To the Editor:
Regarding the mass shootings in El Paso, Tex., and Dayton, Ohio (nytimes.com, Aug. 4):
We have an epidemic of domestic terrorism, perpetrated largely by young white men motivated by irrational and vague racial fears. These fears have long been legitimized by right-wing media and, especially, the public diatribes of the president.
The casualties during this epidemic have been greatly magnified by the weapons used — weapons designed for war and mass killing. Listen to the audio of the shots fired in Dayton if you do not grasp how rapidly these weapons fire deadly bullets. Yet supposedly respectable National Rifle Association members and legislators insist that these weapons cannot be regulated.
This national nightmare is being brought to you not by Muslims, black Americans or the poor. It is being brought to you by white Americans spurred on by white Americans in positions of influence and power.
Lee Russ
Bennington, Vt.
To the Editor:
As I sit here once again, listening to the news of more mass shootings, I am struck by how powerless I feel. I keep thinking, what can I do, what can I do???
Yelling at the TV doesn’t seem to help. Talking calmly and rationally to my fellow citizens doesn’t seem to stop it. Pleading with lawmakers doesn’t work. Marching doesn’t help.
Is it time to talk about drastic legislative steps to curtail this madness? No. It’s way past time.
Here are my requests to any responsible adult in our Congress who will listen:
1. Make universal background checks happen immediately. Ninety-seven percent of Americans want this. If you don’t make it happen you are not doing your job.
2. Ban assault-style weapons. It’s much harder to kill large numbers of people with a handgun.
3. Ban high-capacity magazines. Seconds count during a shooting, trust me. Taking longer to load a weapon is a good thing.
4. Immediately stop fanning the flames of white supremacy and racist comments.
None of these things are difficult to do unless our lawmakers are beholden to gun manufacturers. To everyone in Congress, I ask that you do your job. Our country has a serious gun violence problem. Take serious steps to help keep us safer. Pass common sense gun legislation now.
Yvonne Cech
Danbury, Conn.
The writer is a former librarian of Sandy Hook Elementary School who locked herself, her assistant and 18 fourth graders in a closet during the shooting in 2012.
To the Editor:
The stories and threats never truly settle within you until it happens to your hometown. It affects you when you have to check on your own family.
El Paso is known as one of the safest cities in the United States, but all it takes is someone with malice, hatred toward immigrants seeking refuge, open racism and a rifle to disrupt that peace.
It hurts that this happened to the city where I grew up. Thoughts and prayers do not and will not work. Do something.
If you are in El Paso, donate blood throughout the week. If you cannot do so or live out of town, donate to the victims.
The threat is not coming from outside; it’s brewing in here.
Call your representatives. Call your governor. Call your White House. Demand gun regulations.
Take care of one another. That is what’s needed.
Christina Miranda
Austin, Tex.
To the Editor:
We all sit here shaking our collective heads and doing nothing about the epidemic of lone shooters killing children, women and men all over this country.
Here’s something all you hunters and collectors of guns can do: Resign immediately from the N.R.A. No one is coming for your guns. We just need sane, reasonable laws that do everything possible to stop this massacre of innocent people.
If a disease like Ebola struck the United States, you can bet everything possible would be done to stop it in its tracks. Let’s stop the N.R.A.’s lock on our politicians so that they can do the will of the majority of Americans: Institute sound laws about gun purchases.
Resign your membership. Send the N.R.A. a message from those in solidarity with El Paso and Dayton!
Theresa A. Cullen
Athens, Ga.
To the Editor:
Why aren’t we talking about white male terrorism in America? The statistics are clear, and as a white person, I am more afraid of this threat than immigrants and foreign intrusion.
Paula Lachman
Swarthmore, Pa.
To the Editor:
The recent mass shootings across the country highlight the need to make it more difficult for those who have mental illnesses to purchase guns. The police should have the ability to add names of people who they think should not have an automatic right to purchase guns in a national database: people who have domestic violence complaints or restraining orders, stop taking their medication or begin spewing hate speech online. Those who are placed in this database would have the ability to appeal their entry in court.
Local police might be able to help identify people who could commit acts of violence before another tragedy happens.
Paul Feiner
Greenburgh, N.Y.
The writer is Greenburgh town supervisor.
