Massacres won’t sway gun lobby

WHEN will America wake up and take action to halt the repeated killing of innocents by crazed gunmen? So far this year there have been more than 200 mass killings and every time voices are raised in an effort to tighten gun control, the move is blocked.

So, now more parents, relatives and friends are mourning. This time, 19 children, all under 12, and two teachers shot dead at the Robb Elementary School in Texas.

Far too many Americans are cowboys at heart and love to swagger about with their arsenal of weapons.

Meanwhile, the gun lobby is so powerful any hope of change by well-meaning politicians seems, for now, futile.

Paul Marston, Walsall, West Mids

How sickening to read about yet another mass shooting in America, robbing 19 youngsters and two teachers of their lives.

And sadly, there won’t be an end to these gun atrocities until the US government decides to take firm action.

American gun laws are outdated. The right to bear arms was enshrined in the constitution at the time of the American War of Independence when only single shot muskets were used. But modern weaponry can wipe out dozens of people in a matter of seconds.

It is high time the government went to war against the powerful gun lobby.

Bill Cook

Teignmouth, Devon

To quote a lyric by Pete Seeger from Where Have All the Flowers Gone, “When will you ever learn?”

US politicians should be deeply ashamed of putting their own careers before the lives of young children, or indeed any lives.

It is way beyond the time when they need to face the power of the gun lobby head on.

Surely, this latest massacre of innocent children will prompt positive action to limit the chances of something like this ever happening again?

Roger Grant Thurnscoe, South Yorks

Another US school shooting that could, and should, have been avoided.

When do you hear of school shootings in Canada, Australia or New Zealand? Very rarely. This is because they have gun control, unlike the US where it is ridiculously easy to purchase a weapon with few checks.

This obsession with the right to bear arms is a relic of the Wild West and needs to be rectified as it is costing innocent children’s lives. Phil Brand, South London

The devastating consequences of America’s lax gun laws are all too apparent with another 19 innocent children dead and more families destroyed.

Pro-gun lobbyists will cite the right to bear arms and say gun ownership is a way of life in America, but nothing is more important than public safety.

We know this after our own massacres at Hungerford and Dunblane. The US must tighten its laws to prevent further tragedies.

Reg Barrett, Southminister, Essex

You can’t buy a can of beer in the US until the age of 21 but in some states you can buy a weapon at 18.

The country is run by the National Rifle Association and the gun lobby and President Biden knows that. Just look at the drivel Texas Senator Ted Cruz came out with, telling reporters not to politicise the tragedy.

Michael Munday, Stoke-on-trent

There are more than 393 million guns owned by civilians in America. No wonder we see massacres on an almost weekly basis. I rest my case.

Bob Wooding

St Helens, Merseyside