Los Angeles Times

A breakthrou­gh only in America

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Re “Senators reach bipartisan deal on gun safety,” June 13

How pathetic it is that Democrats have to be “happy” about getting 10 Republican senators to agree to take baby steps toward gun reform laws, because more effective measures such as banning assault weapons would not get one Republican to be on board.

Do Republican­s in Congress really care about children getting “pulverized” and “decapitate­d,” as a witness described what happened in Uvalde, Texas? If they did, they would do anything to prevent such carnage — as in Canada, New Zealand and other places where common-sense measures have worked.

Our allies around the world must be shaking their heads at Americans’ lack of common sense. Foreign terrorists must be thinking, “We don’t have to kill Americans; Americans are slaughteri­ng Americans every single day.” And Republican­s and the National Rifle Assn. are promulgati­ng that more guns in the right hands is the answer. What madness! Mabel Wong Hogle

North Hills

Hearing concerns about children being “groomed” at school brought me to an epiphany: Our children have been groomed, but not about feeling bad that they’re white or encouraged to be gay. Our children have been groomed to accept being murdered at school unless they are clever enough to hide.

My 8-year-old grandson told me how proud he is that he found the best hiding place in his classroom for when a shooter gets into his school. Kids accept that adults (including the police) cannot keep them from being murdered at school.

Ongoing fealty to the NRA has caused a national paralysis in making reasonable, effective gun laws. This has groomed our children to accept being murdered by older kids who also grew up going through shooter drills and know where the hiding spots are. We must do better. Brenda Anderson

Novi, Mich.

I wonder if people are aware of the fact that there is a political side and a real side to the issue regarding guns (or anything controvers­ial, for that matter). I wonder if they are aware of the fact that politician­s will pander to people’s emotions to get votes while doing virtually nothing to change the reality (because it often cannot be changed).

The way I see it, this country was born and raised on guns, and the notion of taking them away is ridiculous. If it were even attempted in any serious way, I think we’d have civil war.

We can control the sale of guns and secure our facilities only so far, but beyond that we are literally at the mercy of those people who, for lack of a better analysis, want revenge for being born (I got that from the movie “Tombstone”). Arthur Saginian

Santa Clarita

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