Gun storage

Regarding “What to do with parents who won’t lock up their guns? Lock them up.” (Dec. 12): I say, amen, amen, amen! Finally, after yet another case of a student having easy access to a gun and parents whose actions were so egregious, there is more serious discussion about safe gun storage. It shouldn’t have taken this case for it to happen. There have been so many other cases. Your excellent editorial made so many good points.

Gun owners who allow others to have easy access to their guns are not responsible gun owners and should be held accountable. Those who keep their guns in their nightstand, on the top shelf in the closet, in their purse, under the seat in the car, in the glove compartment — their easy access to their gun means that others have easy access, too. That should be intuitive, but for many, it’s not. With the right to own a gun comes responsibility. Lock up your guns.

Julie Marinucci, Houston

Maybe if irresponsible, antagonistic parents actually faced significant consequences for their actions or inactions, our nation’s schools would be both safer and more effective.

However, in this case, isn’t it a dangerous precedent to charge the parents for their child’s crime? The school counselors, who are trained, agreed to allow this child to finish the day of school, and recommended the parents get help for the child within 48 hours. The child fooled everyone. He claimed he was drawing for a video game, and that he wanted to be a video-game designer. I think most parents would like to believe that their child is not a killer. They should not be charged in this.

This shooting again highlights a devastating and neglected problem with American

teens: mental illness. Yet instead of looking at the root causes, the media are fixated on the gun.

Mike Ganis, Houston