Acquittal in Shooting Case

I was surprised to see the minimal coverage (May 24) given to the acquittal of Rodney Peairs, who admitted shooting a Japanese teen-ager at his front door in Baton Rouge, La. This story about the fear of crime and relations with Asia seems particularly relevant to Los Angeles. In your May 25 editorial you did argue against having guns in the home, yet seemed to accept the not-guilty verdict as justifiable.

But it is in fact this verdict, more than the killing itself, which is the real indictment of the U.S., since it says to the world that America condones such actions as the unfortunate but unavoidable byproduct of gun ownership.

As one who has lived in France, a country with much stricter gun control, and as a teacher of English to people from around the world, I often have difficulty explaining America’s love affair with guns to foreigners, who regard the absence of gun control laws as irresponsible at best. This verdict makes it next to impossible.

It is true that this incident risks putting a damper on foreign tourism, study and perhaps even investment, but what is most upsetting to me is the emphasis in the American media on the Japanese reaction to the shooting, as if it were curious that they would take such an interest in the case. Americans now have such a visceral fear of crime that they apparently identify more with the frightened homeowner than with the hapless victim. And they have become so desensitized to violence, both real and imagined, that a home-grown wave of revulsion at this verdict is unlikely.

Meanwhile, I will make sure that my students know the meaning of “freeze.”

DAVID FEIN

Reseda

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I am a Japanese woman who has lived in the United States almost 23 years and I’m proud of my naturalized citizenship. I understand the two different cultures of Japan and my adopted country, the U.S.

This tragic shooting of a Japanese exchange student made me think how violent a society some of America has become.

It is not a simple matter of self-defense of Peairs or Yoshi Hattori’s limited English (who didn’t know the word “freeze”). It’s so sad that in this wonderful country of ours a person was filled with so much fear and had to answer the doorbell with a .44-caliber Magnum in his hand and start shooting instead of checking who is outside the door or calling the police. What can we do about this fear?

EDAKO MORRISON

Los Angeles

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Re “Another Innocent on a Long List,” editorial, May 25:

The accidental shooting of a Japanese exchange student is truly unfortunate. I do wish, however, that The Times did not ignore every positive instance of firearms use in this country. Such a stance clearly fosters a distorted view of reality. Recently available Justice Department and FBI statistics are informative. According to these sources handguns are used 600,000 times each year by ordinary citizens to prevent serious crimes with another 300,000 additional serious crimes prevented by the use of long arms. That amounts to one serious crime prevented by the presence of a handgun every 52 seconds!

To the 1.2 million Japanese citizens signing petitions to limit access to guns in the United States, I’ll just say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

CHARLES N. MILLNER JR.

Monrovia

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The tragic shooting of a Japanese exchange student raises many troubling questions. One is what would the jury have ruled had the victim been the mayor’s son or the local football hero? The second is that shooting at someone outside your home is now OK--as long as you feel threatened. Finally, the foreign press is no doubt having a field day comparing the shooting deaths in the U.S. on a daily basis with the shooting deaths in Sarajevo, Beirut, Belfast and the Gaza Strip. The U.S. is consistently higher on a daily basis.

SOL TAYLOR

Sherman Oaks