Letters: Balancing gun control and gun safety

Re “Voice of sense in gun debate,” Column, March 28

I enjoyed George Skelton’s piece on Republican Rep. Mike Thompson, a pro-gun legislator from Northern California who, as Skelton notes, proves you can be “both a gun lover and a gun controller.”

FOR THE RECORD:
Legislator: A March 31 letter to the editor on gun control misidentified Rep. Mike Thompson, a Democrat from Northern California, as a Republican. —

As a member of the National Rifle Assn., I was disappointed that the organization didn’t take a more reasonable stance on current gun issues. Thompson expresses my feelings exactly. Many of the proposed laws in Congress are reasonable as long as they are not precursors to more stringent laws.

Safety is the major concern here, just as is protecting the right to own firearms. Thompson strikes this balance well, notably in his call to ban high-ammunition magazines instead of assault weapons. Without these clips, an assault weapon is no different than a semi-automatic rifle.

This should not be a grandstanding moment for politicians but rather an opportunity to pass responsible laws that protect our rights and safety.

Rex Huigens

La Verne

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