Letter: More gun laws won't curb gun crime

This is in reference to the Oct. 12 Tribune editorial “The deadly peril of not enforcing gun laws” about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives not enforcing existing gun laws, which contributed to the tragic murder of Chicago police Cmdr. Paul Bauer. This was a genuine tragedy that might have been prevented if the ATF had arrested and convicted an unlicensed firearms dealer. I was happy to read the headline addressing the deadly consequences of not enforcing existing gun laws.

What struck me odd was the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board's thinking that the solution is to pass additional anti-gun laws. If criminals, who by definition do not obey the law, are free to commit crimes because existing laws are not enforced, why does the Tribune think they will obey yet another law? \

The number of existing federal, state and local laws governing the sale and possession of firearms is estimated to be in the thousands. By all means let’s enforce them and prosecute law breakers to the fullest — but don't for a minute think that failure to enforce existing laws can be corrected by passing yet more laws.