I commend the sensible My Turn on a red flag law in Alaska in the April 26 Empire by Bill Hanson. It was so good to hear a reasonable voice.
I was born in Juneau in 1935. My mom was a schoolteacher and my dad worked at many jobs, beginning as a young man working for the AJ Mine. He always loved hunting and tried to get a moose from the Taku River area nearly every winter.
[Opinion: Redefine the experience of visiting the Last Frontier]
He taught my sister and me how to use guns safely. He taught us how to respect, clean and carry them. He taught my mom how to load and fire a small shotgun. This was mostly to keep black bears out of her raspberry patch. She did not enjoy guns, so the bears were fairly safe.
But while he would have defended the right to bear arms, he would also have been alarmed at the proliferation of assault rifles and big ammo clips, especially in the hands of mentally ill people. Surely America can find a sensible, enforceable solution to this problem.
I support Bill Hanson and House Bill 62.
Mollie Buschfort,
Juneau
• My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire.