Mentally ill people shoot children in schools; drunks and angry people shoot their neighbors and relatives; enraged drivers shoot each other; racists shoot people of other races; gang members drive by killing innocent people; abusers shoot victims; depressed people shoot themselves; drug abusers shoot people; kids accidentally shoot themselves because their parents don’t lock guns away; adults shoot themselves when cleaning their guns; and straw buyers buy guns for people who use them for killing. Our veterans are killing themselves at such a horrifying rate that the Veterans Administration has recommended removing guns from the homes of potential suicides.

According to the Huffington Post, more than 2,243 people have been killed by guns since Sandy Hook. Murder-suicides in Florida, Kentucky, Oregon, Texas and California — mostly involved men killing women, husbands killing wives, boyfriends killing girlfriends, and sons killing mothers. A six-year-old accidentally killed a four-year-old; a two- year-old accidentally killed himself. A four-year-old accidentally killed a 58-year-old. A father accidentally killed his seven-year-old son. A seven-year-old girl was accidentally killed by her younger sister.

Many more gun deaths are caused by suicides, relatives, acquaintances and accidents than by home invaders.

The NRA acts as if all gun owners are smart, mentally stable, don’t drink or get high on drugs, control their tempers, and are careful with guns. If that were true, there would not be 30,000 gun deaths a year.

We need some uniform national rules for gun buyers. Regulating guns does not violate the Second Amendment.

Ellen Field, New Gloucester