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Letters to the Editor: Oct. 9, 2015

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Comments

Airman

If you take the time and Google "gun control in Japan" and really spend the time to read it, it will pretty much refute Scott's vision of gun control in this country. Two different countries with two different histories. Our president spoke of England and Australia as being prime examples of good gun control. Yeah, right! Total confiscation comes to mind with those two countries. Remember, we have a constitution (like it or not).
The problem in the "good ole US of A" is not the guns. It involves how we have raised, and what we have taught our kids over the past several decades.

Bad morals do have consequences.

gophergrabber

Killed by guns per year: 12,174 (2013) Killed by medical malpractice: 783,936 (2013).

Brazil has mandatory licensing, registration, and maximum personal ownership quotas. It now bans any new sales to private citizens. Their homicide rate is almost three (3) times higher than the U.S.
Many of the countries with the strictest gun control have the highest rates of violent crime. Australia and England, which have virtually banned gun ownership, have the highest rates of robbery, sexual assault, and assault with force of the top 17 industrialized countries.

Since some love statistical comparisons the above is provided. The fact, though, is that comparing Australia, Japan and other industrialized nations to the US is impractical. The nations other than the US don't have the population the US does and gun crimes, if lower, might be down but total homicides exceed those of the US.

listen*up

we seem to be overlooking 3 facts about this killer,1. his mother knew he had reduced capacity and still openly had guns around him and allowed him to own and keep them in her home. 2. he enlisted in the military and was quickly discharged or refused entry,why? mental or psychological incapacity? 3. and what about the doctors that diagnosed his autism? all 3 combined and fault mostly with the mother who was closest to him allowed the guns,who daily saw him withdrawing socially,moved him out of state and away from relatives.This is a mental issue that was allowed to grow and fester without any intervention.

Michael

Max. I agree with you that our culture of violence, intense and ever present contributes to the problem. We used to have a lot more censorship than we have these days. It will be impossible to go back to having a censorship board that reviews movies and such. There is a rating system, but it seems very weak, especially related to violence. There appears to be no self governing of the media and film because violence as entertainment makes a lot more money that sensitive stories of love and forgiveness.
A gun is deadly force. It is an equalizer. Man, woman, child, large person or a small person, a gun makes them equal in the ability to kill. Guns have evolved to have massive killing power with automatic firing of bullets of ghastly destructive force. Because a gun can kill so many so quickly, it can be an object of control and terror. Out culture of violence also has a huge number of guns.
Looking at guns the way we look at motor vehicles and drivers licenses might be a place to start. iIf there is a education and licensing process for guns, maybe the mother of the recent killer in Roseburg might have thought about the danger. Maybe not. It is true motor vehicles kills us by the thousands every year, through recklessness, inattentiveness, suicide, drunk, and being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Without regulations, licensing, education, regular evaluation, and laws about drinking and drugs, the carnage would be much worse.
We need to start somewhere.

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