Madam, - Despite the massacre in Virginia, the US gun lobby continues to trumpet the constitutional right of Americans to bear arms. But it is important to put this "right" in context. After the War of Independence the fledgling ex-colony found itself surrounded by three colonial powers - the British to the north, the Spanish to the south and the French, though they had supported the Americans, to the west.
It is understandable that in 1791, having no standing army, Congress ratified the Second Amendment to the Constitution which reads: "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
As a well-regulated militia is no longer necessary in a country which has probably the largest standing army, navy and air force on earth, it seems to me that, even within the confines of the Second Amendment, that "right" can and should now be infringed. - Yours, etc,
BRENDAN CASSERLY, Waterfall, Co Cork.
A Chara, - The horrific mass shooting in Virginia will doubtless provoke a debate on America's gun culture. Sadly, however, nothing will change. America's love affair with personal weaponry is deeply ingrained and sponsored by powerful lobbies. Its democracy is paralysed by apathy, vested interests, and shallowness.
It is unlikely, therefore, that politicians will have the courage to give leadership on this issue. They are more likely to offer tearful sympathies and vague platitudes. There can be no quick fix, it is true. But leaders in those states with the more acute strains of the gun mania could make a start by stating the obvious: that personal weaponry has no place in a modern civilised democracy. Curing the obsession with guns will take time; but we all know that society is always in flux, and where there's a will, bold changes are possible.
A fair, open, responsive democracy is the best way to effect such changes. In a way, each gun massacre is a test of American democracy - a test it repeatedly flunks. - Is mise,
CIARÁN MAC AONGHUSA, Churchtown, Dublin 14.
Madam, - I was dismayed at your Editorial of April 18th. You concentrated on the availability of handguns as the dominant factor leading to such an atrocity. This is understandable. However in nominating other factors you chose to mention "the prevailing anxiety, insecurity, embitterment and violence currently felt in this cultural centre of the US military as the war in Iraq turns so sour". Are we to believe that the actions of the military are promoting violence such as this among American youths? There is no basis for this reasoning given the role war has played in the history of America and indeed the world.
You neglected to mention the culture of success which marginalises, rather than helps, troubled non-conformists. Cho Seung-Hui was a troubled individual. The way in which he chose to carry out his unprovoked mass attack related to his mental state. Any attempt to blame US foreign relations is, in my opinion, misplaced. - Yours, etc,
TOMMY CANAVAN, Breaffy, Co Mayo.
Madam, - I am amazed at the swiftness of President Mc- Aleese's expression of deep sympathy on behalf of the Irish people to US Ambassador Foley following the recent shooting spree in Virginia. This is one of those rare occasions where I disagree with the President's action.
She may well have been moved by the terrible wasteful loss of life, but this is yet another instance of an inevitable event in a society which generally (and especially in states such as Virginia) harbour a deep affection for militarism and gun-bearing. Even the language of some of the student witnesses to Monday's attack displayed a chilling familiarity with words such as "clips" and "unloaded" where most people would say "ammunition" or "shoot".
This is not a question of Hiberno-English versus American English; it is, rather, a clear demonstration that so prevalent is the gun-toting mindset in parts of the US that the vernacular of ordinary civilians has become a language more usually associated with conflict zones.
The sympathy expressed by the Irish people through our President ought to have been sent directly to the victims' families and not via a regime which has been sickeningly supportive of that cyclops of gun-peddling, the National Rifle Association, and which has fostered gun proliferation and its consequent lethal expression. - Yours, etc,
COLM FAHY, Arnott Street, Dublin 8.