Editor, Manteca Bulletin, Saturday’s “Faith” article by Chuck Root about the gun debate was rather unsettling. First off, O didn’t expect a religious article to be about federal laws. What happened to separation of church and state? And then, comparing Hitler’s Germany to our government today? Not even close.

Then, to put on a pedestal a woman who shot a “bad guy” in self-defense was unfortunate. The situation could have gone the other way if he had had a gun (not mentioned) and used it to blast her and her kids away.

The entire current effort to control guns is to prevent mass shootings that have happened way to frequently lately. Nobody is going to take away your rifles or shotguns. They just want to make it more difficult for a person to obtain guns - especially people with mental health issues. And especially assault-style rifles with high-capacity magazines. Nobody needs such guns for sport; they are only designed to kill people.

Please, stop the hysteria. Let’s work together to make this country a safer place for all. The Founding Fathers had blunderbusses that shot one bullet at a time, after laborious loading procedures; they never imagined rapid-fire weapons of mass destruction.

Bekke Hess

Manteca

Jan. 27, 2013