Letters to the Editor: Michigan State mass shooting is Page 4 news — only in America
To the editor: Because I’m a graduate of Michigan State University, the mass shooting there drew my serious attention. Sadly, however, perhaps because these events are so routine — and because this tragedy was out of state and “only” a few were killed — The Times did not even publish its first print-edition report on the shooting until Page A4.
Before we become more hardened against such atrocities, let’s consider some solutions for at least ameliorating the danger of gun violence.
Guns kill people, but so do automobiles. Nevertheless, we regulate the use and operation of cars. We should treat gun ownership and gun usage in a way similar to automobile ownership and usage.
Rules for automobile usage haven’t eliminated traffic accidents, but they have surely reduced the number of them. Remember all the hullabaloo about seat belts?
We all still have our cars, and we can keep our guns too with some common-sense accountability measures.
Terry Nafisi, Pasadena
..
To the editor: When the shooting began at Michigan State, the university sent out a message to students that, in part, told them to “run, hide and fight.”
It breaks my heart that our country has left our children to fend for themselves when it comes to staying safe from gun violence.
Run? Hide? Fight? Is that the best we can do for our children? I pray the answer to that question is something other than no.
Barbra McLendon, South Pasadena
..
To the editor: Many reports on the Michigan State mass shooting contain the quote from the campus’s deputy police chief, “We have absolutely no idea what the motive was.”
The American public has been seduced by the argument that ascribing motives can somehow lead to figuring out how to prevent future slaughters.
With more than 300 million people in this country, there could be thousands of reasons motivating shooters. There is no practical way to evaluate the mental health of Americans to predict which person is likely to commit such atrocities.
The sole common thread among all these bloodbaths is the presence of a gun, often a semiautomatic weapon of war. Ban the guns, and the slaughter will end.
Noel Johnson, Glendale
