Right to Own Guns vs. Right to Life
Re your photograph “Hoping Peace Takes Root” and “In Remembering Victim, Mourners Vow to Seek Peace,” Aug. 12: One more poignant memorial for yet another shooting victim, this time a tree planting in honor of Maria Villalvazo, accompanied by yet another call to “stop the violence.” Unfortunately, this never-ending story will continue unresolved until the U.S. joins those nations that have successfully confronted the root cause of the violence by focusing on the instrumentalities, namely guns.
Yes, I know all the tired old arguments set forth by the pro-gun lobby. Having grown up in Texas, I’ve heard them all my life. What I have yet to hear from gun advocates is why their right to own these instruments of death is more sacred than the life of even one Maria, not to mention the lives of the thousands of other innocent victims like her killed each year.
To state the obvious, the right to life is greater than the right to own guns.
George M. Mood
Los Angeles
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