Letters to the Editor: Is American gun culture putting nervous cops on a hair trigger?

To the editor: The byproduct of U.S. gun laws that nobody is talking about is how they affect police culture. This may have been on display in the killing of Atatiana Jefferson by a Fort Worth, Texas, police officer while she was in her own home.

Cops seem to believe that everyone is armed and everyone has more firepower than them. That’s one reason that officers are on hair triggers and have adopted a mentality of draw your gun first and shoot if you feel afraid.

If some civilians were not armed to the teeth with assault weapons, police would have no reason to be so fearful. We have a long way to go.

If citizens in their own homes are being shot by nervous police officers, the U.S. has no authority to lecture any other country about human rights.

Michael Krubiner, Valley Village

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To the editor: I’ve had three instances of a gun being pointed at me.

The first was during infantry training by a guy later kicked out because he was crazy; the second was by a rival political campaign worker hanging signs on a telephone pole; the last was by a second-grade girl sharing a family member’s pistol in the classroom. Each time I needed to run or take action.

I can understand an officer’s response when he believes a gun is being pointed at him. I also believe we need to hold officers accountable when they do not follow the standard operating procedure.

The more guns there are, the more killings there are too.

Hal Rothberg, Calabasas