High Gun Ownership Rates, Crime and Criminals

* Re “County Has Higher Gun Ownership,” Oct. 25:

The article appears to be missing at least one potential explanation for the relationship between low crime rates and high gun ownership rates in Orange County.

Perhaps part of the reason that Orange County is blessed with these lower crime rates is because the criminals would rather ply their trade in areas (like Los Angeles) that present a significantly lower risk of being shot by their potential victims.

In nature, the predator always goes after the weakest of its prey.

Independent research has shown conclusively that unarmed victims cannot survive criminal attack as effectively as those who are armed.

When it comes to their own survival, most criminals are not dummies--they go where the guns aren’t.

PAUL K. VALLANDIGHAM

Orange

* Your story notes that handgun “accidents” are more likely to occur in Orange County than in Los Angeles because we have more handguns.

I was surprised you failed to quote research published in well-respected medical journals that shows that people who live in homes where a gun is present are at increased risk for gun homicide (three times) and suicide (five times).

A gun brought into the home for “protection” actually puts the family at greater risk for death and injury.

There have consistently been less than 300 justifiable homicides per year in the United States. Guns were used in 14,327 homicides and 18,166 suicides in 1996.

Your readers may want to judge as to what would be the wiser course in the decision to bring a gun into the home, based on reliable research.

MARY LEIGH BLEK

Chair, O.C. Citizens for

the Prevention of Gun Violence

Mission Viejo

* It was interesting to see the results of The Times poll, a poll that shows that the proliferation of guns in our communities is caused by only a minority of Orange County residents--just 20% of us.

In other words, 80% of those who don’t own guns in our county must suffer the plague of gun killings because of a few gun worshipers.

Also interesting to note was that Orange County has twice the number of gun accidents (per population) of big bad Los Angeles County.

Isn’t it time that the majority of us, a very large majority, who are sick of the daily killings, wake up and vote those politicians who preach and vote the straight National Rifle Assn. line out of office?

Surely Orange County could become much safer for our children and for ourselves if gun possession were severely restricted here in Orange County.

This will never happen if the current crop of Orange County politicians, who are to a man, NRA puppets, remains in office.

JAMES R. GALLAGHER

Huntington Beach