Dear Editor,

I am very concerned, as most people are, that almost every day we read of someone being killed by guns, either by a relative, friend or police.

I find it hard to believe that, because of gun violence, people are encouraged to have more guns.
The more guns there are on the street, the more deaths there will be, not less.

The best solution to gun violence is gun safety.

By gun safety I mean, gun owners having gun safes to enclose their guns unloaded, under lock and key, until such time as they are needed for hunting or something serious, such as a rabid animal or poisonous snake which could do them harm.

The police who patrol neighborhoods, do not need to have guns if they know the neighborhood is free of guns.

They already have tasers as ammunition if they really do feel threatened.

The police would be more respected by people on the street and neither the neighbors nor the police would feel nearly so afraid of each other if they knew they were unarmed.

As President Roosevelt said, “There’s nothing to fear except fear itself.”

I know this sounds hard to understand in the USA but having been brought up in a country where no-one walks around with a gun, people keep their guns under lock and key, there are no instances of people killing family members with guns or police shootings, as the police are not armed either.

Its hard for me to understand why anyone thinks they have to have a gun and walk around with the weapon.

If people in Selma and elsewhere in the United States remove their guns from their cars, trucks and hips, and put them in their homes under lock and key, with the police patrolling gun free, the blood letting would go down dramatically.

Try it for a month and see what happens.  I am sure it will be a much safer place than it is now.  If it works keep it up. No guns, no killing. I bet it will work.
Notice I’m not saying take the guns away, but keep them under lock and key.
A very concerned citizen.

Joanna Nichols
Selma