Guns kill people

In response to the mass murder at Sandy Hook, Shmuley Boteach writes that our mean and materialistic culture is at fault (“Angry men acting out,” December 21). He blames the pursuit of success as measured by wealth, fame and power – this from American Jewry’s premier narcissist. If only all people were raised in a caring environment that does not marginalize crazed individuals like Adam Lanza, we could cure the ills of our society. In his Utopian world view, a mere hello, he says, even to strangers, “might sometimes be enough to remind that person that he or she is part of a larger human family.”

His piece is a thinly veiled “religious” endorsement of the Republican and NRA’s pro-gun policies, and I bet they will make good use of it too. Shamefully, he says nothing about guns. His message is that “people kill people.” But if Lanza did not have easy access to assault weapons, Boteach’s column would not ring so hollow.

Until Moshiach comes, when everyone will suddenly become nice, only the repeal or modification of the Second Amendment will reduce the violence.

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