Violence and Gun Control

In response to “People Use Guns, Guns Kill People,” editorial, Feb. 29:

New York City Mayor David Dinkins, in calling for “gun control” in the wake of the high school shooting there, must have forgotten where he was. Since 1911, his city has had the strongest, most restrictive gun control laws in the country--a distinction now shared with Washington, D.C., our nation’s murder capital.

Of the 200 million guns owned by private citizens, those used in crimes number in the ten-thousandths of 1%; thus, over 99.999% of all guns are well-behaved. Contrasted with career criminal recidivism--about 6% of violent criminals commit 70% of violent crime--and the decay of the family unit (Column One, March 1), the real problem is obvious.

With citizens’ use of handguns alone for self-defense estimated at over 1,700 times daily, The Times needs to sensibly pull its editorial head out of the politically correct sand and focus not on the tool itself but on those few who misuse the tool and why.

STEVEN B. CLAR, Downey