To the editor:
Jonah Goldberg berates gun-control advocates for not empathizing with gun-freedom advocates—as if we should waste time trying to understand why so many people cling to firearms despite the tens of thousands of U.S. deaths they cause annually. How about empathizing with the survivors of the fallen? ("Smoking guns, and tobacco," Opinion, Dec. 15)
If Goldberg could prevent this unnecessary slaughter of real, living people by interfering with the enjoyment of people who like to shoot deer or paper targets, wouldn't he choose human life?
I was a Marine and I know the allure of firearms. Guns are marvelous machines. Sometimes, in the proper hands at the proper time, they must be aimed at human beings. The Constitution protects their use in a militia context as part of its plan to “insure domestic tranquillity.”
Let's find a way to combat the heartlessness of the gun lobby so we the people can live in peace.
Bart Mills, Manhattan Beach
Note from KBJ: Why is it heartless to want people to be able to protect themselves and their families? What's heartless is depriving people of the right of self-defense.
