Sep 8, 2015 3 min read

Rather than use the carefully selected bits of national research Wes Parry used in his Friday letter, “Guns save lives across country,” let me suggest research we can all do firsthand using the Observer-Reporter.

Forget incidents like the kid who was accidentally shot by his stepfather. That sort of thing has long been seen, apparently, as acceptable collateral damage. And forget the suicides, because they’re generally kept out of the newspaper. Just notice the number of guns that are reported stolen locally. Then, notice when a gun is used locally and appropriately by a civilian to stop a house burglar or some other kind of criminal. Each week, two to four guns are reported stolen. One was reported stolen Friday, the day Parry’s letter appeared. There have been three or four local incidents where citizens with guns stopped crime appropriately over the last 40 years. They were certainly reported in the newspaper.

In other words, while there are legitimate uses for guns in hunting and marksmanship, the gun that you keep in your glove compartment or by your bedside for “protection” is, roughly, a thousand times more likely to be, in effect, given free to a criminal than to be used to make the society “safe”.

The Rev. Gerard Weiss

Washington

Your Aug. 28 editorial page carried a column by The New York Times‘ Nicholas Kristof on gun control. His main point, which I agree with, is we need universal background checks. That said, all legitimate gun dealers I’m sure would adhere to them, but what about pawn shops and the underworld?

Where I disagree with Kristof is his statistical juggling, particularly comparing the United States with other countries. This is absurd without exact statistics as to the exact number of firearms per capita, the density of population per square mile and other factors.

Perhaps the most important factor is how people make their living. People who have to work to survive don’t have time for nonsense. There is an old but ever-so-true saying: An idle mind is the devil’s playground.

Besides, when he was governor, Tom Corbett signed Pennsylvania’s “stand your ground” law, and the knowledgeable, defensive use of firearms by a greater number of people in itself will add to the decreasing number of criminals.

Ed Rinkhoff Jr.

Smock