Gun control is cheap answer

In the 1950s, when I was in high school in San Leandro, a lot of boys had gun racks with their rifles in their trucks on campus with no problems. It was not a perfect time, but another observation of that period I have — most businesses were closed on Sunday, which allowed for more family oriented activities and churchgoing.

Today's debate on gun control is mainly popular with politicians because it is a cheap answer to a very complex problem. There are also social issues, such as husband and wife shootings, boyfriend and girlfriend shootings, etc. There are also criminal shootings, such as gang shootings and narcotic war shooting. Then we have shootings during robberies and other crimes, plus hate crime shootings.

The most expensive issue we have been side-stepping for years is mental illness and its effect on how people interact. This issue seems to be difficult for politicians to deal with and too expensive to promote, so they spend their time on how many bullets a clip should hold.

RICHARD A. McCULLOUGH

Modesto