Both Sides Unload on U.S. Gun Laws

As pointed out in the editorial, “Remember Gun Control?” (April 11), the hypocrisy rampant in the Bush administration is nowhere clearer than in its stealthy undermining of gun laws in our nation. Under the Patriot Act, where the reading habits of private citizens may be monitored by the government while individuals on terrorist watch lists are free to purchase weapons at gun shows, we are indeed living in La-La Land.

Jerome S. Kleinsasser

Bakersfield

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You asked for voters to speak up about gun control. OK, I will speak up! During the 10 years of the assault weapons ban nothing happened; it was useless. Every day some deranged idiot killed someone. Only when a gun is used does it make the news. Indeed, of the last two major massacres, Columbine and Red Lake, routine weapons were used and reloaded at the scene. Likewise, in almost all these scenarios, the weapons are stolen or illegally obtained. As for voters speaking up over the last 10 years, there are now 37 states with “shall issue” laws allowing law-abiding citizens to possess concealed weapons, and to date there has not been a single “shoot out on every corner,” as predicted by gun control advocates.

Especially after the recent shooting at a Wisconsin church, even more voters are speaking out about letting people protect themselves in vulnerable situations because the police and the government are impotent in sorting out and helping find the deranged individuals prone to these types of massacres. Overall, I think that the voters have already spoken out against restrictive gun control laws, which they perceive as being useless.

Michael L. Friedman

Torrance

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The editorial got it exactly right: Congress is weighing legislation that would make it easier for criminals to get guns, while our country suffers from 30,000 gun deaths a year. The gun industry is not the innocent bystander in this slaughter that the bill’s sponsors would have us believe. Gun companies contribute to the death toll by what they do and what they don’t do.

Manufacturers continue to do business with reckless dealers, make guns with excessive firepower that can shoot down planes and pierce police bulletproof vests, and actively market these weapons to criminals and terrorists. What they don’t do is implement gun safety technology, including built-in trigger locks, which would greatly reduce death and injury. Congress should adopt a new standard for gun-related bills: It will only consider legislation designed to reduce the number of Americans being killed. A bill to insulate the gun industry from negligent acts doesn’t meet that standard.

Nancy Robinson

Newton, Mass.