Letters to the Editor: A Saugus student’s quote sums up gun violence: ‘What kind of world is this?’

To the editor: You quote one student asking rhetorically as he and other students were led off campus after a shooting Thursday at Saugus High School, “What kind of world is this?”

That’s easy to answer: We live in a country where the right to own lethal weapons trumps the right of our children to be safe in school.

Until we control the madness of our gun fixation, we are doomed.

Donald Broder, Studio City

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To the editor: With more than 20 years of innocents being slaughtered and our police having to put their lives on the line daily to protect every one of us, Congress and the president remain resolute in their acceptance of the loss of life from gun violence. They pretend to be representatives of the people, but it’s an act they can’t pull off.

Our government has failed our children and is petrified to have the conversation necessary to reverse its failure. How sad it is when our kids ask for help and adults give them the same tired rhetoric they have for years, and then whisk them on their way, hoping they disappear into a fog of lies that has been created with financial help from the National Rifle Assn.

Hey, kids, don’t be diminished by the incompetence of your government. Use it to strengthen your resolve and move this country in the direction you want. Many of those who came before you have thrown in the towel or are clinging to their own twisted interpretation of the 2nd Amendment.

It is your turn to pick up the ball and run, for the students of Saugus High School and other victims of mass shootings. Your future is in front of you.

Bob Bascelli, Seaford, N.Y.

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To the editor: How many times is this same scenario going to play out before America gets smart? Common-sense gun laws are no panacea, but they would help.

Anyone with a heart and a mind knows that America needs change. And if Donald Trump is reelected president, there will be no change.

We need a president with no ties to the NRA. A vote for Trump is a vote for the NRA.

JoAnn Lee Frank, Clearwater, Fla.