海角大神

Addressing gun control debate

The substance and engaging writing of the Oct. 18 Monitor Daily article 鈥淎 New Yorker鈥檚 first sight of a gun range鈥� represents Monitor writing at its best. The writer told his story in a very straightforward way, without drama, which proved to be both insightful and empathetic. He respected the emotional involvement of many with their guns. All readers can learn the most from his ending paragraphs, particularly this: 鈥淢y heart is still pounding, and I鈥檓 thinking of what it means to wield such power, relatively speaking, over life and death.鈥�

It has been more than 50 years since I first (and last) held a gun 鈥� a Colt 45 鈥渟ervice revolver,鈥� more or less like the 9 mm semiautomatic pistol the writer used. I had the weapon for security in transporting cash for Navy payrolls and I never needed to fire it, except in qualification practice. To this day, I remember the awesome destructiveness of the ammunition. It will permanently puzzle me that the trio of weapons with even greater destructive power the writer next shot are so commonly in use. My hope is that large numbers of the 72 percent of US adults who have fired a gun will someday come to realize the folly of the path they have set out upon. Thank you for this compellingly relevant story.

David K. McClurkin

Beachwood, Ohio

Easy-to-understand astronomy

Regarding the Oct. 16 Monitor Daily story 鈥淎n astronomical finding that鈥檚 making (more) waves鈥�: I was surprised I could understand the concepts. You did a beautiful job of explaining them. Thank you!

Kathleen Anderson

Fair Oaks, Calif.

Beautifully crafted review

The Nov. 6 review of Mary Oliver鈥檚 book 鈥淒evotions鈥� is probably the most beautifully crafted review of a body of work that I have ever read. I鈥檓 heading out today to buy the book.

Anne Babcock

Fairview, N.C.