Letter: Yes, guns do kill people

Guns don't kill people; people do. That's what gun advocates say, and they think they're so clever when they say it. But if some evil person bent on killing goes into your child's school, what's the last thing you'd want him to have? A pillow? A knife? Or an automatic rifle, designed by the military to slaughter as many people as possible in wartime?

We just need to identify and lock up all the violent people suffering from mental illness. That's what the gun advocates say. The problem is there are thousands upon thousands of mentally ill people walking around now, with no public resources to identify them, lock them up or actually help them. Where would the money come from to pay for all the new mental health doctors, psychologists and hospitals we would need to identify and confine those who might be violent? All countries have mental illness, but they don't have these horrific massacres, nearly on a daily basis. They just don't have nearly as many guns.

Gun advocates say that all of our teachers and other good guys should carry guns so they can protect us from the bad guys. But we already have far more people walking around carrying guns than any other country in the world, and we also have far more gun murders than any other country in the world.

What's more important, your right to have a killing machine or the life of a child? If you'd pick the killing machine, raise your hand high, so that everybody can see it. If you pick the life of a child, google to find out how to contact your state and federal senators and representatives, tell them it's well past time to end this madness, and vote for those who will actually do something about it.

Jim Skaar

Geneva