Dear Editor:
In light of the Tucson killings this past weekend, including the slaughter of a 9-year-old girl, we must discuss the issue of guns.
Most Americans, including our Democratic president, are not in favor of eradicating guns. What must be in place are stricter gun laws beginning with the required background check. The current background checks to purchase a firearm are a joke. There is more reference checks involved in getting a job at McDonald's than what is required to purchase a gun.
The killer in Tucson, Jared Loughner, was diagnosed in 2007 as paranoid schizophrenic. Under federal and Arizona law, a mentally ill person is barred from purchasing a gun if the court deems that person is mentally unstable. I guess paranoid schizophrenic doesn't qualify as mentally ill?
The killer in the Virginia Tech shootings (33 deaths) was considered dangerous by a court 12 months prior to his killing spree and was ordered by the court to seek treatment. That information was not forwarded to the federal database/FBI. A week before his killing spree he purchased his arsenal.
The killer in the Fort Hood killings back in 2009 passed a "background check" even though he was on the federal terrorism watch list.
Arizona now allows gun owners to conceal their arsenals without a permit. That means as long as you pass the "background check," you can conceal your weapon without taking courses on how to actually use your weapons.
There is currently a bill in the Arizona Legislature to allow anyone to carry and conceal on college campuses.
It is out of control and now is the time to pause and take action on this issue. To believe otherwise is sad and scary.
Todd Heaton
tukeenative72 posted at 5:48 pm on Sat, Jan 15, 2011.
a determined killer will get a gun legally or illegally. This is a complex problem with experts determining little could've been done to prevent this from happening.
not everything has an answer or a solution, but what we can all do is reflect on these experiences and learn from them.
perhaps if we had a universal health care system some of these problems could be addressed by treating the individual/illness.