2nd Amendment and Shootings

There is only one thought for sensible Americans in the aftermath of the shootings at the Granada Hills Jewish Community Center on Tuesday: not one more child laid at the altar of the 2nd Amendment! Even if it means less democracy for the gun-loving minority who see it as untouchable. To delay action is to hold law above life, to validate by default, to risk more public massacres, more children and adults lying in blood. There is a strain of madness in our country, but we have a cure.

DAVID PORGES

Los Angeles

* Four children and an adult were shot Tuesday morning not far from where I am writing this. Their wounds were bought by the National Rifle Assn. and paid for by the politicians who take the NRA blood money and deliver the votes that keep guns within easy reach of every nut who wants to play God.

Make no mistake. Guns kill. They give their owners a sense of omnipotence and an impersonal way to make their crazy dreams of power come true. But they are also moneymakers for every gun dealer, legitimate and illegitimate, and for the bought politicos who take the contributions and hide behind the 2nd Amendment.

When, America, are we going to wake up and say no more? When are we going to be outraged enough to stop doing business at the price of our children’s safety?

JIM TURNER

Granada Hills

* In the wake of the Valley shootings, The Times has once again called for draconian regulation of handguns and allied itself with those who would ban or severely restrict their possession (editorial, Aug. 11). In doing so, The Times argues as if there is no purpose to these weapons other than to arm crazy killers--that the cost of these guns far outweighs any possible benefit to society.

That is patently untrue. Many, many people are saved daily from death, rape, bodily harm and other violent crime by the possession, and sometimes use, of handguns.

There is a point to these weapons. In the hands of the people, they save far more lives than they take. But The Times would make it nearly impossible for law-abiding folks to obtain these weapons, and would regulate the ones they could get into uselessness. Such laws kill far more people than any gunman.

KEVIN MURPHY

Los Angeles

* The Times again pushes the same tired, useless solution to violence in America: more gun control. But each new gun control law brings with it new failure. The Granada Hills shooter violated several of The Times’ precious gun control laws before he fired a single shot.

None of the existing gun laws stopped this latest tragedy. No new gun laws will prevent it from being repeated. New gun laws will erode our freedom and leave us no safer.

STEVE BELL

Woodland Hills

* Both my wife and I are schoolteachers. Our two children attend both day care and public schools. Until the hallowed halls of Congress constantly explode in gunfire, expect nothing except rhetoric about gun control laws.

And may the next school shootout occur where our congressmen have their children. Maybe then, they’ll see how the rest of us are sleeping at night.

LESLIE N. HERSCHLER

Garden Grove

* Would all those who invoke the 2nd Amendment also invoke the words of our national anthem. The “land of the free” seems to say we are free to possess and use any type of firearm possible to make our certain statement. The “home of the brave” seems to be lacking, as there are nowhere people brave enough to fight against such lawlessness.

PAMELA BETH FERGUSON

Arcadia

* We have a greater likelihood of successfully ridding society of all guns than we do of eliminating hate and discrimination from mankind. What we need is a courageous politician/leader to lead the way. What are we waiting for?

IRENE BRIGGS

Huntington Beach

* Remember the last time you felt threatened by your government and were glad you had your gun? Remember the last time some lunatic with a gun made you feel threatened?

BOB GUILFOYLE

Santa Barbara