Of course, we all are shocked saddened. The first thing I thought of was my own life experience. I grew up in the cowboy era, where playing with toy guns was second nature. When I was old enough (at least I thought so), I talked my parents into buying me a B-B gun (Red Ryder variety). I was about 10. Later, at about age 13 or 14, I got my own 22 caliber rifle (still have it). I went into the armed services in the early 60s and of course, there I learned a lot about weapons and killing people.

When I was 5 or 6 years old, every young boy (and many young girls) in my school idolized cowboy heros such as, Roy Rogers (Dale Evans for the girls) & Gene Autry. I dare say that our friends around the world grew up watching western movies themselves and perhaps dreaming of the "old west."

There were a lot of guns, bullets and smoke in those old movies, yet none of us even thought about taking a real gun to school, much less actually killing someone. What has changed? I know we must be careful of nostalgia. It can cause us to view the world with a jaundiced eye. But, our cowboy heros rarely killed anyone. They mostly chased bad guys and locked them up. And, we watched them at the movies, not on television. Now, our children idolize the tough guy who frequently ends up blowing everyone away....and sadly, they watch much of it on television. Of course, they could just watch the news on any of the cable or network channels (at any time of day) and they'll see all the things we never even thought of when we were kids. How can a young mind handle all of life's garbage?

It's not the guns friends. Allowing a six year old to have access to a handgun is tantamount to putting an alcoholic behind the wheel of an automobile. Allowing our children to watch (and learn from) many of the movies on TV, is like giving that alcoholic driving lessons. I don't know the answer. I suppose we could take all of the guns away from every citizen and that would solve the problem. Yes, that's it. Maybe we could censor all movies and not allow the gory ones to be shown. Or, maybe we could just take away all televisions and computers (no access to the Internet and all of it's destructive forces). Yes, the answer is to eliminate all of those evil forces in life. And, of course, we can identify every one - SO, LET'S GET AT IT (he says, tongue in cheek).

I lost a seven year old grandson in a horrible automobile accident in 1991. It was years before I could even drive past that location. I hurt every time I see or hear of a young person losing their life in a completely senseless way. Human error caused the senseless accident that took my grandson's life. A horrible act of humanity. The gun issue is always in the political forefront in the U.S. However, I doubt that any law, or for that matter, any politician, can solve this terrible problem. There's no simple answer, folks.

Sorrowfully yours, Jim