Gun Control

In arguing against gun control, George Stan (letter, Sept. 1) says, “If all the guns were taken away even from the criminals, the criminals would just find a new weapon of choice, like knives.” That’s just the point, though. How many people would the gunmen at Columbine High School, the Jewish Community Center or countless other drive-by and road-rage shootings have managed to kill and injure if they’d had to chase and catch their victims, then physically attack them with a knife? Some, perhaps, but it’s not nearly as easy as just popping off several shots from a distance without having to get your hands dirty.

ELAINE WARDLE

Huntington Beach

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Why does The Times continue to promote the tired, illogical notion of gun registration (editorial, Aug. 29)? “They register cars, don’t they?” is the mantra. But registering cars does not prevent carjackings or drive-by shootings or road rage. How does registering a car prevent a drunk from getting behind the wheel, or some idiot from talking on his phone while eating a burger and reading a map?

Registering guns gives the government a way to more effectively confiscate them, as New York and New Jersey have already done.

PETER SACKS

Huntington Beach

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“Gang Member Gets 3 Months in Jail in Beating” (Sept. 1) reveals that a gangster displayed his handgun, then “began beating (the victim) with his fists in front of his children, ages 4 and 2.” The gangster then bragged that he had “just got out of jail and [was] not afraid of going back.” And for that heinous act, which will certainly scar the memories of its three victims, the perpetrator was sentenced to three months in jail and three years of probation. If that is the best that our criminal justice system offers, we should hang our heads in shame.

The NRA, whose policies I deplore, will correctly use this miscarriage of justice to substantiate its argument that either our courts are not using fully the laws already on the books or the laws on the books are too lenient.

RABBI ERWIN L. HERMAN

Lake San Marcos