I am surprised at Brad Sohn's distaste for gun control legislation (Column, March 13). Certainly laws alone will not eliminate murders, but they can ensure that guns are sold only to people with licenses, and that guns meet certain safety specifications. I agree that there are other means of fighting crime besides tough legislation, but Sohn's proposal to impose more severe punishments on gun offenders after they have committed a crime is less effective than preventing criminals from obtaining guns in the first place.

There are many explanations for our crime problem, but the prevalence of guns in our country is one of the most important. There will always be people who lose their sense of reason and commit acts of violence. However, whether those people can get their hands on a gun can make the difference whether such a crime results in death.

H. Wells Wulsin '01

March 15, 2000

Buchanan in Context

To the editors:

Noah D. Oppenheim's (Column, March 17) description of "egregiously rude" students who asked Pat Buchanan questions makes me wonder whether he was at the speech or whether he is deliberately changing the context of students' questions. Oppenheim quotes a student saying: "Well, perhaps white Catholics and Christians such as yourself are not qualified to be here."