Dear Editor,
With the latest shootings in Santa Monica, we must once again turn our attention to the issue of guns in society and the right to bear arms.
Gun violence has been a hot topic for many, many years.
The arguments both for and against gun ownership are as many as the number of guns themselves.
However, one thing is clear.
Shootings are now common occurrences and the fear that a child will be shot and/or killed at school seems to be a greater concern to parents than terrorism.
What happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut was a reminder that guns and people do not mix.
The massacre at Columbine High School was a wake up call, but we seemed to go back to sleep.
The shootings at schools and campuses have Americans wondering if their community and kids will be next.
This is a trend that has to stop.
The NRA has often said that “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.”
That is bull.
The truth is that people use guns to kill other people and they have done so in record numbers.
Society is out of control when it comes to violence and guns are a major part of the problem.
The NRA and their faithful gun loving followers have never had an answer to the problem except to remind the rest of us of their rights as gun owners.
They and the NRA always use the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States Bill of Rights as proof of their “right” to bear arms.
In fact, the Second Amendment was written in the 1700s to protect colonists from other colonists, Indians and to form a militia in case the British invaded their farms or land.
The Second Amendment is clearly outdated and assault weapons and other weapons used to kill have no place in society.
Such guns are only used to kill people.
We the majority of the citizens of this country have had enough of gun violence and the deaths of so many innocent people including children because of guns.
If the NRA and others won’t help in solving the problem, we the people will solve it for them.
Enough is enough.
George Vreeland Hill, Beverly Hills
