Letters to the Editor: How we’ll know if GOP lawmakers are truly hopeless on gun violence

To the editor: If Republican lawmakers can’t be moved by the gruesome testimonies of a doctor, parents weeping in agony over the devastation of losing their child and a young girl describing how she covered herself in the blood of a murdered classmate in order to appear dead, then there is no hope for them. (“Gun violence hearing: Chilling moments of testimony about mass shootings,” June 8)

They are pitiful in their decline into utter madness on guns, and it seems they truly do not care about the things that matter to most people.

Watching those brave people speak with such clarity, grace and calm about something so life-changing and painful will hopefully leave an indelible mark on a nation in turmoil and grief.

When did the safety of human life become so meaningless to the Republican Party? It’s apparent that people’s lives are just not a priority, especially those of innocent little children who just want to live without fear and anxiety, and only want to come home from school every day.

Frances Terrell Lippman, Sherman Oaks

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To the editor: The only chilling testimony from Uvalde should be a slide show of the crime scene photos taken that day. Lawmakers need to see what an AR-15-style weapon can do to human beings.

Photos of children killed in their classroom should not only be available to family members. Lawmakers need to have these images seared into their brains, to make it real for them so they are moved to change our laws.

Kene Jacques Rosa, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I am a responsible gun owner. But even I know that no individual has a need for an assault weapon based on a military design.

If the argument is that individuals are entitled to the same arms that the military has, then we should all be able to own a nuclear weapon. Does anyone honestly think that’s a good idea?

Congress needs to ban assault weapons, with no exceptions. And if our Supreme Court really believes that precedents do not need to be upheld, then it should overturn its decision in the 2008 case District of Columbia vs. Heller and interpret the 2nd Amendment, which calls for a “well-regulated militia,” based on what it actually says.

We need to pressure Republicans who value the lives of children less than campaign spending by the National Rifle Assn. Force them to do their job, or vote them out of office.

Shirley Conley, Gardena

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To the editor: Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) recently defended his refusal to vote to ban military-style assault weapons because they are needed to kill prairie dogs.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) says they are needed to kill feral pigs in his state.

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) says they are the weapon of choice in his state for raccoons and foxes.

Really? Is that the best they can come up with? Do they really believe that the threat of prairie dogs, feral pigs and raccoons is more important in our society than the lives of 10-year-old schoolchildren?

The moral compass of the Republican Party has descended into a deep and dark hole.

Gary Vogt, Menifee