Letters to the Editor: Americans can be sure that more mass shootings are on the way

To the editor: Here’s the weather forecast for the United States for the next 50 years, in light of several mass shootings lately, most recently in Midland and Odessa, Texas:

There will be a regular, indiscriminate hail of bullets affecting all areas within America. A flood of thoughts and prayers will inundate the airwaves for up to two weeks following each hail storm. Precipitation in the form of tears will increase in those months.

A fog of presumed motivations will roll in to obscure the true cause of the hail storms. Rising tides of outrage will threaten to change the status quo, but they will recede as the nation braces for the next storm that is already on the way.

Our leaders will step up to say that it is simultaneously too soon and too late to attempt the passage of any legislation designed to mitigate the storm surge, which is only likely to worsen.

Stephen Lee, La Habra

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To the editor: Sadly, we are so inured to mass shootings that the massacre in Texas was not even the top story on the Los Angeles Times’ front page on Sunday.

There is no excuse for inaction on the part of the president and members of Congress. They and the National Rifle Assn. tell us that this measure or that one will not solve the problem. This is a sorry excuse for inaction.

True, there is no panacea, but to close the gun show and other loopholes, to confiscate or buy back assault rifles, and to identify those whose mental or psychological condition makes them a potential danger to others are all intelligent steps.

Our leaders do nothing, and that is criminal.

Martin Cooper, Encino

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To the editor: In Monday’s newspaper, you published a list of 12 mass shootings from October 2017 up to this past weekend. Two of the first three entries began with, “A gunman killed....,” but the remaining blurbs started with the shooter’s or the alleged shooter’s name.

You know that one of the reasons young men do this is to achieve notoriety, so please stop giving it to them. Be a newspaper of record for about 48 hours after a shooting. Name the gunman, and then stop. Give him 15 minutes of fame, not 15 years.

Quit operating under the excuse that well, the name is already out there, so we might as well use it too. If someone wants to find out the name of a shooter, make that reader do some research.

Diane Scholfield, Vista, Calif.

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To the editor: I keep hearing the phrase, “The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” When will that good guy finally show up and stop this carnage?

Wayne Via, Dana Point