Don’t blame the guns

Regarding “On scene of rapper’s murder in River Oaks, we saw depravity and grace (Editorial),” (April 3):

Your editorial describes the horror of coming upon a murder scene in which a young man had been gunned down in broad daylight on an otherwise peaceful street. Truly this must have been traumatic, and rightfully so. But then you write, “The guns are certainly to blame.”

What a ridiculous statement. A gun is an inanimate object, incapable of choosing between right and wrong. The blame rests squarely on the person using the gun for evil. If a person drinks to the point of being impaired then gets behind the wheel of a car, drives the wrong way and crashes head-on into another vehicle, killing an innocent motorist — as happened just the other day in Houston — do we say “the car is to blame?” The blame belongs to the impaired driver. The same is true for a murder committed anywhere in our community.

We need to stop blaming the device and recognize the real culprit is the individual who has so little regard for the value of a human life that he or she will use that device to take the life of another. Regardless of what is used — a gun, a car or any other device — the blame belongs to the person who has the ability to choose between right and wrong.

John Simpson, Magnolia

Regarding “Most Texans are for commonsense gun reform. Why do we keep voting otherwise? (Opinion),” (April 4): Julie Marinucci, we need those guns to protect us from tyranny. That’s why the Founding Fathers, acting through the states, put the Second Amendment in there. Back then, hunting, predator control, self-defense and marksmanship were all important, but the real reason for it was to protect us from tyranny.