Letters

Re “What’s triggering gun sales?” Column, June 17

After 28 years as a public defender in two counties, I have seen people killed in every imaginable way: cars, knives, box cutters, baseball bats, 2-by-4s, bombs, poison, an unlucky kick in the head or a fall after a fight, you name it. It takes a lot of work to kill someone -- except with a gun.

I’m asked all the time by friends if they should get a gun and what kind. I always say the same thing: A gun in your house is most likely going to be used against you or a loved one. Kids find guns, no matter how well hidden, and get hurt. Angry people find guns and do things they regret. Desperate people bring their own guns. Guns get taken by people unprepared to use them. If you are in a position in which you need a gun, you are already in too much trouble.

Raymond Bruce Schweiger

Los Angeles

::

Those who seek to limit or eliminate the right of average citizens to have weapons are poor students of the founding fathers. These men knew all too well their own frailties and wisely recognized that the best way to keep a check on the ambitions of one’s neighbor was to make sure there was a ready group of citizens with the necessary firepower to stand against those who would trample on their rights.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and the other founding fathers learned in fighting the Revolutionary War that all the wise words in the world are lost on those who seek to enforce their will, and that the best hedge against those who would rule by power is to give power to the people.

Michael Lathrop

Irvine