I was stunned to read Susan Reimer's remarks about the mother of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter, Adam Lanza ("Nancy Lanza, Newtown's forgotten victim," Dec. 27). Ms. Reimer makes some astonishing statements.
For example, Ms. Reimer writes that Ms. Lanza "apparently tried to teach her son how to use [the guns in the house] responsibly." But a responsible mother would not have kept guns whose only purpose was to kill in the house.
Later, your columnist tries to get inside Ms. Lanza's head: "I believe Nancy Lanza felt [as deeply as I would regarding my own children] about the decisions she made for and about Adam." Later she states: "I am certain that she wanted to be the best mother she could be."
I have no idea how anyone can make such statements about someone who is dead and who she only knows from news reports.
It has been very difficult to deal with the ridiculous statements made by NRA representatives, gun dealers and "gun enthusiasts" since the Sandy Hook massacre. And on its heels, a deranged gun enthusiast in Rochester, N.Y., shot and killed two firefighters and wounded two others.
This is a time to deal with the weekly massacres across this country. There are 300 million guns in this country, a staggering figure, and at least four of them were inside Nancy Lanza's house.
In my opinion, a responsible mother or father would not allow guns in the house. Guns are accidents waiting to happen. And a responsible mom or dad would not allow their children to visit a house with guns inside.
I have no idea why Ms. Lanza had guns in her house or why she took a son with mental problems to a firing range. I do know that these misguided decisions resulted in her death.
I surely hope parents around the country will learn from this and get rid of their guns.
Then they should become advocates for gun control legislation aimed at preventing more gun-related acts of madness.
Max Obuszewski, Baltimore