beggar walks away with millions. By privatising in the way it has and - now - failing to condemn failure and excess, ministers undermine their own capacity to stand as the guarantors for equity elsewhere. The small corruption of the benefits claimant who defrauds the state receives the same censure as the City slicker who cheats on his income or corporation tax.What the Government is damaging is our underlying conviction that the "system" is fair.

What is the worth of Sandy Anderson, managing director of Porterbrook plc, as he counts his millions? What the Conservatives fail to see is that we make judgements about fairness on a continuous basis; we do not apply different scales at different times. That fact has now been recognised by Labour, which has, for example, been tailoring its benefits- to-work policy accordingly. The parties are now broadly agreed: people deserve social benefits only in proportion to their willingness and capacity to work.But now here comes the Conservative government condoning a situation in which ''deserve'' does not figure. But it is bad, too, for the Tory party and not only for the way it exposes the short-term incoherence of Tory thinking about privatisation. It is especially bad for a party that prides itself on communing with the British public's highly developed sense of fairness.There is in public opinion a deep strain that strictly assesses the worth of those who receive public money and assistance. If one leg of the case for privatisation was to bring in capital for investment in stock or improved service, ask what conceivable benefit to railways does this pounds 84m profit represent - not a single extra carriage, not a single new engine, not a lick of paint on a wagon door.