Gun Control and ’22 Cowardly Acts’

In response to your editorial “Judgment Day on Firearms,” I submit that its style should be criticized even more than its substance.

Since I’m a gun owner and a life member of the NRA, it’s obvious that your editorial staff is no more going to change my gun views than I’m going to change its gun views. However, what really galls me is your strong penchant for name-calling, such as “small band of zealots,” “cowards,” etc. In this connection, one thing I learned by taking debating in college is that if your opponent has no facts or logic at his or her command, he or she will invariably engage in histrionics, playing to the grandstand, complete fabrications, and name-calling, and lose the debate decisively.

Finally, with regard to the Second Amendment, how long--oh, how long--is it going to take your editorial staff to learn to read and understand the following crucial words: “ . . . The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed !” (Emphasis added.) Moreover, The Times’ editorial staff does not corner the market on common sense, as it insinuates.

ROBERT V. VAN de WALLE

Granada Hills