Letter of the Day: Background checks

Background checks

EDITOR: I'm amused and amazed at the irony of it. The old saw of the gun lobby and its supporters was that "guns don't kill people, people kill people." Now that there is an opportunity to make sure the wrong "people" don't get guns and kill other people, the Republicans, at the direction of their National Rifle Association paymasters, are actively arguing against universal background checks.

Fully 40 percent of all firearms transactions do not involve background checks. Criminals don't pass background checks but can easily arm themselves in the many states that don't have background check requirements.

This is a national issue and must be handled at the federal level. Does every American family need to lose a member to gun violence before the blockheads figure it out? Rep. Mike Thompson gets it. He deserves our support and encouragement.

JIM DeMARTINI

Cloverdale