Letter: Decline of gun rule

Sir: A Texan nurse "packing heat" made for a colourful background to Gavin Esler's assertion that "most Americans ... believe that guns are goods as unquestionable as motherhood and apple pie" (Comment, 17 September). But the truth is that the majority of adults in the USA do not own a gun, and ownership of guns has declined in recent years. What is more, young Americans are less likely than their elders to own a gun. There is more cause for optimism than Mr Esler would have us suppose.

JOHN PRATT

London SE23