Larry Russell Johnson
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
I read the Aug. 12 letter to the editor from Lawrence Wansing in the News Tribune: “When will America stand up to Trump on gun violence?”
I understand that mass shootings account for less than 100 deaths per year. Of the total 33,594 who died in shootings in 2014, there were 21,386 suicides; 11,008 homicides and 1,200 others, including accidental deaths and war casualties.
Although most crime is not committed with rifles, most gun crime is committed with handguns. By definition, stolen guns are available to criminals. The FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) stolen guns file contains over two million reports; 60 percent are reports of stolen handguns.
Mr. Wansing fails to mention mental illness, immigration, and his source of negative information against President Trump and the NRA?
I agree that America needs to rebuild our mental health system. Prolonged use of alcohol or drugs cause brain deterioration and many forms of mental illness. Dietary deficiencies sometimes disturb the body chemistry and produce unusual psychological effects.
Objects of criticism include the Muslim refugees, refusal to conform and assimilate into the host countries’ culture, and the cowardly acts of terrorism motivated by radical Islam.
The epidemic of youth violence that began in the mid-1980s has been demographically concentrated among black youths. Youths kill more often than they are killed, and there is a great deal of crossover killing (in both directions) between adolescents and older people. “The University of Chicago Press Journals,” by Phillip J. Cook and John H. Laub.
Chicago continues to be the runaway leader in sheer volume of killings and shooting. Chicago had 50 more homicides than New York and Los Angeles combined through mid-June, even though it is far less populous than both. By Jeremy Gorner, Chicago Tribune, June 30, 2017.
I disagree with Mr. Wansing’s criticism concerning “Adolph Hitler manipulating the masses (in the ’30s) that led to the Second World War.” Germany had gun control long before Hitler became the furor. If Hitler was elected president today, the Second Amendment would have stopped Hitler. “To conquer a nation first disarm its citizens.” — Adolph Hitler