Parents, Children and Guns

Re “Parents, Teach Your Children,” June 21.

It is obvious from the Rev. E. Kent Williams’ article that he has swallowed the National Rifle Assn.’s line completely. He contends that the Constitution guarantees our right to firearms to ensure that we will always be free. The Supreme Court has always ruled against that interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. If we follow the NRA’s reasoning, we should all have free access to Howitzers and Stinger missiles to defend ourselves from the government.

Isn’t it amazing that the citizens of Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Japan and Sweden are free yet have very tight restrictions on firearms? In one year in all those countries combined, fewer people are killed by handgun fire than in just two days in the United States.

The Rev. Williams seems to imply that the parents of the child who killed another child at the Los Angeles shop were responsible for not teaching her about guns. This, rather than the shopkeeper who left a loaded gun where children could reach it.

In the real world, not all families are complete, not all parents can teach about guns and not all children obey their parents. The examples he gives are ridiculous: We all teach our children about strangers and not to use drugs, yet studies have shown how easy it is to talk a child into leaving with a stranger--and about half of all children try drugs by the time they grow up.

At least when children disobey those rules they endanger only themselves. When they disobey gun rules, they endanger all of us.

In the Oregon school shooting case, Mr. Williams tells a glaring half truth. He says that the young suspect came from an anti-gun family and used a stolen gun. What he doesn’t tell you is that the father had relented and bought his son a gun and they had both gone for shooting and safety lessons. He had recently taken the gun away as punishment for antisocial behavior. I wonder if he could have killed two classmates and wounded 22 others if he hadn’t had a couple of multiple-shot rapid-fire handguns?

His most ludicrous statement was that Cain killed Abel with a rock. How many kids could those grammar school boys in Jonesboro, Ark., have killed if they had waited in ambush with a pile of rocks?

In essence his point is, “We are inundated with guns [thanks to the NRA] and you need to send your kids for [NRA] gun lessons.”

How many kids have to die before we wake up?

ALEX MAGDALENO, Camarillo