Opinion

Round of applause for Glock control

As a retired cop, I agree with you on the tepid response of the NYPD to high-powered weapons, ammunition and large ammo clips — all the tools of killers (“One Mayor Gets It,” Editorial, Jan. 14).

I think it’s pure politics. To me, the NRA is the single greatest enemy of police officers, and the greatest impediment to public safety.

These enablers of the gun dealers, both legal and illegal, make it possible for crazies like Jared Lee Loughner to obtain high-powered guns quickly and easily.

If the NYPD were really serious about gun safety, it would be aggressively going after the NRA with public-safety messages and lobbying efforts.

It might not be successful since the NRA is so powerful, but at least it would be trying to make it harder for criminals and crazies to get legal weapons.

Michael J. Gorman

Whitestone

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The Post’s editorial board must be commended for its stance against the semiautomatic pistol and high-capacity magazines.

While I believe in gun control and The Post may not, we both agree that this particular gun leads to multicasualty horror.

By exercising common sense, we can eliminate this particular danger and still ensure individual gun rights in America.

Pietro Allar

Manhattan

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What differs when a killer has one 30-round gun magazine or two 15-round magazines? The two seconds it takes to eject the empty magazine and reload the gun.

Will a two-second delay save anyone? Will someone always be able to disarm the criminal while he reloads? Or if a limit had any real benefit, should psychopaths kill only 15 people and no more?

Jerold Levine

Valley Stream

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Glock can refuse to manufacture high-capacity magazines or restrict their sale to the military and law enforcement, but that won’t keep others from making and selling them, including through the mail and over the Internet.

Had Loughner had three 10-round magazines or three pistols with three magazines, the same number of people would be dead.

The issue is: How do you license firearms ownership to keep guns away from the mentally unstable without depriving the rest of us of our constitutional rights?

Philip DePalma

Manhattan

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Just as there are auto-supply companies that make parts to replace and modify factory-made parts, there are similar enterprises that make magazines for guns.

Magazines are simple. They are essentially the same as Pez dispensers — a rectangular device with a spring on the bottom that pushes the Pez candies or bullets up and into position.

Anyone in a high-school metal shop can make one or buy one from a non-Glock supplier.

When it comes to preventing shootings, let’s try ideas that will work, like smarter policing and longer sentences for violent criminals.

Let’s skip the naive and useless feel-good “solutions” coming from uninformed, grandstanding politicians.

Chris Bischof

Brooklyn

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The Post’s demanding a ban on high-capacity gun magazines or boycotting their manufacturer from business with the city is completely off target.

When a deranged person decides to drive up on a sidewalk and mow down pedestrians, will you call for a boycott of Chevys?

What we need to do is open up mental institutions, where we can lock up animals like Loughner and throw away the key.

Ken Rosen

Brooklyn