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To the editor:
Dear Ms. Sternbach,
There are probably around 100 million guns owners in this country. Of them, perhaps a few dozen are mentally deranged enough to commit mass murders. Not only is improving mental health awareness and services the right thing to do for the many, many people who are suffering from mental problems, it’s also going to be the most efficient way to deal with the gun violence issue.
Wider availability of mental health services, and a greater willingness of mental health professionals to identify and focus on those who are dangerously mentally ill would pay big benefits to society. Massive registering and cataloging of all the gun owners and all their weapons will end up creating yet another large, expensive government bureaucracy that spends the vast majority of its time and budget creating and maintaining records of ordinary people who are not a risk to their community. The government is already spending vast sums of money doing background checks, restricting ammunition purchases and licensing gun owners, none of which seems to be doing any good.
Trust me, gun owners don’t want disturbed individuals out there shooting people any more than you do. Let’s focus on the people pulling the triggers and do something about them.
Jeff Hill
Scotts Valley