Reader: Address modern culture

Herman

guns, the overwhelming portion of folks who watch violent films and play violent games never do anything illegal. Still, I agree with this tweet from Tom Brokaw: “It is not enough to talk about access to guns. We also have to address a popular culture that treats graphic violence as routine.”

Reader Doug Hector said it’s time to “treat gaining entry to schools exactly like being allowed to enter a courthouse or airplane.” Perhaps. I find myself reacting negatively to talk about an “armed guard” at every school. Yet I’m OK with it if you call it an armed police officer at every school. I can see positives coming from kids getting to know a cop.

Several readers talked about rights and selfdefense.

“Meaningful action would be the elimination of restrictions of law-abiding gun owners to keep and bear arms,” David Haun wrote. From Brian Liebman: “My hypothesis is that gunfree zones kill people because criminals and lunatics know they won’t be challenged during their crime.”

Some folks scoff at the notion of more guns meaning more safety. But here’s a scenario in which you might want more guns: Two people. You and a criminal about to commit a violent act against you. The criminal has a gun. You don’t. Think you’d might like to have another gun — with the second one in your hands — in that situation?

Several readers said it’s wrong to inject politics into this. They are wrong. Some politicians have given politics a bad name, but the political arena is exactly where this stuff should be debated and decided. Politics, as more than one person has noted, trumps gunplay as a way to resolve differences. How appropriate that seems today. Let the politics begin.