Terror in schools

The recent school shooting in Lancaster County, leaving five Amish girls dead and five others wounded, is a poignant warning of the epidemic of violence that is threatening the fabric of this country. This was the third deadly shooting in American schools in a week, leaving me to wonder what else can happen in the coming months. As our congressional leaders are distracted waging war against each other, and abroad, the issues pertaining to our own societal predicaments have been ignored.

Although last week the Bush administration announced it is organizing a summit on school violence, in the past year I did not hear a single speech from the president on gun safety or school violence, nor from Bob Casey Jr. or Rick Santorum. We have declared a war on terror, yet the terror that has been inflicted upon countless students in American schools in only one week remains unconfronted.

SHIV SETHI
Cranberry

Tools of death

Voters need to put pressure on politicians to pass meaningful gun control now. The right of our children to be safe in their schools is far more important than the right to own a weapon. Vote out the hypocritical legislators who claim to "choose life" yet continually pass laws that allow more instruments of death to be owned in our society.

Where is U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum on this? Why is he smiling at us from a huge billboard on Route 22 with a shotgun draped over his shoulder in an ad pandering to gun owners? Thanks, senator. Maybe the Amish murderer, Charles Carl Roberts IV, voted for you.

RON JACOBSON
Pine

Cars kill, too

In response to Paul McArdle's Oct. 2 letter ("No-Good Handguns"): Yes, Mr. McArdle, 10,000 Americans were killed by handguns that just jumped up on their own and went on a shooting spree. How many Americans were killed by automobiles that were out for a drive on their own?

Let's outlaw private automobiles. Need to get to work? Taxis, buses and trolleys provide ample means. Vacation? Take a train or plane. Just as long as private transportation is no longer allowed to roam the streets, killing at will.

How many died due to knives popping out of storage? Outlaw them too. Manufacturers could be banned from making anything sharp.

No, Mr. McArdle. We are Americans and are bound to the Constitution, like it or not. I'm not the first to say these things, but it is as true today as it ever has been: Love it or leave it; live free or die.

LEO STANKUS JR.
Heidelberg