> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# They do right across the pond
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/they-do-right-across-the-pond-editor/
- Published: 2007-04-20T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:36:25.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Brad Pollack Santa Monica*

I just read the (letter) from Ron Lowe (“Justifying guns now seems ludicrous,” April 19) and I agree. As a country and society, we need to get back to the fundamentals. There is a compelling urgency for strict gun control to be implemented everywhere. We all need to look beyond our immediate circle of family and friends and think of our fellow citizens as President John Kennedy said almost 50 years ago. I would like to ask all the gun supporters across the country, who conveniently and selfishly hide behind their interpretation of the Second Amendment, a simple question: How many more lives need to be tragically, senselessly cut short before we can agree that gun violence is debilitating to the well-being of this country's citizens?

The United States Supreme Court has a long established history of ruling that the needs of the society as a whole trump individual rights. Thus, a person cannot falsely shout “fire” in a crowded theater because people may get hurt as a consequence. Not unexpectedly, right after the Virginia Tech shootings, I heard a gun supporter say that the tragedy might have happened anyway because the gunman could have illegally obtained a gun. This logic is completely convoluted and fundamentally flawed. If guns were much more difficult to obtain legally, and the type of gun was strictly controlled, the gunman might have abandoned his plan. Strict gun control places a major obstacle in the way of those who want to use guns to kill.

Yes, there's always the possibility that this type of tragedy could still happen, but why not make it as difficult as possible?

California is doing reasonably well with gun control, but I urge everyone who supports strict gun control to write to Sacramento and Washington demanding action. We need to follow the example set by Japan and England: No guns, period!

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 20, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042007.pdf?ref=smdp.com)