Dear Editor:

In my recent letters to the editor I have not proposed any specific law or policy to address the epidemic of gun violence that ravages our country. My purpose in writing was to point out the effects of our ultra-liberal gun laws and highlight the difficulty in simply having a conversation about keeping illegal guns out of the hands of individuals who present a danger to themselves or others.

That the mere suggestion that we ought to have an informed and sober discussion has been met in these pages with acrimony and derision amply demonstrates this second point. But today I write not to engage in a tit for tat exchange with that vocal minority whose rancor has thus far stifled reasonable discussion; but to everyone else.

There is a majority of people who are silently outraged with the too often repeated news of body bags being brought out from our schools in view of their anguished parents.

Yes, this is a political issue that the gun manufacturers lobby would like to sweep under the rug. And it is time for reasonable people to stand shoulder to shoulder with those grieving parents to bring some reasonable oversight to how guns are distributed in our neighborhoods.

There are several organizations I urge fair-minded people to consider supporting as a counterweight to the big money gun manufacturers lobby. These are www.momsdemandaction.org and www.everytown.org. There are others in this growing movement, but these two grassroots efforts seem to be gaining the most traction.

It is time that we took the debate away from this vituperous minority and bring some sense and reason to how the second amendment is applied.

Fred W. Nehring

Boothbay