Letter: Editorial makes good points, but misses conclusion

The editorial points out that homicides are down overall, but up in the 18- to 24-year-old age group that uses illegal guns and is connected to street drug trafficking. Then the editorial goes on to say that laws restricting legal gun owners and manufacturers are needed to solve the problem. Where is the New York Times' logic? How will more laws make already illegal guns more illegal?

The street criminals get all the drugs they want to sell, and these drugs are illegal in every city, every state, every nation on our continent. But the crooks get all they want. If well-intentioned lawmakers could make all guns illegal, the crooks would still get all the guns they want through the same sources that bring them the drugs. They are outlaws and gangsters -- they don't care about gun laws or drug laws.

New York has the most restrictive gun laws in the nation. When these laws fail to keep illegal guns out of the hands of criminals New York blames other states for not restricting legal gun sales. New York argues if guns were illegal everywhere the criminals could not get them, but they can't explain why that exact approach to street drugs has failed.

They are illegal everywhere and the criminals have all the drugs they want to sell.

New York needs to rethink the problem and stop suggesting that new laws will fix things. New laws will only be obeyed by the folks that are law abiding right now. The problem is criminals.

John J. Cahill

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