The shooting at LAX was an entirely preventable travesty of justice. Opponents of gun restrictions rightly point out that California has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the United States … and they rightly point out that these laws were utterly ineffective at stopping the alleged shooter from gaining access to high-capacity magazines and high powered firearms.
The reason, however, is not that “gun laws don’t work.” In the United States, you can go to a gun show and, with few legal restrictions or background checks, obtain firearms you would otherwise not be able to get. Furthermore, private gun sales are only weakly restricted and, without some rigorous manner of enforcement, those restrictions are toothless.
Sandy Hook, LAX, Aurora… how many more of these tragedies must happen before we pressure our law makers to close the loopholes in our gun laws? Once we are actually enforcing our laws, we can talk about whether they are effective.
Patrick Bertiaux
Everett
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
