‘Welcome to America’: NC readers sound off on what to do about guns, mass shootings

In recent weeks, NC readers have inundated us with letters to the editor about gun control and what they want lawmakers to do. Below are just some of the letters. More letters are available online. All have been edited for brevity.

Sin tax on guns

If federal compromise legislation is not enacted for gun safety, I hope Democrats will consider a reconciliation bill that includes significant sales tax rates for the most lethal fire arms. The tax rate should increase based on the lethality of the weapon. This might be one approach for reducing the prevalence of AK-47 and similarly equipped weapons, especially among young persons of limited economic means. Let’s apply “sin taxes” to weapons, just like we do to curtail cigarette and alcohol purchases. Our children deserve our best efforts.

Stan Patterson, Charlotte

Ammunition

Everybody talks about guns, less about ammunition. I am a gun owner, long guns and a handgun, to practice marksmanship.

When I purchased my handgun, the shop owner offered to sell me ammunition that fragments upon impact causing massive tissue damage. I declined, instead purchasing conventional rounds that pass through a target (or body).

There is no plausible reason for civilian use of fragmenting ammunition. Hunters don’t use it lest they mutilate a carcass or ruin a trophy. Adults wounded by it suffer life-altering injuries. Children die.

Until we agree on ways to prevent mass shootings, we should agree on ways to limit the carnage. Banning fragmenting ammunition is one.

Paul Staley, Franklinton

Harden schools

It is shocking that we’ve allowed another school shooting. It’s time we take decisive action, and I don’t mean gun control. It’s too late for that. We need to keep the doors to schools locked and allow passage though only one door, guarded by a specially trained officer. At that door there should be a metal detector that everyone must go through. All the other doors should have alarms so no one can enter without an alarm going off. All outside windows should be bullet-proof. Act now before another child’s life is lost.

Kay Beerman, Durham

Hardened hearts

Before spending billions to harden schools, maybe we should deal with the hardened hearts of those who profit from the sale of guns.

Pat Carstensen, Durham

NC senators

When I became aware that Sens. Thom Tillils and Richard Burr have collectively accepted NRA donations totaling over $11 million, I was horrified. In light of the most recent killings of children in Uvalde, I am devastated that my representatives take this “pay for play” money from this organization. Do some penitence. I beg them to vote for gun safety measures that will come to the floors of Congress. I’m not talking about hunting rifles and handguns; assault weapons belong in war not in schools.

Terry Lucas, Pittsboro

Surrender AR-15s

We simply must outlaw assault weapons. They are military weapons that do not belong in civilian hands, in the same way that we don’t allow civilians to buy tanks and park them in their driveway. Keep your shotgun, your rifle, your pistol under Second Amendment protection. Surrender your AR-15 for a fair price in a government buyback program. After the buyback period, make possession of an assault rifle illegal.

Patricia V. Long, Raleigh

Ban body armor

The most cited reason is conflicts with the Second Amendment, but the Constitution makes no mention of protective armor. Body armor serves no purpose in gun sports. Banning body armor will facilitate law enforcement in combating shooters.

Stephen Snyderman, Raleigh

Wait for clarity

To change gun laws now would produce a result as poor in quality as the information now available on who the Texas shooter is, where he got his gun, where the money came from, etc. If you adopt the logic of raising the purchase age, there’s no definitive stopping point. Let’s wait for clarity.

Christopher Hollins, Charlotte

Action now

The number one cause of death in children and adolescents is now firearms. We fight endlessly against motor vehicle deaths, disease and cancer, yet almost nothing has been done to curb the violence besides teaching children how to run and hide in closets. We want action now.

Candace Lapan, Monroe

Compromise

Why does gun control always start with “ban” or “ no ban”? Why can’t gun control be a compromise. If a firearm has the capacity to carry a clip of six rounds or more, or a “pistol grip,” treat it as a pistol, not a rifle. Pistols require a purchase permit from the sheriff — time to perform background checks. Pistols require a waiting period — time to think. Rifles do not. To this gun owner, that’s a reasonable compromise. But sadly, today’s politicians only consider winning if the other guy is losing.

Brian Trei, Charlotte

2nd Amendment

Other nations have addressed these mass shootings successfully by strictly limiting guns, if not outlawing them.

The Second Amendment, which gives the right to bear arms with some caveats, is going to continue leading us down the path of more violence. This amendment was written when single-shot weapons were what was available.

The Constitution is a living document and has been changed throughout history to address new situations. It is not meant to be a document to lead us to our own destruction.

Mark Francis, Cedar Grove

Security codes

I support the Second Amendment right to own a gun, for protection or hunting. In this computer age, where security codes require our identity for use, we have protection on our cell phones, computers and other personal items. I would suggest developing similar security codes for guns, to allow only the individual owner to use the weapon.

Dr. Joseph Whelan Jr., Charlotte

Welcome to America

Welcome to America, the home of the free! Where every man, woman and child is free to be gunned down at school, church, synagogue, grocery shopping, concerts, and on and on. Welcome to America where 50 senators who represent a minority of our population hold us all hostage. America, where 88% want universal background checks on guns, where 63% want an assault rifle ban, but those senators don’t care. Welcome to America where the gun lobby has spent millions to make sure those senators vote the way they pay them to do. Nothing will change, no one is safe. This is America, welcome.

Laura Reich, Matthews

Tough talk

Republicans continue to to talk about increasing security for schools rarely mentioning the fact that mass shootings occur in stores, churches, festivals and other places. To secure all these places means we become an armed society. Does every store in a mall have to hire a security guard with a gun? Do churches install body scanners? Imagine if all the resources put into “hardening “ schools went into the educational process instead. Many Republicans running for election or re-election talk tough and try to look tough while toting guns, but they are gutless when it comes to having the political courage to do the right thing.

Kent Rhodes, Charlotte

Misplaced blame

Blame for Uvalde has successfully been turned to slow law enforcement response and away from the ease of an 18-year-old, barely out of childhood himself, purchasing an assault weapon and ammo. Blame him and the people who sold him a weapon of mass destruction. Blame the lawmakers who won’t reinstate the assault weapons ban. Blame the people who value these guns over the lives of our children.

Sue Friday, Davidson