Regarding Alicia Chatkin’s letter “Fox’s Pizza shooting shows need for stronger gun laws” (April 10, TribLIVE): We do not need stronger gun laws in Pennsylvania. What we need to do is get rid of these lily-livered, soft-hearted judges and prosecutors in our courts. We need the death penalty — I favor hanging in public. If some rat sees his buddy hanging, it’s just about guaranteed that he will not break the law and get the same punishment.
A trial is different if there are no witnesses and people aren’t sure. But the case of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, loaded with witnesses, is clear. The lawyers and judges push back on a trial for years. Why should we have a trial when there are witnesses?
No, we do not need more gun laws. Little by little, there are people who want to disarm us completely. California has the strictest gun laws in our country, but just had a mass shooting. Make an example of such a person: Have a short trial and the death penalty within six months. Long trials and appeals just make big profits for lawyers.
I’m 93, and I remember my school years when boys brought guns to school, and on the way home would hunt for game. That’s the way it was in the Depression days, and I don’t remember anybody shooting anybody.
Andrew Ridilla
Latrobe