Letter to the editor: Guns and mass shootings

Don Grasser in his letter “Our rights are for everyone” objected to the observation that “more guns mean more shootings.” He asked, “Guns were bought at a record pace last year, and how many mass shootings were there?”

Well, this is something he could easily have looked up: Do gun purchases track with mass shootings? Let’s take a look:

2020: 40 million guns purchased; 611 mass shootings

2019: 13.9 million guns purchased; 434 mass shootings

2018 13.1 million guns purchased; 323 mass shootings

2017 14.0 million guns purchased; 345 mass shootings

2016 15.7 million guns purchased; 382 mass shootings

Hmmm. Mr. Grasser might want to rethink his opinion on the effect of easy purchase of guns on the illicit use of guns.

Joanne Murray

Jeannette