A police officer stands in the street at the scene of a mass shooting in Monterey Park on Jan. 22. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
To the editor: Thank you for one of the best editorials I've read concerning gun violence. Your point about killers having one thing in common — they have guns — reminds me of an exchange I heard years ago: In reply to "Guns don't kill people, people kill people," someone said, "People with guns kill people."
I read some initial reporting about the Monterey Park suspect having some anger issues. Whether or not that turns out to be true, it reminds me of Homer Simpson being told he had to wait for a background check before purchasing a gun. Frustrated, he replied, "But I'm mad now!"
Reducing gun violence requires we continue to consider many issues. In the meantime, how many deaths will it take, how many years will it take, until we and the people we elect admit, "It’s the guns, stupid"?
John Saville, Corona
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To the editor: In addition to guns, mass killers have more important things in common — desires for notoriety, and to inflict as much misery on society as they have suffered in their lives.
The Times' front-page stories on the Monterey Park shooting and your coverage of the suspect and the terror he allegedly inflicted surely fulfill these desires. Furthermore, The Times' coverage (and that of countless other newspapers and broadcasters) will assure other monsters that their future acts of horror will achieve similar outcomes.
More than 70 million Americans are gun owners, and 99.9% of them never use a firearm to take a life. Yes, America needs to stop the carnage of the 0.01% of gun owners who commit these atrocities.
Editorials would be more useful if they focused on outlawing removable magazines holding more than six shots, red-flag laws that operate quickly and cheaply, and laws creating consequences for people failing to report an atrocity they know is being planned.
David A. Walsh, Manhattan Beach
..
To the editor: This is sick. We are sick as a society to tolerate this all so folks can have their guns. Guns have become the golden calves that are worshiped and defended against any sensible laws.
Oh, we have to obey the 2nd Amendment and make sure we have guns for "2nd Amendment remedies." That part of the Constitution was written when we had muskets that had one shot and took a few moments to reload.
Our forefathers could not have imagined today's assault weapons, and the purpose of the 2nd Amendment certainly wasn't to give citizens the means to overthrow the government if they thought it was out of control.
When will this insanity stop and we say enough is enough? I would give up my right to own a gun because the safety of our communities is more important.
Anne Earhart, Corona del Mar
Newsom renews call for federal action on gun safety after 2 mass shootings in California
Lara Korte
Tue, January 24, 2023
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom angrily denounced Republicans for refusing to adopt gun safety measures as he renewed calls for federal action after two mass shootings in California left 19 people dead.
Newsom also called out fellow Californian, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, for not making a public statement after the shootings in Monterey Park and in Half Moon Bay.
“Where’s he been on gun safety reform? Where’s the Republican Party been on gun safety reform?” the governor said, appearing visibly shaken after meeting with families of victims of the second shooting. “Shame on them. Shame on those that allow and perpetuate that to be rewarded politically.”
California has some of the most stringent gun policies in the nation, which the governor says helps explain why the state has a gun death rate 37 percent below the national average. Some of those restrictions, however, are in jeopardy following a Supreme Court decision in June on a concealed carry law in New York that invited challenges on a wide range of firearm laws.
Even with California's laws, people can just bring weapons into the state from elsewhere — which is why Congress should take actions such as restricting the size of magazines and banning assault weapons, Newsom said.
“We can’t do this alone,” Newsom said. “And with all due respect, we feel like we are.”
The governor made the trip to Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, after the killing of seven farmworkers Monday, apparently by another worker. It came less than 48 hours after the attack by a gunman at a dance hall during a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, a small city east of downtown Los Angeles.
Newsom had harsh words for McCarthy, who represents the Bakersfield area, for not making any public statements addressing either shooting.
“I’m still waiting for Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the House of Representatives, who purports to represent the people of the state of California,” he said. “We haven’t heard one damn word from him, not since Monterey Park, not what happened here, not one expression of prayers, condolences, nothing, and it should surprise nobody.”
The Speaker addressed the shootings at a press gaggle on Tuesday in the Capitol, around the same time Newsom was speaking in Half Moon Bay.
"Let me begin by expressing my condolences to the families in California with the recent violence over the last couple days," McCarthy told reporters.
Newsom said he was in the hospital in Southern California visiting victims and family members when he was pulled aside and informed of the second shooting in Half Moon Bay.
The governor, like others in his party, has doubled down on the need for gun restrictions in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision. Last year the Democrat-dominated legislature passed a dozen more restrictions, and new bills are in the works for this year.
While the state does have a lower rate of gun death than the national average, it’s been impossible to insulate it from tragedies like the ones seen this week. Increasingly, California Democrats have been looking to Washington to place protections in areas that state policies simply can’t cover.
“We can figure this out — we can,” Newsom said. “We know what to do. It’s not complicated. We do. And we don’t have to do this again and again and again.”
Lara Korte
Tue, January 24, 2023
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom angrily denounced Republicans for refusing to adopt gun safety measures as he renewed calls for federal action after two mass shootings in California left 19 people dead.
Newsom also called out fellow Californian, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, for not making a public statement after the shootings in Monterey Park and in Half Moon Bay.
“Where’s he been on gun safety reform? Where’s the Republican Party been on gun safety reform?” the governor said, appearing visibly shaken after meeting with families of victims of the second shooting. “Shame on them. Shame on those that allow and perpetuate that to be rewarded politically.”
California has some of the most stringent gun policies in the nation, which the governor says helps explain why the state has a gun death rate 37 percent below the national average. Some of those restrictions, however, are in jeopardy following a Supreme Court decision in June on a concealed carry law in New York that invited challenges on a wide range of firearm laws.
Even with California's laws, people can just bring weapons into the state from elsewhere — which is why Congress should take actions such as restricting the size of magazines and banning assault weapons, Newsom said.
“We can’t do this alone,” Newsom said. “And with all due respect, we feel like we are.”
The governor made the trip to Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, after the killing of seven farmworkers Monday, apparently by another worker. It came less than 48 hours after the attack by a gunman at a dance hall during a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park, a small city east of downtown Los Angeles.
Newsom had harsh words for McCarthy, who represents the Bakersfield area, for not making any public statements addressing either shooting.
“I’m still waiting for Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the House of Representatives, who purports to represent the people of the state of California,” he said. “We haven’t heard one damn word from him, not since Monterey Park, not what happened here, not one expression of prayers, condolences, nothing, and it should surprise nobody.”
The Speaker addressed the shootings at a press gaggle on Tuesday in the Capitol, around the same time Newsom was speaking in Half Moon Bay.
"Let me begin by expressing my condolences to the families in California with the recent violence over the last couple days," McCarthy told reporters.
Newsom said he was in the hospital in Southern California visiting victims and family members when he was pulled aside and informed of the second shooting in Half Moon Bay.
The governor, like others in his party, has doubled down on the need for gun restrictions in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision. Last year the Democrat-dominated legislature passed a dozen more restrictions, and new bills are in the works for this year.
While the state does have a lower rate of gun death than the national average, it’s been impossible to insulate it from tragedies like the ones seen this week. Increasingly, California Democrats have been looking to Washington to place protections in areas that state policies simply can’t cover.
“We can figure this out — we can,” Newsom said. “We know what to do. It’s not complicated. We do. And we don’t have to do this again and again and again.”
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