OPINION:
Reading about New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s efforts with the family members of those killed in the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre (“New York mayor unveils ad against Virginia gun law,” Metro, Tuesday), I felt for those family members. By and large, they are sincere in wanting to see something done - just something, even if it has nothing to do with the original tragedy.
Clearly, the supposed gun-show loophole had nothing to do with the shootings at Virginia Tech two years ago. The real culprits here are the duplicitous politicians who will exploit the grieving families for political purposes. These politicians don’t care that the Virginia Tech incident had nothing to do with gun shows, much less any loophole. Their goal is to make a big, splashy headline that allows them to boast of having made us all “safer,” even if they end up making us less safe in the long run. They will pat themselves on the back and do nothing about the real problem.
The really tough problem is keeping guns out of the hands of mentally disturbed people. We have a plethora of laws about medical privacy that make it difficult to identify those who should not have a gun. Mr. Bloomberg shows no interest in addressing this tough issue. He would rather rally the family members to work on the gun-show loophole. It is easier, flashier and more likely to attract television cameras. It doesn’t matter that it is a solution totally unrelated to the problem.
If we really want to prevent tragedies like what happened at Columbine, Colo., and Virginia Tech, we have to balance medical privacy laws with the need to obtain information through background checks. It is hard and not flashy, and so it is not getting done.
DENNIS DOYLE
Woodbridge, Va.
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