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | El Paso and Dayton: Two Days of Gun Massacres in America
Opinion | El Paso and Dayton: Two Days of Gun Massacres in America
To the Editor:
Regarding the mass shootings in El Paso, Tex., and Dayton, Ohio (nytimes.com, Aug. 4):
We have an epidemic of domestic terrorism, perpetrated largely by young white men motivated by irrational and vague racial fears. These fears have long been legitimized by right-wing media and, especially, the public diatribes of the president.
The casualties during this epidemic have been greatly magnified by the weapons used — weapons designed for war and mass killing. Listen to the audio of the shots fired in Dayton if you do not grasp how rapidly these weapons fire deadly bullets. Yet supposedly respectable National Rifle Association members and legislators insist that these weapons cannot be regulated.
This national nightmare is being brought to you not by Muslims, black Americans or the poor. It is being brought to you by white Americans spurred on by white Americans in positions of influence and power.
Lee Russ
Bennington, Vt.
To the Editor:
As I sit here once again, listening to the news of more mass shootings, I am struck by how powerless I feel. I keep thinking, what can I do, what can I do???
Yelling at the TV doesn’t seem to help. Talking calmly and rationally to my fellow citizens doesn’t seem to stop it. Pleading with lawmakers doesn’t work. Marching doesn’t help.
Is it time to talk about drastic legislative steps to curtail this madness? No. It’s way past time.
Here are my requests to any responsible adult in our Congress who will listen:
1. Make universal background checks happen immediately. Ninety-seven percent of Americans want this. If you don’t make it happen you are not doing your job.
2. Ban assault-style weapons. It’s much harder to kill large numbers of people with a handgun.
3. Ban high-capacity magazines. Seconds count during a shooting, trust me. Taking longer to load a weapon is a good thing.
4. Immediately stop fanning the flames of white supremacy and racist comments.
None of these things are difficult to do unless our lawmakers are beholden to gun manufacturers. To everyone in Congress, I ask that you do your job. Our country has a serious gun violence problem. Take serious steps to help keep us safer. Pass common sense gun legislation now.
Yvonne Cech
Danbury, Conn.
The writer is a former librarian of Sandy Hook Elementary School who locked herself, her assistant and 18 fourth graders in a closet during the shooting in 2012.
To the Editor:
The stories and threats never truly settle within you until it happens to your hometown. It affects you when you have to check on your own family.
El Paso is known as one of the safest cities in the United States, but all it takes is someone with malice, hatred toward immigrants seeking refuge, open racism and a rifle to disrupt that peace.
It hurts that this happened to the city where I grew up. Thoughts and prayers do not and will not work. Do something.
If you are in El Paso, donate blood throughout the week. If you cannot do so or live out of town, donate to the victims.
The threat is not coming from outside; it’s brewing in here.
Call your representatives. Call your governor. Call your White House. Demand gun regulations.
Take care of one another. That is what’s needed.
Christina Miranda
Austin, Tex.
To the Editor:
We all sit here shaking our collective heads and doing nothing about the epidemic of lone shooters killing children, women and men all over this country.
Here’s something all you hunters and collectors of guns can do: Resign immediately from the N.R.A. No one is coming for your guns. We just need sane, reasonable laws that do everything possible to stop this massacre of innocent people.
If a disease like Ebola struck the United States, you can bet everything possible would be done to stop it in its tracks. Let’s stop the N.R.A.’s lock on our politicians so that they can do the will of the majority of Americans: Institute sound laws about gun purchases.
Resign your membership. Send the N.R.A. a message from those in solidarity with El Paso and Dayton!
Theresa A. Cullen
Athens, Ga.
To the Editor:
Why aren’t we talking about white male terrorism in America? The statistics are clear, and as a white person, I am more afraid of this threat than immigrants and foreign intrusion.
Paula Lachman
Swarthmore, Pa.
To the Editor:
The recent mass shootings across the country highlight the need to make it more difficult for those who have mental illnesses to purchase guns. The police should have the ability to add names of people who they think should not have an automatic right to purchase guns in a national database: people who have domestic violence complaints or restraining orders, stop taking their medication or begin spewing hate speech online. Those who are placed in this database would have the ability to appeal their entry in court.
Local police might be able to help identify people who could commit acts of violence before another tragedy happens.
Paul Feiner
Greenburgh, N.Y.
The writer is Greenburgh town supervisor.
Source: Read Full Article