Identifying danger

Gun control groups are arguing for stronger gun laws after the senseless killings of so many innocent humans. It is expected that many would ban all guns and, if we were a nation with a small population, that might be feasible.

Universal background checks would have not stopped either of the latest slaughters.

I am a military veteran and an advocate of the Second Amendment. I also support our police and first responders, who put their lives in danger every time they answer a call for help.

To give anyone the power to deem someone as a danger to society is a tricky idea. Who ultimately decides when some person fits the description of a dangerous person? What one person sees as unusual behavior may not be the same thing as what another person sees.

Perhaps the courts should be prevented from accepting a plea deal when a perpetrator of a crime uses a gun? If that perpetrator understood that he/ she might be put away for 10 years, there might be more thought given to using a weapon. Allowing a felon to plea to a lesser charge gives the district attorney prosecuting the case another win for his/ her record but does not serve justice in many cases. The felon often gets little in the way of incarceration and is not discouraged from committing the same crime again.

Where people use long guns with large- capacity magazines, they are not considering jail time or the pain they mean to inflict. They are simply demented in a desire to create an image. How does anyone identify a murderer before murder is committed?

NICK LIBERTO Blawnox