Shots fired
Dear ER:
The quotes I have read recently from the advocates of so-called open carry have no relation to the reality of guns in America [“Guns cleared for annual festival,” ER Sept. 30, 2010].
The July 17, 1989 issue of Time magazine published a long article titled 7 Deadly Days listing the names of the 464 Americans who had been shot to death between May 1 and May 7 of that year. The circumstances of each death were also listed. Two hundred and sixteen were suicides, 22 were accidents, some involving children. Police officers were involved in 13 shootings, robbers shot some shopkeepers and violence, some of it random and some related to drugs, claimed other victims.
Many people acquire guns to protect themselves and their families, but only 14 deaths were in self-defense. Ninety persons were killed by someone they knew. It’s reasonable to assume that the shooters in those instances never imagined that their possession of a firearm would result in the death of a family member, neighbor or friend.
That week in March was not an unusually violent one. Americans continue to shoot themselves and others by the hundreds every single week. Guns take more American lives in two years than did the entire Viet Nam war. That level of gun violence does not occur in any other industrialized country.
The Time article can be found at time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958158-1,00.html Â
The victims that week, and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been shot to death since then, represent the tragic reality of the proliferation of guns in America.
Victor Silva
Hermosa Beach
Officer defended
Dear ER:
Please do not judge Officer Jeff Goodrich on the article written by Mr. Altman in the Daily Breeze on Oct. 1. As with any case, a person is innocent until proven otherwise and there is so much more to the story than Mr. Altman’s source alluded to.
The time will come when the whole story unfolds, which I suspect will help everyone understand why Mr. Altman’s partial story, the morning following Officer Goodrich’s death, is so troubling.
To those who knew Jeff, we only feel proud that we knew him and a profound sadness that he is gone. It is beyond my understanding why the Breeze (I know it wasn’t just Mr. Altman) chose to publish this story at this particular time when a man as loving and passionate about serving others passed into heaven after a two-year courageous battle, leaving behind great sadness for all who knew him.
So, until you know the whole story, which I do not know myself, let me share with you what I did come to know about Officer Goodrich. Jeff was a family man who left behind a wonderful wife and two beautiful daughters. He left a fiscally rewarding job in home construction to serve his community by fighting crime for less pay. He loved his job and I saw that passion in him the moment I met him.
Beyond crime fighting, he was much more. He was a spiritual man and gave more than he ever received. You could tell by the love in his family’s eyes that he was the kind of husband and father that fairy tales are made of. Jeff did volunteer work for his church, volunteered his services for a local Extreme Home Makeover, donated his time to help kids and was the first to volunteer for any community event the Police Department was involved in.
Jeff was loved by everyone at the Police Department and worked in spite of his battles with cancer because serving the community was in his blood — giving up was not. If it is possible to be too nice of a guy, Jeff was that nice. So, please, Jeff deserves your thanks and warm wishes as he travels to a better place, while his family deserves your kind thoughts and prayers through this very difficult time.
Rod Uyeda
Chief of Police
City of Manhattan Beach