Letters: Licensing drivers -- but not gun owners?

Re “System to vet buyers of guns flawed,” Jan. 13

Most Americans regularly operate their own killing machine — an automobile — yet few, if any, protest the strict regulations on their use.

We are required to register the vehicle and take a practical test to prove we are capable of operating it safely. We must take a written exam to ascertain our knowledge of the laws governing the operation of our potentially lethal weapon. In addition, we must allow the state to take our photograph to ensure our identity and pass an eye test to further assure our competence. We must carry this license with us at all times when driving and must present our registration and license when requested to do so by police.

Would these same regulations be too restrictive for the ownership of an assault weapon?

Phyllis Golden Gottlieb

Los Angeles

There is a lot of hand-wringing and finger-pointing going on in our country over gun violence. Some blame the proliferation of weapons. Some blame crazies and criminals. Some blame the media and the entertainment industry.

The reality is that all these factors are responsible for the violence that surrounds us. We live in a continuum of violence that is constantly present. We are a consumer society and proud of it. (According to Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, to consume means “to destroy, as by fire; to do away with; to use up; spend wastefully; eat up; devour.”

Because everyone is responsible for our violence, no one is.

Arthur Hoyle

Pacific Palisades

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