No consensus on gun control
At left, the modest home in Tucson, Ariz., where Jared Loughner, right, lived with his parents. Credit: Getty Images
I am dismayed at the politicization of the shameful shooting that I am seeing from our local politicians ["Deadly shooting hits home for McCarthy," News, Jan. 11]. Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) has reappeared to announce she's dusted off national anti-firearm legislation. She obviously agrees with the Obama administration that you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.
Standing right behind her at a press conference was Congressman Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills). How dare they? Murdering people couldn't be any more illegal. These divisive servants should go back to work reducing the deficit instead of Americans' civil liberties.
Paul Kurzius
Flashback to Carolyn McCarthy's first run for office. I was already interested in gun control, as I had heard Jim Brady and his wife speak at Adelphi University.
Brady was shot and suffered a severe brain injury during the failed assassination attempt against Ronald Reagan. The Long Island Rail Road massacre hit very close to home for me because I lived in nearby Williston Park and worked at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, where victims were rushed for care.
Sadly, the original assault gun law lapsed in 2004; if those reduced ammunition clip capacity limits were still in effect, there would have been far fewer victims when the Tuscon gunman stopped to reload.
Please support Carolyn McCarthy's efforts to reestablish such limits. This measure does not affect the sale of guns.
Marilyn Yasus
Regarding "Feds - and public - merit gun control" [Editorial, Jan. 12]: Sounds nice, but how does it work in practice? When I go to the range do I have to know that two blocks away a congressman may be walking down the street so I can make a detour around his path of travel?
Should they be required to announce their itinerary so we gun owners can be sure we don't inadvertently cross paths? What if I live on the same block as one of these legislators - does it mean I can never take my gun out of the house?
It's another feel-good law that will do nothing to make our elected officials safer but will allow them to say they did something - while making life more difficult for those of us who are law-abiding gun owners. Meanwhile, a maniac bent on shooting someone will never follow any of these laws.
Steve Becker
Why does Rep. Peter King select just certain categories of officials for protection? As proposed, this law would not have protected Dr. Martin Luther King or John Lennon.
I feel that under the 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law, I should have just as much protection as those he has selected. The law should prohibit carrying a gun within 1,000 feet of anyone without their consent.
Jerry Worthing
