Readers React: San Bernardino shooting: Could tougher gun laws have prevented it?

To the editor: You blame guns for the vile events in San Bernardino on Wednesday. Really? (“Horror in San Bernardino: The U.S. infatuation with guns is bordering on a society-wide suicidal impulse,” editorial, Dec. 2)

Anyone in his right mind has already reached the correct conclusion about why this happened, and it isn’t about guns. It is about people already bent on destruction becoming so enraged that they acted out their eventual plan of terror and destruction because of some minor irritant. If it wasn’t at that building (and later in the streets with officers), it would have been somewhere else.

The shooters were already equipped for and destined to commit horrendous crimes — and no law would have prevented that.

Anything short of total gun confiscation will do little to curb violence. And total confiscation is never going to happen in our free society.

David H. Dolson, Valencia

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To the editor: As we grapple once more with a horrific mass murder, I hear people saying “We have to do something.” Obviously there is no easy solution, but there is one thing that all citizens can do to help.

Do not vote for any candidates who do not support sane gun-control laws. It is totally possible to remove from office those politicians who are owned by the National Rifle Assn. or practice fear-mongering with misinformation about the 2nd Amendment.

Doing this would not solve the problem, but it would be a start and a way to honor the victims of these senseless killings.

Peggy Jo Abraham, Santa Monica

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To the editor: California has some of the toughest gun laws in the country. President Obama effectively wants to mirror this state’s gun laws in the rest of the country.

This shooting in San Bernardino proves that tough gun laws will not prevent this kind of crime. So The Times should quit whining about gun control and let us find out why the shooters did what they did.

Robert Price, Walnut