Something Must Be Done: The Way To Stop Shootings
THE ISSUE: A push to tighten gun laws in the wake of two mass shootings that left at least 31 people dead.
As a legal gun owner, I can tell you that the problem is not the guns, it’s the asinine way the individual states hand them out (“OK background checks: Trump,” Aug. 8).
Guns should be regulated at the federal level. We have states that issue them with minimal checks over a period of a few days. It’s harder to get a library card.
Any responsible, lawabiding owner will happily wait for the background checks. We must also hold the owners responsible for any crime committed with their registered gun when anyone else has access to it.
We need an end to gun shows that sell weapons, no questions asked.
Education, criminal and mental-health background checks will eliminate most of the issues we have. Punishing responsible, legal owners is not the answer. Storm Destro Bayonne, NJ
There is no reason military-style assault weapons should be in the hands of the general public.
There are too many deranged people out there, as has been proven time and time again. Karen Lande Springfield, Vt.
The Post claimed: “Some studies show that the last [assault weapons] ban, in effect from 1994 to 2004, had a limited impact” (“Gun control works, so do something, Mr. President,” Aug. 5).
In fact, the vast majority of peer-reviewed academic research — some funded by the Clinton administration — found no benefit. Some studies showed harm.
In one study funded by Clinton in 1997, criminologists Chris Koper and Jeff Roth wrote: “The evidence is not strong enough for us to conclude that there was any meaningful effect (i.e., that the effect was different from zero).”
In 2004, they concluded, “We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. There has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness.”
Semiautomatic guns aren't "weapons of war". they are valuable for selfdefense, and banning some simply on appearance is illogical.
New York City’s crime rate fell since the 1990s because of policing, not gun control. John R. Lott President Crime Prevention Research Center Alexandria, VA.
When it comes to guns in America, Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association, calls the shots. He says dance; Congress dances.
When he says lay off enacting new gun legislation — done. The only way he can wield this kind of power is by throwing bags of money at the front door of Capitol Hill.
Our representatives continue to blow smoke in our faces by telling us that they will look at the gun problem. They won’t. They never do. Even after years of innocents being slaughtered.
Congress is resolute in its acceptance of all this loss of life. The president was elected to lead. Congress was elected to represent. Wayne LaPierre was tasked to lobby for guns. Who do you think is best at their job? Bob Bascelli Seaford
When I was serving in Vietnam, there was an opportunity to purchase captured, Russian-made AK-47 automatic weapons, but with the warning that they would not be allowed to be brought into the United States because of the obvious threat to the civilian population.
Today, a 19-year-old can walk into a gun shop and purchase a semiautomatic AK-47 for no other reason than mass slaughter.
Yet our president says there is “no appetite” to ban these weapons. Unless he begins to feel otherwise, he may be eating his first post-presidential meal in 2021, whether he has an appetite or not. Alan Sperber Manhattan
An “assault-weapons” ban did next to nothing. We had one for 10 years.
I own one of these socalled “assault weapons.” It’s a false narrative. I’m not a danger to anyone, except someone who might break into my home and try to harm me or my family.
The majority of gun deaths are caused by handguns, and most gun deaths are suicides.
“The right to bear arms shall not be infringed” is not a suggestion. Christopher Sanders Yonkers