To quote one of your readers, “We live in a politically polarized and divisive time.” This is a true statement.

This reader and the other reader in your column (“Going back to school on security”, Dec. 28, Reporter) wrote in to suggest more laws and more restrictions on weapons. Although I applaud them for their compassion and willingness to fix the problem, I do suggest that they sit down calmly and rationally address the situation.

We have banned guns and added hundreds of laws to no avail. It’s time to stop all this posturing and solve the real problem. The problem is not the gun, it is the criminal and mentally ill person who has caused these terrible situations.

Ask yourself a simple question: If a criminal or mentally ill person drove a car into a group of kids at a bus stop, would you ban cars?

Areas like Chicago, New York, etc., with some of the most restrictive gun laws have higher crime. Why is this you may ask? It’s not the criminals or the mentally ill who abide by these laws, it’s the honest hard-working Americans who abide by the law and are the most affected by these laws.

Our Second Amendment is not to guarantee hunting rights but to guarantee our freedoms from the government. Maybe we should hire and pay the NRA and fire all these professional legislators. The NRA appears to be more responsive to up holding the rights of the people.

I suggest that people write their congressman, senators and the president and have them write new laws to prevent criminals and mentally ill from obtaining weapons. These legislators have sworn an oath to uphold our Constitution, not restrict it.

I don’t know if it’s complete incompetence or a political agenda that cause these legislators to act so irresponsible. If they don’t address these problems, as I have suggested, they should be voted or recalled out of office. All these feel-good gun laws and legislators who promote them have contributed to these horrific events as much as the criminal and mentally ill person who pulled the trigger.

– Daniel Van Devender