Letters to the Editor: Your kid can probably get that gun you safely lock away

To the editor: My brother could have been one of Paul Karrer’s fifth-grade students who raised his hand in class when asked, “How many of you know of guns in your home?” and, “How many of you have fired them when no one was around?” (“The issue of gun violence often invaded my 5th-grade classroom. Here’s how I handled it,” Opinion, April 25)

My father taught us gun safety and target practice. He thought he had securely locked up his guns, but my brother knew where he hid the key. My brother shot the guns off in the house, and my naive mother once wondered how a hole got into the upper kitchen cabinet.

I babysat two adolescent boys one night. The father’s gun was usually stored in a combination-lock safe, but that night he accidentally left it open and one boy got hold of the gun. When I confiscated it, the boy’s response included those famous last words: The gun wasn’t loaded.

Guns are never safe in a house with kids.

Kathy Harty, Sierra Madre

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To the editor: I’m glad Karrer’s student trusted him enough to give him the unfired 9-mllimeter bullet. As he said, “One kid knew kids shouldn’t have bullets, and he acted.”

Karrer’s “glimmer of hope” begs our nation’s adults to do the right thing and ensure all gun transactions are properly vetted and applicants are trained before the sale of any firearm.

Ann Nye, Palos Verdes Estates