Editor:
One could look at the gun violence south of the border in disbelief – except for the fact that the numbers of tragic incidents involving arms of every description have become an everyday occurrence.
The scary statistic is an average of 96 shootings on any given day in the United States.
Do the math, that means more than 35,000 Americans are victims of gun violence each year!
The ISIS and al-Qaida movements are avowed enemies of the U.S., and their biggest “victory” to date has been the tragic events of 9-11. More than 3,000 persons were killed in this singular act of terrorism.
Compare that with the number of Americans killing Americans with – mostly legally obtained – guns every year.
I see the powerful gun lobby and the ubiquitous presence of the NRA as enablers in this sad situation.
Of course, obsequious politicians, minions of the NRA, block any and all attempts by gun-control advocates to change the laws, which have mostly been just token measures.
The few changes that have been made are watered down and are considered a joke by anti-gun citizens.
We here in Canada are not immune to gun violence, and we should not relax our vigilance on the zealous efforts of those who would welcome relaxed gun-control laws this side of the border.
We must be vigilant and hold those in power to account when it comes to this divisive issue.
A mandatory minimum sentence for all offences involving guns would be a good start.
H.G. Nielsen, White Rock
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Re: No easy solutions, Feb. 21 editorial.
The NRA often excuses itself by saying that “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”
When their hallowed Second Amendment was conceived, there were no semi- or fully-automatic weapons.
The obvious answer to that is that people with guns kill people.
Perhaps the NRA should change its title to the NMGA, National Machine Gun Association.
Jim Armstrong, Surrey