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Opinion

Letters: Why, exactly, do Americans own so many guns. Are we safer?

Re “I've worked to fight gun violence. But the Tehama county rampage hits close to home.” (Viewpoints, Nov. 14): I agree with op-ed writer Nicholas Kitchel that we need laws to prevent guns getting into the wrong hands. There have been so many shooting rampages. I'm beginning to forget some of them. And this is unconscionable. In a worldwide study, Adam Langford, University of Alabama, found the higher the number of gun ownership in a country, the higher the odds of a mass shooting. Why does this great country have so many? We make up 4.4 percent of the world population, yet own 42 percent of the world's guns. There are more than 265 million gun owners in the U.S. We lead the world in mass shootings. No other developed country is even close. It's time to do something to reduce gun violence. If you're not convinced by scientific research, remember the Old West when everyone and their uncle was armed. Were they any safer?

Lynda Jackson, Susanville

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