A view of a makeshift memorial near the Inland Regional Center on Dec. 4 in San Bernardino, Calif. The FBI has officially labeled the attack carried out by Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik as an act of terrorism. (Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)
Re: “San Bernardino shooting: 14 dead, more than a dozen wounded,” Dec. 3 news story; and “Motive elusive in deadly California rampage,” Dec. 4 news story.
If it is not totally evident to all, we should gain a few lessons from recent shootings.
First, regardless of one’s politics and proof of foreign “terrorist” jihadist influence, the San Bernardino killers’ arsenal proves they are terrorists. No other term is appropriate.
Second, whatever the police did to locate and apprehend the killers’ black SUV might have saved a large number of lives from that arsenal. The police chief and his officers are heroes, and their methods should be studied.
Third, hopefully police departments will gain knowledge from this and the Colorado Springs shooting to lessen the personal risks of doing their jobs.
Whether termed as “gangs” or “terrorists,” we need to find ways to neutralize their influence.
Bob Bawn, Longmont
Your Friday headline and article on the San Bernardino shooting are outrageous for two reasons: First, the headline in bold, oversized font loudly proclaims, “Motivation for attack unclear,” and second, in the article there is just a single reference to Islamic radicalization as only one of several potential motivations.
Really? Is it so “unclear” that your paper could make only one passing reference to what the vast majority of Americans and law enforcement believe to be the actual cause?
Even as the hours and minutes went by Thursday, the evidence was rapidly piling up, given to us not by politicians but by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.
Political correctness is a dagger aimed at the heart of our country and our values. And the terrorists wield it to their horrific advantage every day.
Karl Burr, Denver
This letter was published in the Dec. 5 edition.Would the slaughter in San Bernardino have been prevented if the husband and wife who murdered 14 helpless Americans had been on the terror watch list? Sadly, no. The Republican Congress, urged on by the NRA, voted Thursday to continue allowing people on the nation’s terror watch list to purchase firearms, including assault rifles. They also voted down a measure to enhance background checks.
The Second Amendment does not prevent a rational future Congress from taking meaningful action. However, if American voters keep Congress in Republican hands and put a Republican in the White House next year, the already right-leaning Supreme Court will surely become even more conservative, guaranteeing that the mass shooting epidemic will continue indefinitely.
Kenneth Schroll, Highlands Ranch
This letter was published in the Dec. 5 edition.I read where there have been 352 “mass shootings” (more than three victims) in the United States this year. So, 352 mass shooters out of about 319 million American citizens amounts to roughly 0.0001 percent of the U.S. population. So the obvious solution is to make it easy for honest, law-abiding citizens (there are hundreds of millions of us) to get concealed-carry permits. Then the small number of violent shooters will be quickly terminated within seconds of starting such a rampage. Any mass shooters who survive would get a mandatory death sentence (after a fair trial, of course) and be executed within 90 days.
Richard Bruce, Broomfield
This letter was published in the Dec. 5 edition.If we are unable to regulate the purchase of firearms, maybe we could regulate/monitor the purchase of ammunition and items like gunpowder. We already regulate the purchase of Sudafed to protect us from methamphetamine abuse, so why not bullets and explosives?
Jim Aldridge, Golden
This letter was published in the Dec. 5 edition.
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