Repealing the Second Amendment and confiscating all firing arms will not stop the criminal who will not give up his firearms. So how is this going to make us safer?

Why don’t we repeal all sales of firearms, automobiles, butcher knives, baseball bats, and all materials that can be used in making a bomb, and so on and so on. Will this make us safer? I don’t think so. Criminals don’t care about words on a piece of paper called laws. I served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, have been a firearms person all of my life and have never harmed anyone and do not ever intend to do so.

We have all kinds of laws on the books. Until we can backup those laws, what good would more laws do?

Reginald R. Holloway

San Jose

Contrary to the extremist hoplophobic, anti-Second Amendment, anti-gun, anti-law-abiding gun owner, and anti-law-abiding gun owner organization letter (Letters, June 19), there should be no repeal of the Second Amendment and no confiscation of all guns.

The Supreme Court, in the Washington, D.C. and Chicago cases, upheld and confirmed the right of the individual law-abiding citizen to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes such as self-defense, hunting, target shooting, and collecting. The Bill of Rights, including Article II, is the law of the land.

David R. Russell

Berkeley

Earthquake alert project is a California responsibility

I was surprised by Monday’s editorial “Trump drops life-saving alerts.” With all the talk of Cal-exit and California not following federal immigration requests, why are we wringing our hands over losing $10 million of federal money a year for this project? That only works out to about 30 cents per Californian. When did it become the federal government’s job to pay for almost two thirds of our earthquake warning system?

We seem to love the idea of spending thousands per person on high speed rail, the Delta tunnels and even single-payer health care. I would say that if this earthquake alert project will indeed save lives, it should be Gov. Jerry Brown who funds it, not President Trump.

Dave Timmons

San Jose

Looks like Trump was right from the beginning

Donald Trump said two nights before the election that if I (and others) voted for Hillary Clinton, the president’s time in office would be “likely to conclude in a criminal trial.” My bad! I voted for Hillary, and it looks like it could happen.

Bob Davis

San Jose

Single-payer won’t provide more coverage for less cost

Single-payer health insurance claims to insure more people with better coverage for less cost. It reminds me of a joke from my business school economics class. “We’ll lose money on every sale but we’ll make it up on volume”

John Martin

San Jose

Coyote Valley vision makes sense for San Jose

The new Open Space Authority report on wildlife linkages in Coyote Valley validates what we have always known: that preserving Coyote Valley is critical to the welfare of both people and wildlife in our region. Indeed, the recent flooding in San Jose would have been so much worse had Coyote Valley been covered with asphalt and concrete.

I am happy to see a new vision emerge — a vision that focuses on the value of the valley in protecting San Jose from flooding, while providing habitat and connectivity for wildlife, and promoting the restoration of the valley floor’s disappearing landscapes.

Mackenzie Mossing

Environmental Advocacy Associate

Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society

Cupertino

Californians should renew recycling commitment

I was saddened to read in “The decline of recycling” (Page 1A, June 19) that recycling rates are falling in California and that closed recycling centers mean that more than 3.5 million additional containers are littered or put in landfill every day. How about we all make an effort to reduce trash, conserve oil, and prevent greenhouse gases by buying fewer plastic bottles? Instead, keep reusable water bottles filled in the fridge with tap water. If you don’t like the taste of tap water (which is subjected to more rigorous testing and purity standards than bottled water), try infusing it with mint, ginger, cucumber or citrus. If we all make the effort to eliminate single-use plastic bottles and cans, we can have a huge positive impact on our environment.

Diana Moss

San Jose