Letter: Guns-vs.-cellphones analogy falls apart
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In the Nov. 9 letter "Distracted driving toll vs. mass shootings," the writer asks, "Where are the political activists calling to ban cellphones with the same outrage as their cries to repeal the Second Amendment?"
This is a typical argument from those who are against stricter gun laws. I often hear them say, drunken drivers kill more per year than guns. Now this writer mentions texting while driving as another potential killer.
What this camp doesn't seem to understand is that there is a huge difference between killing someone with a car and with a gun. The difference is intent.
If someone gets drunk and kills somebody with their car, the government charges you with involuntary manslaughter in most cases. That's why it's commonly referred to as a tragic accident; that driver most likely didn't intend to kill the other person. If someone gets a gun and goes into a school and kills one or more people, then the government charges you with capital murder. The intent was vastly different.
Chris Polley, Oakdale
