To the editor:

I want to propose a different perspective than Tom Blair did in “Vote common sense” when he said gun control was at the heart of the shooting of the little girl in Michigan.

In this case, gun control is not the problem. A gun is only one weapon available to children. If a gun is not available to a violent kid, he or she will find other means. Guns just seem to be the popular choice. A kitchen knife has the same potential as a gun.

Another reason guns are not at fault is because a gun has to be aimed and fired. Guns do not kill people; people kill people. A gun serves as a tool, just like a knife or pair of scissors.

There is a bigger problem than gun control: bad parenting. Many kids lack the discipline and attention needed to grow into a nonviolent, productive person.

Many children are raised by parents who do not raise them or discipline them accordingly.

The young minds of these children are easily influenced by parents fighting, violent television shows and too much freedom, all of which warp the way a child thinks. Some end up believing these things are natural or proper.

Is there a solution? I believe so. Though it was the boy who shot the little girl in Michigan, if this boy had been properly raised and disciplined, he would not have even thought about taking a gun to school and would not have shot the little girl.

The parents instead are at fault because of their neglect to raise and discipline their child.

The parents in this situation and parents like them should be punished by law.

Nick Erickson

Freshman

Mechanical engineering