Combatting Rising Crime

* In response to “Rising Crime in Los Angeles: A Program of Counterattack,” editorial, Oct. 10:

Like most Southern Californians I am deeply concerned about the local epidemic of violent crime. I also believe that supporting strict gun control will greatly reduce our homicide rate, and, coupled with volunteer citizen patrols, help virtuous citizens to regain control over their ravaged neighborhoods. However, I must disagree with you over the necessity of an increased police force.

Adding more police is like developing expensive new painkillers for those with terminal illness--we’re treating the symptoms, not the disease. How many billions of dollars and bigger prisons before we begin to attack the root causes of violence in our society? How many pawns in the drug cartels will be killed in the battle to control what should long ago have been legalized?

Wake up, America! Things have already fallen apart, the center cannot hold much longer.

AMIE HUISH

Fullerton

* You promote an eight-point program, with three of the points referring to firearms. Your statistics are deceptive in your first proposal. You appear to be trying to draw a correlation between the study in the New England Journal, and the falsified quote of “three times more likely.” The real truth is that one million times a year citizens defend themselves with firearms, far exceeding the number of crimes.

Your third proposal, back to gun control. Gun control does not work, criminals by definition do not obey laws, so what law would pass to make them obey gun control laws? Proposal 5, back to gun control: What good will the Brady bill do with its five-day wait when California already has a 14-day wait? (We are still waiting for California’s to work.)

The Times has consistently supported gun control. The Times also takes every opportunity to bash the National Rifle Assn. for speaking out for its 3.3 million members. Get real, talk to street cops about what would help reduce crime: public awareness, streamlined courts, more certainty of punishment, and many more things too numerous to mention. Social problems do not respond to Band-Aids and quick fixes.

RON BEASON

Long Beach

* Of the eight points you list, three disarm citizens, two raise taxes and one tells us we must contribute more to criminals.

How much more of our laboratory will we destroy before we concede that the social experiment has failed?

RANDY BROOKS

Huntington Beach