ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Owning a gun is a right that everyone should have (“Voices of the gun,” Web, March 27). While I do not believe in repealing the Second Amendment, I do believe in gun control — but it should go beyond making “the background system stronger by making sure it has all the records of violent criminals and those who are found by a court to have a dangerous mental illness,” as your editorial quotes Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, as saying. Why? Because merely proposing to change the background system will not decrease shootings.
Backgrounds checks did not stop the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, in which the shooter had been considered mentally ill by a judge. Nor did they stop the recent Parkland, Florida, shooting, in which the shooter had not previously been a violent criminal and was therefore able to buy a gun legally.
We must consider the many factors that contribute to these shootings. Simply trying to fix one part of a huge problem will not amount to anything. It’s time to do away with the argument that criminals and mentally ill individuals are the only ones committing these crimes. It’s time to control guns so we save the lives of others.
GENISIS BARRAGAN
Los Angeles
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