Letter: Second Amendment is not bulletproof

Your editorial is correct ["Gun massacres musn't numb us," Opinion, Aug. 7].

Basic anger and hatred in our society are erupting into "road rage" homicides and massacres due to the easy accessibility of guns. These devastating circumstances seem to escalate daily, leaving heartbreak for the survivors.

More than mass murders are taking place. A 4-year-old, Lloyd Morgan Jr., was killed by a stray bullet at a basketball game in the Bronx. Dozens like him are gunned down daily on New York City streets. I sympathize and empathize with that family and all others who have been victims, like ours. Our daughter, a 48-year-old single mother, was murdered in St. Louis by someone who had a stolen gun.

While I cannot negate the use of guns for hunting, I believe tighter regulations and stronger legislation are needed. The National Rifle Association has proved there is strength in numbers. If our president and society can emphasize respect for humanity, perhaps gun violence will lessen.

Lois A. Schaffer, Great Neck

I fully support the Second Amendment to the Constitution! No adult citizen should be denied the right to own a musket -- automatic, or otherwise. This is the weapon that the framers of the Bill of Rights were protecting. They could not have envisioned the dangerous assault rifles and semiautomatic pistols of today.

The sooner we control the illegal trafficking and possession of these killing machines, the sooner we'll join most of the civilized world. Aggressive tendencies should be channeled into athletics and intellectual pursuits. Hopefully, the wrongheaded need to destroy "others" will vanish.

Fred Zuckerberg, East Hills

It's not the NRA that is preventing Congress and President Barack Obama from limiting the sale of military-style assault weapons. It's the arms industry itself. The NRA is simply a tool for our massive defense industry in the guise of supporting citizens' constitutional rights to carry arms, enlisting public opinion in favor of the sale of expensive weapons.

Yes, it's the infamous military-industrial complex again, this time hiding behind our Constitution. Just think: If we have the power to ban assault weapons for private citizens, we might also put a halt to wasteful and unnecessary military boondoggles, and reinstate essential but underfunded educational and social-support programs.

Robert Shorin, Syosset