Letters to the Editor: All Americans deserve blame for mass shootings and dangerous schools

To the editor: Who pulls the trigger in mass shootings like the Nov. 14 incident at Saugus High School? We all do when we allow our government to be controlled by the arms manufacturers and their cronies in the National Rifle Assn.

The 2nd Amendment should be erased from our Constitution since we are no longer the group of 13 colonies that ratified this call for an armed militia when there was no standing army.

I do not have a gun, and neither do my friends, yet we are aware that there are enough of them in America to arm every man, woman and child. And, more are being made.

The enemy is us.

Jo Caldwell, San Diego

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To the editor: There is so much we can do to reach out and assist students — to let them know we are there for them through troubled times and lives filled with trauma. Noticing that so many young people are silently calling out for help is essential.

Along with essential gun controls, we need to deepen our commitment to providing emotional and mental health support through expanded counseling, social-emotional learning programs and trauma-informed teaching. This leads to schools where empathy and compassion are the lifeline for despairing students who might dangerously slip through the cracks.

Imagine schools where human connection and kindness are the norm — where no student would go unnoticed; where students who may want to remain invisible are seen, not forgotten, and are valued and loved; and where both the bullied and bully are noticed and helped.

Let’s look with eyes willing to see each other, not for the differences that we think divide us, but for the goodness of who we each truly are.

Stu Semigran, Van Nuys

The writer is president and co-founder of the EduCare Foundation.

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To the editor: Where do we live? Is it Afghanistan or maybe Iraq? No, we live in the United States, the home of the brave and the free.

But do we really? Our senators are not brave — certainly not enough to vote against the NRA and enact universal background checks for guns. These lawmakers are not brave enough to vote against the NRA’s money that they get for their reelection campaigns.

So for whom do our lawmakers work? Is it the American people or the lobbyists? Do our children’s lives belong to the NRA?

Royce Daniels, Laguna Hills