U.S. gun laws inadequate
Reading the July 30 article, "Area gun enthusiasts take aim at critics," I was alarmed at the notion that America already has adequate gun laws. In our country, where citizens own upward of 250 million firearms, and where there are 30,000 gun-related deaths annually, we have to recognize there is a clear problem unaddressed by current gun regulations.
Mr. Mravlja, who claimed, "In a free society you are going to have crazies and there is no way to stop them," is missing the point. Compare the statistics of gun-ownership and gun-related violence in America to similar democratically run nations like England, France and Japan. There is an indisputable, deadly correlation. Simply put; more guns mean more violence.
And in what way are we more "free" than these countries? If freedom is allowing a mentally disturbed individual to legally purchase three firearms _ a semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol _ and more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition, then I have serious doubts about the benefits of "freedom."
We need to have a serious discussion about why Americans feel the need to arm themselves to the teeth; about why we lead all developed nations in gun-related injuries.
What do Americans pervasively fear? A tyrannical government, as this article suggested? It is simply preposterous to use the Second Amendment, which is the most antiquated language of our Constitution, as a justification to own these deadly weapons.
I am not recommending that Americans have no right to own some form of firearm. But to legally purchase weapons made for war _ weapons with the sole purpose of killing and injuring mass numbers of people _ is simply not right.
And if we don't step up our efforts against gun violence soon, it is only a matter of time before the next Aurora.
Patrick Jeffries
Oneonta
Too much emphasis put on wealth
Is Sam Pollak "envious" of Romney's wealth when he wonders what he would do with all that money? Not all those critical of the super-rich and the means by which they gained their wealth are envious. Only true believers who worship wealth and those who have wealth would believe otherwise.
It is perhaps not strange that most rich people profess to be "Christian," given the tax-free treasures of many churches. In the U.S. and much of the world, money is the god many truly worship. The proverb that "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven" seems to have been lost in the money race.
Wealth might be more respectable if more of it were used for the common good, not for adding to its possessors' incomes. "From those according to their ability to those according to their need"? Not in this money-go-round world.
William F. Roberts
Otego
