Dear Editor: I'm a gun owner and I use them for both hunting and target practice. However, the GOP (and specifically Rep. Joe Sanfelippo) do us ALL a disservice by refusing to EVEN CONSIDER "reasonable" gun legislation to address this ongoing national crisis. They roll out their same old, lame arguments — "The Democrats' proposals would not have stopped the recent shootings." Ho hum...

Given this line of (flawed) "reasoning," then why not repeal laws against murder, drunk driving, rape, etc.? We have laws prohibiting these activities, but people STILL murder, drive drunk (many repeat offenders), commit rape, etc. Does this mean these laws are failures and should be repealed? Or, should we perhaps explore enacting additional laws and programs that may do some actual good and aid in preventing future harm?

Question I'd ask Sanfelippo and his ilk: "So just how many shootings, etc., can be prevented by enacting the proposed gun laws? How many shootings have been prevented by current gun laws? Any idea? Any way to measure deterrence? If you don't know and can't answer, shut up and do something!"

And just what do YOU propose? Do nothing (like always) and hope it will go away? We can't change the past; there will ALWAYS be violators, but at least TRY to prevent such future tragedies.