Oxnard Shooting Rampage

In a complex world such as ours, it’s easy to become “lost in the shuffle.” For people under mental stress and hardship, the line between rationality and irrationality can be thin--the result, the tragic massacre in Oxnard (Dec. 3). Here, a man acted upon apparent personal frustration and disdain for “bureaucracy.”

All of us must be aware of the signs of mental illness and seek help and guidance from clergy, family, friends, support groups, etc. What happened in Oxnard was tragic, unnecessary and a result of an inability to cope. It happens too often--the system can only do so much. We must monitor ourselves and our loved ones.

GARY TRAXLER

Oxnard

A copy of “Mental Illness Rises Among the Jobless” (Dec. 4) should be sent to every member of Congress who objected to President Clinton’s $16.5-million jobs program, inadequate as it was. The Congress of California Seniors, Los Angeles, is circulating a petition calling for the $60-billion jobs program called for by the AFL-CIO, the program to be funded by diverting money from the bloated military program and by restoring the 1980 income tax rates on the rich and corporations.

SOL LONDE

Northridge

I’m a mentally ill person who writes in, because I’ve also been unemployed for eight years. I do not lash out at society for my problems, for I fired all my high-powered weapons while I served as a military policeman. However, I was disabled with a hearing loss and spent time in hospitals where I saw the damages done by guns.

Few know the rage of anger and the depths of depression as I, because I lost my parents early in life and was a chronic alcoholic. But through the love of others I’ve been sober for over 14 years. My mother died of TB; three of us had epilepsy and my brother and sister passed away a few years ago. That was when I was hit and thrown in a locked mental ward for almost a year, then placed in a nursing home for another before being let out on the streets. My driver’s license was taken away, after being a truck driver for over 10 years.

But I went back to City College and achieved an AA degree during this time. I’ve adjusted to being poor and the things I enjoy are free: hiking in the Hollywood Hills and diving in the ocean keep me sound. Occasionally I treat myself to a few Tommy burgers or half-price ticket for a day movie.

JOHN WARREN

Hollywood

The NRA righteously draws a distinction between law-abiding citizens who own guns and criminals. Well, there’s a problem. As seen by the recent rampages (unemployed Oxnard engineer, Navy ensign upset over a broken engagement), citizens who are law-abiding and even described as “all-American” can still commit criminal acts and kill many innocent people. Their weapons of choice: handguns and assault weapons. Guns make it too easy for anyone, law-abiding or not, to act out impulses or grudges with horrible consequences.

We cannot predict someone’s future behavior or emotional state, so the only answer to protecting ourselves from gun violence is to remove guns from society.

SUSAN PERLSON

Brea

When I began to work at the state unemployment office in 1960, the old-timers told me that once a disgruntled claimant smeared smelly Limburger cheese all over the office counters. In 1993, the disgruntled claimant comes armed with a gun and kills. Now tell me guns don’t kill.

RUTH KING

Banning

In front of “the counter” at the unemployment office, hundreds of eager-to-work, desperate people wait in line for hours to file claims or have their questions answered. Behind the same counter, there seem to be an equal amount of people walking around aimlessly drinking coffee, while two or three of them reluctantly and rudely man the windows, often giving out the wrong information.

May I suggest that the state government fire all these people and replace them with the people in front of the counter. This way people who want to work get work, and those who don’t, don’t.

SVEN LIBAEK

North Hollywood