The 129th mass shooting in our country this year has been perpetrated on little children and innocent people, and, again, the Republican Party gives thoughts and prayers and does nothing to prevent this from happening again.
A congressman from Tennessee said that there’s nothing you can do to stop a shooter if he’s willing to die. That’s true, but we certainly can cut down a shooter’s firepower by banning assault-style weapons and cutting down on the magazine size so it can hold only six rounds.
There was also talk of the shootings on the streets in our large cities. This is a serious problem, but most of those shootings are not with assault-style weapons, which are the weapon of choice for school shootings.
Let’s solve one problem at a time, and my vote is to solve the school shooting problem first.
As a gun owner, I note that no one wants to take your handguns, hunting rifles or shotguns.
However, no one needs to own a weapon of war.
— Frank W. Tedesso, Harwood Heights
What has changed?
After reading all of the letters, editorials and commentaries about the latest school shooting, it is clear that people are angry at politicians who have not passed bans on assault-style weapons. They blame the National Rifle Association, political polarization, gun rights advocates’ contributions to political campaigns, Second Amendment rights, etc., for failed efforts at gun control. But there is one fact that neither letter writers nor editorial writers have mentioned: We had an assault weapons ban for 10 years in this country. It was bipartisan. There were no lawsuits.
What has changed since the 1994-2004 assault weapons ban successfully lowered the number of mass shootings in America? The NRA was very powerful then. It contributed heavily to campaigns. We had severe political polarization in Congress then. We even impeached a president for lying about his personal life. The Second Amendment was the same as the Founders had written it, with people arguing about its interpretation.
What has changed? Americans are electing more members of Congress who think compromise is weakness. Americans are getting their “facts” from cable news stations that do more to entertain than enlighten. Americans are spending too much time believing nonsense that they read on social media about all of their rights being trampled upon.
The same man who presided over a Constitutional Convention, which eventually brought forth a Bill of Rights and the Second Amendment for militia use, ordered that his troops be vaccinated against smallpox. Does anyone think that George Washington was out to trample people’s rights? He and the other Founding Fathers would be appalled at the number of mass shootings in America in 2023.
— Jan Goldberg, Riverside
Designation for NRA
I served in the Marine Corps and was trained as an infantryman, so I know something about guns.
Two stories on the front page of Tuesday’s Tribune (“6 dead in shooting at Nashville school” and “‘Mom’s been shot’: Family struggles with Austin slaying”) reinforced my belief that the Department of Homeland Security should consider designating the National Rifle Association as a domestic terrorist organization.
— Neil Milbert, Wilmette
Much of the Republican Party falls under the influence of the National Rifle Association. The majority of Americans support tighter gun control laws, yet the gun lobbyists are dictating that we ignore the consequences?
Gun manufactures and many gun owners do not support tougher gun laws that could help curb future killings. They won’t even address the assault-style weapons often used in mass killings? Hmm.
— Raymond Hubbard, Sandwich
Our exceptionalism
Another school shooting, this time in Nashville, Tennessee. In no other country in the world does this occur.
Yes, it is the guns.
— Ken Kramer, Glen Ellyn
Flags at half-staff
I have noticed that American flags are at half-staff for the victims of the Tennessee school massacre.
This is the latest “mass shooting of the week.” Perhaps we should keep the flags at half-staff until a week goes by without a mass shooting, or until Congress can pass sensible gun legislation.
— Gerald Lasin, Deerfield
Time for a new job
If our current elected members of Congress can’t fix the laws so that 9-year-old children aren’t killed, they need to get another job!
— Rhona Bresler, Chicago
Priorities are skewed
I’m confused. Why is it easier to ban books and songs in schools than it is to ban assault-style weapons?
— Laura G. Schwartz, Lincolnwood
Heroic police officers
How grateful we should be that heroes walk among us. Two police officers confronted a shooter, face to face. How many lives were saved by those officers from the Metro Nashville Police Department?
Sometimes, we forget just how many officers who walk among us every single day are willing to lay down their lives confronting evil. There are no shortcuts to courage.
— Bob Angone, retired Chicago police lieutenant, Austin, Texas
The US can’t compete
Children are becoming afraid to go to school, and parents and guardians are afraid to force them to go. Home schooling is not an option for many of these children, so how will they be educated?
While the rest of the wealthy nations are educating their children to compete in the future, our children are increasingly reluctant to go to school. Maybe some of our legislators and governors who are adamant about Second Amendment rights ought to weigh that against our diminishing national security because we cannot compete.
— Richard Schultz, Crete
Join the conversation in our Letters to the Editor Facebook group.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
