Review laws to stop 'active shooters'? #tellusatoday

Letter to the editor:

Paste BN reported incidents in which "a shooter opens fire on a crowd" have increased over the past seven years, according to the FBI. I commend the FBI for its research on "active shooter" events and its report to guide law enforcement ("'Active shooter' incidents on rise").

However, to evaluate gun violence and these incidents, there must also be a discussion about gun-control policies and whether they contributed to these types of shootings. Despite laws and policies to ensure public safety, we have seen an increase in these shootings. This increase suggests that our policies are failing.

We need to critically analyze the policies of obtaining and carrying guns and study changes that can be made to ensure better protection of Americans.

Sefanit Mekuria; Oakland, Calif.

We asked followers on Twitter for thoughts on why "active shooter" incidents have increased. Comments are edited for clarity and grammar:

A large part of the uptick is from non-stop news media coverage. A crackpot with a gun can get immortalized by the 24-hour news cycle.

— @DefinitelyMike

Data are more accessible now. Better retroactive collection might show these incidents as fairly consistent.

— @fedagntmulder

We are all sitting ducks. Active shooter incidents are on the rise. Blame easy access to guns? Poor mental health?

— @07lovechild

This is a violent nation where those with problems in a job or with a spouse have access to a gun. Go after the NRA!

— @JeffOstach

Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

We need to help the people who clearly have mental health problems, such as James Holmes, the Aurora, Colo., shooter, and Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter.

If we could get to them and help them before these tragedies happen, we would be saving many lives.

We need to put less money into the military and more into research to understand mental illnesses. That way, we would save more innocent American lives here within our borders.

— John Spencer

Whatever has caused the increase in active shooters, this tells us to arm ourselves. Who really wants to be a lamb?

— Karl Sagan

After all these active shooter tragedies, I can't believe that many Americans plug their ears and are still pro-gun.

— Steve C. Parks

Stop making mass shooters celebrities, and people might stop gunning down crowds so much. Bomb a marathon, get on a national magazine cover and have your name on every news site in the world!

— Louis King

You can't predict a mass shooting. Shooters are becoming more quiet about it before they act.

— John Ruchie

For more discussions, follow @USATOpinion or #tellusatoday on Twitter.