Letter: In brief

Sir: Predictably, the US gun lobby is trotting out again its contention that availability of guns does not affect the number of murders. With 15 per cent of the population of Britain, New York state has about the same number of killings. The "surplus" is accounted for by shootings. For the supporters of the "right to bear arms" to be correct, either all New York's victims would die by other means if guns were barred, or there would be no change in the murder rate here if controls on guns were abolished. Neither seems at all likely.

HARVEY R COLE

Winchester