To the Editor:

One of the little girls who survived the brutal killing of children in Texas last week said she did that by smearing herself with the blood of a still-living child next to her, who didn’t survive.

Let’s let that sink in.

Then in the light of PTSD, let’s imagine that youngster’s future, that she and all those children are our own – and we are diehard supporters of the Second Amendment claiming the right to bear all model guns, even ones designed strictly to kill soldiers in war, including children in the instance of murders like these.

And then, in its aftermath, let’s imagine the reprehensible conspiracy theories,  the politicians who trip over themselves making excuses for these tragedies, denying constraints on an eighteen-year-old being able to purchase such a weapon, under what reasonable pretext?

The gunman on turning eighteen legally bought two of these assault rifles (and 350 rounds of ammunition) – which are more lethal than those used in the Vietnam era, and “can render victims unrecognizable” say trauma pathologists.

But he could not have ordered a beer in most states that week… what is wrong with this mirror to our country?

Elementary school students in the United States are thirty times more likely to die from mass gun violence than in any other developed country in our world. Why?

Those who purchase these weapons for killing and target entertainment – who support the ones championing them and vote for politicians guarding their availability – carry the answer in their hearts.

Paul Baribault
Lewiston