Accountability for Gun Violence

* Re “Shopper Killed in Shootout at Van Nuys Costco,” Aug. 14: My wife was shopping at Costco Sunday. Standing at the checkout counter at the front of the store, she suddenly remembered she had forgotten to buy lamb chops, so she went back to the meat counter. Because of this sudden, fortuitous thought, she was some distance from the area where the gunfire occurred. She and others were herded out side doors (Costco handled the emergency beautifully), where she saw one 6-year-old vomiting from fear. Others later described to her the blood on the pavement and the screams of the wounded.

How ironic that the very next morning’s Times featured a full-page advertisement by the NRA, condemning gun control.

ALAN A. ARMER

Los Angeles

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* On Saturday, LAPD Chief Bernard Parks and other anti-gun rights activists staged a protest. They displayed 300 pairs of shoes to represent the victims of gun violence. Your Aug. 13 story reporting this included several moving accounts of the people who once owned the shoes.

The pro-gun rights side could hold a similar demonstration if it weren’t for one problem. It’s not that there aren’t enough shoes to display. We have over 2 million pairs. Our problem is that our shoes still have feet in them, feet that are still walking around. Americans use firearms over 2 million times every year to prevent violent crimes. One of the 300 pairs had a note reading, “I was your mother.” A note on one of the 2 million pairs would likely read, “Because I had a gun, I am still your mother.”

STEVE BELL

Woodland Hills