Yvonne Hudson: Guns do enormous damage to our nation

Re “Control bad people, not our guns” (Letters, June 23): I find it strange that a 13-year-old boy would be this concerned with our misguided right to bear arms. Of course, with mass murderers (or any murderer), their mental issues should be looked at and dealt with. However, throwing a gun into the mix – bought legally or illegally – is a recipe for disaster.

A mentally unstable person with a knife would inflict some damage, but probably could be contained. A gun is a killing machine and has taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of American citizens. We have almost as many guns in this country as we do citizens. And guess what, it’s not just the crazies who kill people. Family members have a good chance of being shot and killed accidentally. The statistics are overwhelming. Do we really need to look like a third-world country?

We are upset at what happens in the Middle East, but we aren’t much better. I can appreciate a young person’s point of view, but I hope he looks at the whole picture and makes an informed decision about how he wants his country to be.

This story was originally published June 25, 2015 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Yvonne Hudson: Guns do enormous damage to our nation."