Editor,

Lorinda Newton’s March 10 letter makes a great argument for the removal of the Dickey Law which prevents the Centers for Disease Control from investigating gun violence as the public health issue it is.

Sixteen people die of gun violence for every criminal shot by a home owner. But let us all agree that blue lives matter and that asking people to face assault rifles whose inventor names them as weapons of war is wrong.

Cars are to transport, and we have continued to make them safer and require insurance and written and road tests for licensing.

Guns are meant to kill and we have made them more dangerous without any of those sensible requirements, to which I would include a virtual reality showing care for gun wounds so people can know what guns actually do.

Making our schools a secure prison against guns is against the freedom and liberty you claim to protect, while removing assault rifles and treating guns as we do cars would be a first step in safety.

I’ve seen too many guns make too many wounds and told too many people about their loved one’s injuries to stay silent.

Patrice J. O’Neill

Clinton