To the Editor:

Regarding the mass shootings in El Paso, Tex., and Dayton, Ohio (nytimes.com, Aug . 4):

We have an epidemic of domestic terrorism, perpetrated largely by young white men motivated by irrational and vague racial fears. These fears have long been legitimized by right-wing media and, especially, the public diatribes of the president.

The casualties during this epidemic have been greatly magnified by the weapons used — weapons designed for war and mass killing. Listen to the audio of the shots fired in Dayton if you do not grasp how rapidly these weapons fire deadly bullets. Yet supposedly respectable National Rifle Association members and legislators insist that these weapons cannot be regulated.

This national nightmare is being brought to you not by Muslims, black Americans or the poor. It is being brought to you by white Americans spurred on by white Americans in positions of influence and power.

Lee Russ

Bennington, Vt.

To the Editor:

As I sit here once again, listening to the news of more mass shootings, I am struck by how powerless I feel. I keep thinking, what can I do, what can I do???