How did we get here?

To the Editor:

An AR-15 fires repeatedly, piercing a bulletproof vest, a person's body and coming out the equally shielded backside of the vest. It creates wounds the size of an orange, so severe that Uvalde `s parents had to provide police with DNA samples to confirm which child was theirs because the bodies were unidentifiable. Imagine a child calling out, “Come in and help us,” while officers hesitated to confront this weapon.

In Texas, an unknown 18-year-old can buy an AR-15. Texas requires no training or license. Texas guarantees the freedom to possess and “free carry” that weapon anywhere.

How did we get here, where innocent children find themselves at the mercy of an insanely empowered teenager? How can we support gun ownership over the safety of children? Are we so bewildered by life that we can't understand this is wrong?

Have the men of our society become so isolated that they seek the fellowship of weapon owners to feel equal to the demands of life? Have women lost sight of their relationship to a child?

Other nations have had similar tragedies and consequently have passed noexcuse, reasonable and effective gun laws. America is 25 times more likely to have massacres. Even in the face of proven success in other countries, we refuse to believe it's the guns. We'll believe anything except that it's the guns. We've invited guns into our society to protect ourselves from baseless fears, and now we have guns to fear.

Our government was created to promote the general welfare. So, why is this happening? It's us, the voters. We have elected ideological leaders committed to the gun industry. They're not committed to people, but to corporate greed and industry payoffs. Our votes put guns on our streets, and our votes have kept them there. Robert Carabas

Sonora