5 Dead - Only the killer had a gun.

Letter to the editor in Chicago's Daily Herald:

I'm appalled Illinois has not yet passed a concealed-carry law to make their citizens safer.

When I drive in from Arizona, my Concealed Weapons Permit is valid in every state I drive through up to Illinois. Before entering Illinois, I must unload, case and store my handgun away. Why is my life worth less in Illinois?

First response:

I don't believe returning to the Wild Wild West is a solution! A shoot 'em up community is not what we want!

It's like there's one person running around answering all these letters. The same individual with the same ideas and the same responses to every argument.

The letter writer, a student attending school in Arizona, notes the Lane Bryant incident and wonders if one of the victims had been armed maybe things would have gone differently. But our overworked responder is ready for that one:

And, you are forgetting that the perpetrator of the aforementioned crime WAS carrying a weapon! Based on that fact, one can easily deduce that more stringent gun carrying (not more permissive) laws are in order. We don't want to put MORE guns out there! One (there are others) of the preventive measures that could be taken is for stores to install security systems whereby with a touch of a button, help could be summoned.

I say install TWO buttons. One to summon help, the other to make it 85 degrees and sunny outside.