Letter: Presidential race

Sir: The forthcoming US mayors' march to Washington to persuade Congress to enact tougher gun-control laws (report, 16 August) could create more awareness about how the US has become the most violent nation with the highest gun-related murder rate (in peace time).

But, before the shooting spree in Littleton, Colorado (which resulted in 15 deaths), which was the driving force behind the march, there have been other deadly school-shooting incidents in nine schools in eight states, which resulted to 21 deaths, wounding more than 74 people. The list goes on and on.

The saddest characteristic of these attacks is the trigger-happy randomness and the influence of hate groups and white-supremacist organisations.

Against this background, nearly one million people have been killed in gun-related homicides in the United States since 1968, when some gun-control laws were enacted following the assassination of Robert Kennedy. There are also more than 200 million readily-available guns in the US, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Perhaps, some of your leading politicians could come here to share your gun-control legislations, and persuade Congress and the National Rifle Association to back away from politics of opportunism, obstructionism and gun-fetishism.

IGONIKON S JACK

Baton Rouge, Louisiana