‘Our country has become a scary place’

Dear editor,

When I was teaching English in Bogota, Colombia in 2018, my friends in the United States asked me if I felt safe after I told them that occasionally I saw an armed guard standing in front of a commercial or government building.

I always honestly told them that of course I felt safe, adding that I never saw or heard any shooting. In fact, I learned that Colombian gun laws are much stricter than in our country.

Now, after two tragic mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, in the past several weeks, piled on many similar massacres in the past two decades, I hope I never hear one of my American friends ask, “Are you safe there?” when I'm living someplace else in the world.

No American should have the nerve to ask that question — ever again. Yes, there are places around the globe where I might not feel safe, but based on the steadily increasing number of shooting deaths in the United States, our country has become a scary place to live.

International statistics in terms of shooting deaths show how dangerous life in the United States has become in comparison to many other countries.

There are more guns in the United States there are than residents. Our love affair with guns and the outdated Second Amendment have resulted in the murder of 10 innocent people in Buffalo and more than 20 children and adults in Uvalde.

It's time for the National Rifle Association and its marionettes in Congress to finally surrender to the demands of the American public and enact some real gun control legislation. There also must be a permanent ban on semi-automatic long gun sales. In what countries can someone walk into a store and buy a semi-automatic, military-style weapon that can be used to mow down 10 or 20 people in a short, deadly minute or two?

Democrats have been introducing meaningful legislation for years, only to see it blocked by NRAcontrolled Republicans. In Texas alone, since November 2017, 70 people have been shot to death in Sugarland, El Paso and Uvalde.

Hopefully, when they go to the polls in November, thinking voters will remember more unforgivable Republican inaction after another horrific massacre.

Richard Lee Stamford