Readers React: More guns hasn’t worked. We should try getting rid of them instead.

To the editor: Bob Owens describes the recent carnage at military facilities in Tennessee and elsewhere. His solution is to arm the senior officers and noncommissioned officers with handguns at all military installations. (“Chattanooga shooting: Why gun-free zones are dangerous,” July 20)

Owens says that “every military recruit has had basic weapons training.” Well, I was in the Army and I had weapons training, but I was never taught to deal with masses of civilians; that’s covered in police training.

Owens doesn’t mention the one rational solution: no guns. America has to get rid of guns — no hunting, no target practice, no manufacture and no sales. Change the 2nd Amendment. This may take a long time, but if we had started when President Kennedy was shot, we’d be a lot closer to a rational, compassionate society.

The United States has tried open carry, inept background checks and allowing assault weapons. It hasn’t worked. Let’s try getting rid of guns.

John R. Shiban, Westlake Village

..

To the editor: Owens makes a well-reasoned argument for allowing officers to carry loaded weapons on military installations.

Military training and discipline, together with the naturally closed and limited nature of these sites, make it unlikely that these personnel would misbehave or prove incompetent in the ways that concern those of us who are opposed to arming, for example, kindergarten teachers.

Furthermore, it is sadly true that we can expect to see another assault on a military site. Arming officers would be a useful way to test whether well-trained personnel could effectively defend themselves against a surprise attack.

Geoff Kuenning, Claremont

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook