National Rifle Association has blood on its hands

FALLBROOK – My father was a deer hunter and a lifetime National Rifle Association member. We grew up with an unlocked tall cabinet full of shotguns, 22s, pistols, etc. in the corner of our family room. We, four girls, all learned to shoot, trap and skeet at a 50-foot target in our basement. My sisters and I are all fairly good marksmen. We all played with toy guns, and I still have those little black toy guns. These are my ideas of what guns are for.

It is incomprehensible to me how the leaders of our country continue to allow assault rifles to be sold or to even exist in our country. Sadly, those guns are to be used in war, if we must have war. Only in war.

Background checks are not going to solve the problem since no one can determine what is in the mind of the buyer or which individuals are unstable or will become violent at a future time. Some people come from dysfunctional families or have mental or emotional issues but are able to function unnoticed on the periphery of society. No one can know what that person is really thinking, or how much they are suffering inwardly. These people often have a little different personality, have been bullied or have felt mistreated by society and may become desperate to “get back” or prove themselves and their power to society.

Access to guns, any guns, especially assault rifles gives them the freedom to “get even.” What they really need is for someone to care enough to get them some mental help. But as it is today, they are free to act out their frustrations by simply pulling a trigger.

Today, members of the NRA and their supporters have blood on their hands.

Carmen Willard