National Rifle Assn

Research on gun violence is staging a roaring comeback in the nation's leading medical journals, with a study published this week linking the strength of states' gun laws to varying rates of gun violence across the United States. The new study, published "Online First" by JAMA Internal Medicine, looked at rates of violent deaths over four years -- from 2007 to 2010 -- and looked at how their distribution related to the patchwork of state laws governing gun ownership. It found that in those states with the most restrictive gun laws, rates of violent deaths were significantly lower than in those that had the least stringent laws on their books.

The winner of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the Texas Motor Speedway traditionally gets to fire a six-shooter in victory lane. And the pole winner gets a rifle as a prize. So it only makes sense that the National Rifle Assn. has become the title sponsor of the April race in Fort Worth, which is now known as the NRA 500. But just in case you needed more reasons, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre has plenty. “The NRA 500 is the latest announcement in the long history of a growing partnership between the NRA, Speedway Motorsports and the NASCAR community,” he said in a video shown at Texas Motor Speedway on Monday.

Betsy Sharkey's premise, "A Critic Says the Problem Isn't the Movies but Real Life, Where Killing Is All Too Common," is misguided and unrealistic [Feb. 17]. If killing and violence are all too common in real life, does producing more films, which seem to glorify gratuitous killing and violence, alleviate the problem? I don't think so. After all, fashion, sexual behavior and language in films seem to have an influential and imitative effect in people's lives. Why would violence be exempt?

Re "Killer an obsessive video gamer," Feb. 21 The shooting of Courtney Aoki by Ali Syed and the spree that followed in Orange County should serve as a warning to parents. A child who isolates himself from the real world and lives in a fantasy realm of video games may be suffering a mental condition that can result in such violence. Parents should be monitoring what videos and games the child is viewing, and under no circumstance should that child have access to any weapons. This tragedy may not have happened if Syed's parents had not bought him a shotgun a year ago. Robert C. Thompson Marina Del Rey Re "O.C.

Re "'American Sniper' killed at gun range," Feb. 4 I cried for his wife and children - and us - when I read that former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle was killed by a veteran whom he was trying to help, and that his friend Chad Littlefield was also killed. I hold no malice toward Eddie Ray Routh, a former Marine who allegedly shot them, because clearly he did not get the help he needed after returning from combat. These men chose to go to other countries to protect our freedom at home.

Boy, the National Rifle Assn. sure is thorough. And thin-skinned. Richard Nixon's renowned enemies list had 823 names of people and organizations, but as president, Nixon had scores of issues to grapple with and an entire world to be mad about or suspicious of. SLIDESHOW: The 10 trigger-happiest states in America The NRA deals with only one issue, guns. And yet the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action has got its own list of more than 300 people and groups and companies that have, as the list notes, expressed some anti-gun sentiments at one point or another.

WASHINGTON - "Speaking is difficult, but I need to say something important," former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords told her onetime colleagues. "Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. "It would be hard, but the time is now. You must act. " Her words, read from a single, handwritten page, were among the camera-ready scenes as the Senate began hearings on gun control Wednesday, in a charged atmosphere with each side reaching for emotional force.

Re "The NRA's loose cannon," Editorial, Jan. 24 National Rifle Assn. Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre's defense of "absolutism" on gun rights requires a strong rebuttal. The framers knew that change is a fact of life, and they wrote the Constitution as a living document that could be changed as the future evolved. We ended slavery and granted women the right to vote, for example. Since LaPierre is a firm believer in absolutism, he should know that one of the Ten Commandments orders us, without exceptions, not to kill, and yet gun owners disobey this commandment frequently.

It would be wrong to base one's judgments about politicians too heavily on their gaffes. Public speakers are exposed to microphones so often that it would be shocking if the occasional boneheaded remark didn't slip out. But in the case of National Rifle Assn. Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, the achingly incongruous statements tend not to come from off-the-cuff remarks but carefully vetted prepared statements. Which leaves us to wonder: How can anybody possibly attract such a large and financially powerful following by uttering statements that defy third-grade logic?

The Glendale City Council took the first step toward banning a decades-old gun show at the Civic Auditorium, directing the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would permanently bar the sale of guns on city-owned property. Despite their desire for the ban, however, the majority of City Council members also agreed to allow a gun show already on the calendar for March, saying that they didn't want to create an immediate financial problem for the event's organizer. The decision angered more than 100 gun advocates who packed City Hall on Tuesday night to oppose any measure that would hinder the gun show, which has historically paid to use the Civic Auditorium across from Glendale Community College as its venue.