Tehama shooting

Tehama shooting

Re “One lesson from Tehama shooting: School lockdowns save lives” (Editorials, Nov. 15): Is a teacher locking classroom doors and ordering children to take cover under their desks our only defense against a gunman armed with a semi-automatic weapon? How did this person, known to have committed multiple assaults, acquire assault-style weapons with unlimited bullets? The Sacramento Bee reported the gunman’s neighbor said he frequently shot hundreds of rounds from high-capacity magazines. Witnesses like these should have a place where they can report these worrisome activities, a place where these reports will be taken seriously and shared across jurisdictional lines. State and federal lawmakers must provide law enforcement and mental health professionals with new or revised laws to address people having a history of domestic violence and mental health issues and their access to firearms. New laws combining mental health, law enforcement and a stronger public reporting mechanism would save lives.

So many guns

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?

 

Sign up

Get on The Take. Read the influential voices on California and national politics and issues. Sign up here.

This story was originally published November 17, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Tehama shooting."