Searching for answers, again

Editor's note: Long Islanders have plenty to say about the Texas school shooting. We are publishing a full page of letters Saturday and Sunday and will continue to share your responses in the days ahead.

Since the old ideas don't seem to be making any headway, here are some new ones [“In Texas town, horror over ‘complete evil,’ ” News, May 26]:

1) Prohibit gun sales to anyone under 21. If kids can't buy alcohol in some states until they're 21, the least we can do is impose the same restriction on buying guns.

2) Make new guns safer. There are guns made today with fingerprint identification restricting use to the gun's owner. Guns can also be made so that they can't be used for suicide.

3) Create a government policy in which gun owners can exchange their guns for safer guns.

We are at a standstill on this heartbreaking issue. No matter which side of the political spectrum we're on, we should at least agree that if we can't pass legislation based on the existing Democratic or Republican ideas, we need to look at new ones. Because doing nothing isn't working. It's literally killing our children.

David Cohen, Lynbrook

Something important was left out of “Talk to kids about the mass shooting" [News, May 26]. It did not suggest how children might take action to prevent future mass shootings.

Being told that adults are doing everything they can to keep children safe is just not true, and many children realize this. Younger children may feel not listened to and rather powerless under normal circumstances, even more so with an event seemingly beyond anyone’s control. Gun violence, though, is not beyond the control of adults or children. Organizing and attending marches and lobbying elected officials in the National Rifle Association's death grip are concrete ways that children can be empowered to make their world safer, especially as an overwhelming majority of Americans agree with passing legislation on background checks.

When adults fail them, children are not powerless. Four years ago, students led the March for Our Lives. And some of the most eloquent climate activists are preteens. Youngsters marched for civil rights decades ago. Let our youngest citizens know that activism is part of their tool kit. Their lives depend on it.

Andrea S. Libresco, Mineola

I’m a Catholic as are approximately half of us on Long Island. Guns are the leading cause of death to our children. Catholics have not heard this from our local churches and are unaware that “common sense gun policy” is intrinsic to our faith. I hope our bishops will speak out loudly for what the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops promotes on its website:

A ban on assault weapons; universal background checks; a federal gun trafficking bill; regulations on sales of handguns; improved mental health interventions; safety measures; and an honest assessment of violent images and experiences in our society.

Barbara Androu, Valley Stream

I am stunned at the stance of the editorial "Nation must take strides on guns" [Opinion, May 26]. Those incremental bills in the Senate do not make sense. They are just window dressing to please the NRA and gun manufacturers. There is no reason why any American resident should have a semiautomatic weapon.

John Wolf, Levittown

How many children have to die so some Americans can feel that their right to own guns is not infringed upon? Many who argue for the protection of the sanctity of life are the same voices raised against gun safety laws. Texas lawmakers have bought into the NRA's lies and propaganda. Can you imagine being one of the parents of the children killed at Uvalde, waking up with no child sleeping safely in bed?

Too many people have lost hope. Too many people are lost, unsheltered and/or under-employed and feel unloved and are without access to resources. These are the areas we need to address. The United States stands alone as a country of senseless violence. We need a Congress not beholden to powerful lobbies. We need gun safety regulations. Or one day, you may be staring at an unslept-in bed in your child’s room.

Laura L. Lustbader, Huntington Station

After the tragedy, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy’s impassioned and heartbreaking plea to Congress underscores the imminent need when he said, “I am here on this floor to beg — to literally get down on my hands and knees and beg my colleagues," he said. "Find a path forward here. Work with us to find a way to pass laws that make this less likely. I understand my Republican colleagues may not agree to everything I support, but there is a common denominator we can find. There is a place where we can achieve agreement." He concluded: "What are we doing? Why are we here? What are we doing?"

I think all Americans should introspect and ask themselves and their congressional representatives, “What are we doing? Why are we here?” And above all, “What are we doing for our children and our future generations?”

How many more Sandy Hook and Uvalde school tragedies will it take to enact uniform and consistent gun control laws?

I hope Congress acts quickly and the evanescing public memory doesn’t take us back to square one due to congressional inaction and  gunsabdication of responsibility again.

Atul Karnik, Woodside

Why are “our” politicians so damn thickheaded when it comes to working together on something this important? Our country is falling apart, and Washington better get its act together -- soon.

Camille Morselli, Islip Terrace

I taught in a high school for 33 years. We never had an active shooter. Texas' governor, Greg Abbott, wants Texas to be the state with the most guns. Texas is second to California. Abbott, like NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, says guns make you safer. Congressional Republicans obligingly say that more guns are the way to safety. So give them what they want, since they will never pass meaningful gun control laws. Democratic members of Congress should propose a bill to allow any citizen to carry a loaded automatic weapon into the gallery at the Capitol. Republicans say only more guns can make us safer, so, why shouldn’t we want the Capitol to be safe? Why should it not have the same access to safety as elementary schools, churches, synagogues, or bars, for that matter? I would love to see Republican congressmen pinned down on voting on that measure; and if they think citizens carrying automatic weapons in the galleries above them is a bad idea, please explain why. It's time to put up or shut up.

Steven Blasko, Ridge

The polls show that the vast majority of Americans support sensible gun safety laws, but we are being traumatized by an extremist minority. These politicians are at the NRA convention in Texas this weekend with their hands out. Voters are the only ones who can make significant change. Vote them out, and protect our children.

Peggy Fallon, Glen Cove