Guns to Blame in Massacre

* To Times Orange County columnist Dana Parsons (April 28) and clueless others who racked their brains over the Littleton massacre, let’s try an exercise in logic.

Take the video gore games out of the equation. Could the massacre have happened? Most decidedly.

Now take the Internet Web hate-page out. You still have a massacre. Let’s try taking a pop culture of violence out. No good. It just reverts to a subculture and these kids were decidedly nonconformists.

Now let’s replace the parents with strict, intrusive parents. I think we just added to the body count! We’ll assume we can’t change human nature, so we can’t take away the hostile teen environment.

Now let’s take away the guns. Bingo! Now the massacre could not have happened. How many times have I heard and still hear “ . . . if I had had a gun I might have blown his brains out.”

Human nature will always be violent, but when you make the expression of anger, resentment, envy, even annoyance, as easy as the pull of a trigger, it makes for a deadly equation.

MARK MARCARIO

Fullerton

* On April 22, a bill to limit gun sales to one a month per person passed the Assembly by only one vote.

The reason this vote was so close is none of the Republican Orange County Assembly members supported this important bill related to gun trafficking.

Mindful of the carnage in Littleton, Colo., it defies logic to explain their position on this vote.

The law prior to this vote allowed gun traffickers to buy handguns in bulk and sell them to criminals and juveniles on the street.

Once again Orange County legislators have allowed the influence and money of the National Rifle Assn. and gun manufacturers to prevail over the knowledge and experience of the California Police Chiefs Assn., who strongly supported this bill.

PATRICK BIRKETT

Laguna Niguel

* Re “Age-Old Question: Where Was God?” the April 24 story on religious leaders’ response to the Littleton shootings:

An Orange County pastor blames “the lack of godliness in the schools” as one of the causes of the shootings, adding, “We’ve taken God and prayer out of the schools.”

Periodically we hear complaints about lack of prayer in schools.

I grew up in a Midwestern city that had a good school system. We did not have prayer in the schools. They did not turn prayer into a commercial. It was private.

Most people who believe in prayer also believe in silent prayer. Many students admit they pray during exams.

What kind of home life did these shooting students have? Were they encouraged, or ignored or constantly criticized? Much blame is placed on movies, music, dances, the media, etc. People who grow up lacking self-esteem often need to put down another person or group to feel rewarded.

DOROTHY WHITE

Huntington Beach