Firearms Fatalities

I was deeply saddened to read of the horrific accident which occurred Sept. 7 when a retired police officer shot and killed his wife.

This poor man will live the rest of his days regretting his reaction to what he thought was danger--and we’ll never know if that fear of danger was real or imagined. Regardless, his beloved wife is gone, he is alone and their family and friends are all suffering. If that gun had not been in the car, his wife would be alive. Simple as that.

I am in favor of the individual’s right to own a gun. My father was a sportsman and I gagged through many a dinner prepared by my mother, who tried to disguise the taste of venison. Those deer and elk hunting trips were the best trips of his life. But his guns were for his sport and were kept locked in a case.

In a society where the law dictates the wearing of helmets for bicyclists, why in the world are people allowed to carry concealed weapons without an annual evaluation of their ability to safely operate them--whether it be on the basis of age, physical dexterity or mental stability?

BARBARA J. DAVIS

Newport Beach