DRUG CONTROL'S BETTER

In response to Raymond R. Coffey's column ("Bottom line: Guns do kill,"
Dec. 11), while I certainly respect and admire what Mike Mahone has endured
for his country and can understand his frustration, I must disagree with
his opinions. I am a World War II combat veteran, a lifelong hunter and
target shooter. I know what guns can do. Mahone, like Mayor Daley, narrowly
focuses his attention on an inanimate object, the handgun. For some
reason, guns are flowing into the city; for some reason, guns are shooting
children and bystanders. They totally ignore the reason for all this
violence: illegal drugs. Mayor Daley and his police have been unable to
contain, much less stop, the drug trade in the city. But that's also true
of all major cities. Americans, knowing this, have purchased 45 million
handguns in the last 20 years for self-protection. Americans use their
guns more than 2 million times a year to protect themselves and their
families. Twenty-three states in the last 10 years have passed laws
allowing law-abiding citizens to obtain concealed-pistol carry permits so
they can protect themselves on the streets, where most violent crimes are
committed. Violent crime rates in these states dropped drastically. Bottom
line: Americans know that handguns save far more lives than are lost by
handgun misuse. Stop the drugs, and gun violence will drop drastically.

William Puplava, Whiting, Ind.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski