Dear Editor:

I am writing in response a recent letter to the editor entitled “Stop the killing, now.” The author cited a Dr. Keith Ablow. According to a past president of the American Psychiatric Association: “It is shameful and unfortunate that he (Ablow) is given a platform by Fox News or any other media organization. Basically he is a narcissistic self-promoter of limited and dubious expertise.”

More importantly is the crazy suggestion that we secure our schools like our airports. And again with the mental illness camouflage of the real problem: We are a violent nation. More so than any other western nation. We have 4 percent of the world’s population and 40 percent of the world’s guns.

The equation: more guns = more innocent deaths. Simple. Proven. Fact.

The answer: take away all military style weapons. All large magazine weapons. All weapons designed to enable our military to kill a lot of people quickly in war.

News flash: it is less expensive than arming schools, churches, movie theaters, bowling alleys, rock concerts, etc. (not to mention training teachers, pastors, ticket takers, pin setters and vendors). And it’s legal. Read the Heller decision and the recent denial of certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kolbe v. Hogan, upholding a ban on assault weapons in Washington, D.C.

Moreover, we can abandon the crazy ideas for one that works. Australia bought back their assault weapons and banned the sale of them in 1996 following a mass shooting. Their prime minister was then quoted as follows: “We have an opportunity in this country not to go down the American path.”

They chose well. We have chosen poorly. Since Australia’s buyback and ban they have had no mass shootings. None. We have had 68...this year … as of the writing of this letter.

How many more innocent Americans need to die before we implement an idea proven to work?

If you want to stop the mass killings, ban and buyback all assault weapons and large magazine weapons. Simple. Proven. Legal.

In Maine you can own an AR15, but to hunt you have to change the magazine to a 5 clip. Do we really care more about deer than our children?

Fred Levin

Boothbay