It's society, not guns, that changed

The statement "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" is moot. Guns do kill people.

Again, guns do kill people, but, and here's the big "but": guns only kill people when picked up by people, pointed at other people by people, and their triggers pulled by people.

Ok, let's say, for example, that certain people should not have guns. Who decides, and how do they decide, who is and who is not a bad guy? Give that some serious thought.

I grew up around guns, never owned one myself till I was an adult. But no doubt they were there, and everywhere. We brought them to school. Adults and whole families hunted. Yet, with all these guns around, overt and covert, there were few, if any mass shootings apart from war zones.

Firearms have not changed in their lethality, not at all, but for sure society has changed. So, my view is this. By constantly harping on gun laws, which are so stringent now that further laws merely bog law enforcement down, we are beating a dead horse, so to speak. What has always been illegal is doing harm to others, no matter the method. Obviously, these recent mass shooters aren't in the least concerned about that. and, I wonder why that is. I believe the emphasis on finding out why these shooters do what they do is paramount to "fixing" it.

Stopgap measures should be taken, with expiration dates such that those assaulting our "rights" will have an end. Desperate measures should be taken for these desperate times, but like martial law should have an end date legislated. These shootings must be stopped, and their happenings should not be grist for the media mill.

Jim Ledbetter Sr.

North Aurora