Gun Control and Brady Bill

In your call for passage of the Brady bill (editorial, “Stop Shooting Policy Blanks,” Nov. 16) you talk about “how best to end escalating gun violence.” Clearly California has proven that waiting periods do not reduce gun violence. Our gun violence has never been worse, and our 15-day wait on all guns (not just handguns as called for by the Brady bill) is the most restrictive waiting-period law in the country. It should be pointed out that the original Brady bill did not have a background check anyway; it only called for the seven-day wait. This showed the real intent of the bill, which was restricted access to private gun ownership. Finally, privacy laws prohibit access to mental health records, so background checks will never identify this category of gun purchaser.

With these facts in mind, we should all recognize that waiting-period laws are only the first step in the liberal agenda of gun control. Next will be registration, and finally the only “solution” will be confiscation. They did it with assault rifles, and look how much safer we all are as a result!

JOHN P. PEARSON

Studio City