Stop blaming the NRA, we’re all responsible now
At this stage, it no longer makes sense to
point the finger at the National Rifle Association as the sole culprit when it comes to mass shootings. The lack of logic in its arguments could not be more transparent. Saying that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun ignores the obvious reality that a bad guy with a gun is worse than a bad guy who couldn’t get a gun.
If every one of those people at the Las Vegas concert had been armed, would it have made any difference?
In all of these mass shootings (Virginia Tech, Pulse nightclub in Orlando, San Bernardino, San Ysidro in 1984, Columbine, Aurora, Fort Hood, Umpqua Community College, Charleston, etc.), the one thing that would have prevented mass casualties would have been the inaccessibility to such weaponry.
By now, this should be crystal clear. And yet, some Americans seem unwilling to accept this reality.
Credit where credit is due, the NRA has been amazingly consistent in its position, irrespective of how illogical it is. When we are looking for someone to blame, it’s no longer enough just to point the finger at the NRA. What we really need is a mirror. Ronald O. Richards
Los Angeles
As the awful news of yet another mass
shooting with an assault weapon in Las Vegas is all over the televi- sion news networks, I take some comfort in the fact that since the Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut in 2012, assault weapons cannot be sold in New York state.
I’m also aware that former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg determined back in 2013 that over 90% of the weapons used in crime in his city were legally purchased in other states, so we need to return to a federal ban on assault weapons.
Those who want to commit mass murders shouldn’t be able to easily get their hands on the means to carry out their killings. If keeping Americans’ safety is truly on the mind of President Trump and his administration, why is there no push for a federal ban on assault weapons? Marvin Schwartzwalder
Walden, N.Y.