Keeping Guns at Home Sometimes Backfires

Re “A Gun, a Child, a Second Chance” (May 5): I’m sure Dennis and Robin Schilling will tell all who will listen that they kept a gun around the house for protection. What kind of protection could it provide if it is--as they say--unloaded under the bed with the ammunition in another location?

The bad guys show up unannounced bent on violence and intimidation. As a rule they find the household weapons and add them to their arsenal, which is why the bad guys have as many guns as the police.

If these fools who believe that a gun is going to protect them, their families and possessions insist on keeping one around the house, they become a threat to their community and ensure that someone else will become a victim.

EARLSMITH

Pasadena