Gun Control Bills Should Get Support

The state Assembly has 16 gun control bills pending on its desks. In the wake of the terrible tragedy that took place recently at a local bank in Thousand Oaks, the citizenry of Thousand Oaks should seriously consider the passage of some or all of these bills. (A local bank teller was senselessly shot to death by a robber a few weeks ago. Several blocks away from the bank a young nurse, also a mother, was shot to death a few years ago by a disturbed young man who wanted her car.)

Members of the NRA argue that if we have gun controls only criminals will possess guns. Criminals are already outside of the pale of the law and should be apprehended, guns or no guns.

Members of the NRA argue that gun controls will result in the banishment of guns. Motorists must take written tests and demonstrate their driving capabilities before being issued a license. Motorists are ticketed daily for reckless driving and in some cases licenses may be revoked for repeated offenses. Still, there are more cars on the freeways today than ever before. The argument that controls will result in the total banishment of guns doesn’t hold water.

Members of the NRA argue that guns don’t kill. People kill with guns. They may have an argument here, but people without guns will not have the capability of committing such ready fatalities so quickly.

The homicide rates in Great Britain and Canada are far less than in the United States since these two nations exercise controls in the issuing of guns.

Members of the community of Thousand Oaks have plied the bank where the teller was shot with an outpouring of flowers and condolences. These outpourings of grief should be followed by a serious support of the gun control legislation now pending before the Legislature in Sacramento. The passage of this legislation would be a fitting tribute to the teller who lost her life in a Thousand Oaks bank without provocation, a senseless death that should not have happened.

SAMUEL M. ROSEN

Newbury Park