Reflections on the Alexandria Shooting

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/opinion/reflections-on-the-alexandria-shooting.html

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To the Editor:

Re “G.O.P. Lawmaker Shot Outside Capital” (front page, June 15):

As I reflect on the shooting that occurred in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday, I look through my lens as a longtime family law attorney. I’ve witnessed hundreds of unhealthy marriages that ended in divorce and wondered: How did things get this bad?

I ask the same question of our democracy: How did things get this bad? We all felt the pain of each bullet in Alexandria regardless of our political affiliation. It’s time to hit the reset button and re-evaluate, as a nation, how we got to this boiling point. And, more important, where do we go from here?

As members of the American family, we are all bound together through community, compassion and care for one another. Let us find peace and work together to solve our common problems.

SONJA TROM EAYRS, MINNEAPOLIS

To the Editor:

Re “Shooting Tests Movement on the Left” (news article, June 15):

Your article suggesting that the horrific shooting of a member of Congress by a Bernie Sanders supporter may be a test for Mr. Sanders’s political movement is unfathomable and irresponsible. Mr. Sanders has always advocated peaceful and compassionate political actions.

If you are searching for some person or group to blame for this tragedy, look to the gun lobby. Moreover, and I say this with incredible sadness, we may also have to look at the intransigence of the Republican Party in allowing President Trump to continue his legal and constitutional transgressions unchecked, and to steer our country toward policies that blatantly harm most Americans and denigrate the values of a democratic nation.

Of course, none of this justifies this act of violence. A far more reasonable approach for venting frustration is to continue voicing opinions in opposition to the intolerable political culture that has taken over Washington.

Even as we express concern for the wounded, let us continue celebrating those who speak out for justice, rationality and equality … like Bernie Sanders.

MARY PERNAL, POULTNEY, VT.

To the Editor:

The shooting of members of the Republican congressional baseball team is clearly a tragic and senseless event. The fact that it was perpetrated by a disgruntled supporter of Bernie Sanders speaks volumes about how the vicious political discourse in this country has now stirred up so much hatred that it drove the assailant to this despicable crime. According to news reports, the assailant specifically asked whether the players on the field were Republicans or Democrats before he started shooting.

I am a moderate Republican who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but has become appalled by how vitriolic and partisan the news coverage has become as it relates to the current administration and the Republican Party. It is incumbent on the media to consider their own potential role in this crime. Will they consider that they are complicit in stirring up the hate that led to this insane act? Or will they merely conclude that it was a random act by a crazed individual?

JIM RUTHERFURD, NEW YORK

To the Editor:

It is right and good that President Trump swiftly condemned the shooting on Wednesday of a member of Congress and others on the baseball field. Where was his voice, however, when similar hate crimes against immigrants and their defenders occurred? Hate speech by the alt-right, including Alex Jones and others with a broad audience, incites hateful acts daily that go uncondemned by our president and Republican representatives.

Bernie Sanders spoke loud and clear against violence committed by one of his purported supporters. It would be right and just if that were the response by politicians of any stripe to any act of violence against innocents of every persuasion. A hate crime is a hateful crime no matter who may commit it.

PEGGY STEVENSEAST CHARLESTON, VT.

To the Editor:

Re “Their Own Targeted, G.O.P. Lawmakers Want Looser Guns Laws, Not Stricter Ones” (news article, June 15):

Given that gun laws around the country are already loose, one can only imagine the carnage that could have been wrought in a crowded venue if a number of people had been armed. Handguns are notoriously hard to use with great accuracy, even by those trained to do so. The thought that some good might come of a large number of armed people, panicky and only loosely trained, all blasting away in one area is the real madness here.

JAMES QUINN, LILBURN, GA.