Another Classroom Shooting I read your cover story “Did Kayla Have to Die?” (U.S. Affairs, March 13) with total horror and disgust. It is a national disgrace that the world’s leading democracy should tolerate such outrages without enacting the necessary legislation to severely restrict and preferably ban all handguns outright. The British government, after two massacres (Hungerford, England, in 1987 and Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996), rose to the occasion by confiscating and/or restricting the types of weapons involved in these incidents. The United States needs to wake up to this nightmare and find the courage to do the right thing. Kayla Rolland’s right to life far outweighed the “rights” of Americans to own handguns. In this third millennium, can the life of an innocent 6-year-old child be so cheap? The eyes of the world focus on America’s shame. Let the U.S. Congress and Senate expunge it and honor the memory of Kayla Rolland, the child martyr. Dominic Shelmerdine London, England
I have taught my children that killing is bad. For American children, it is a little more complicated. They are told that killing is bad unless it is authorized by the state, in which case, it is good. The most frightening of all is that the United States might elect the biggest culprit of “good” executions as its next president, George W. Bush. I quite understand that American children have trouble learning right from wrong. Caroline Laporte Geneva, Switzerland
It’s obvious, isn’t it? if only little Kayla had listened to the National Rifle Association, she would have drawn her own gun faster than her attacker and shot him dead before he could shoot her. Walt Welles Isle Of Skye, Scotland
I presume Charlton Heston, speaking for the NRA, will say that the semi-automatic gun was innocent. Rene Gardea Prague, Czech Republic
I couldn’t help but wonder over the irony of your advice on what parents can do to protect their children from gun violence: “When your children are older, make sure they get training in gun safety.” In the rest of the world, you need this knowledge only when you join the army. Henrik Steenberg Stoke-On-Trent, England
These evils we Americans are wreaking on our children are the result of moral bankruptcy—that of valuing the rights of adults (to own guns, to view pornographic violence, etc.) over the rights of defenseless children (to safety, to a proper nurturing environment, etc.). But children do not vote. So, unless a grand effort at a national moral renovation—including far-reaching legal reform—takes place, thousands more of our children will be slain by the mad, the cruel and even their own alienated classmates. Joaquin Martinez Irapuato, Mexico
Your story on the tragic murder of little Kayla Rolland was so heartfelt and so emotional that I cried as I was reading it. How can I, as a parent, be guaranteed that my 4-year-old daughter will be safe when she starts school? I am not worried about how I have raised her; my concern is how other parents are raising their children. Lisa Winalis Canton, Michigan
You did it again! in the same issue where you ask why 6-year-old Kayla was murdered, you promote a violent game (“Double Trouble,” Cyberscope, March 13). In a society where violence and entertainment are synonyms, why are serious magazines like NEWSWEEK saying OK to violence as entertainment by writing positive articles about highly violent games, films and books? Where even films made for small children (like “Mulan” and “Tarzan”) contain murder scenes, there will be kids killing kids. God bless America—it needs it. Tove Fasting Kavala, Greece
Does anyone honestly believe that the drug-dealing criminals who lived in the house with the boy who killed Kayla Rolland would have bothered to lock a trigger lock or to register the gun they had stolen? I am not against gun control as much as I am against the passing of more useless laws that will do nothing to solve the problem that they are supposed to fix. This killing should be regarded not as a matter of gun control, but rather as a failure of the child-protection laws. It was apparently known that this little boy had serious problems, but what was done to help him? Was he offered “counseling”? Lessons on “anger management”? What a joke! He should have been removed from that hellhole long ago. Mary Ellen Huss Dubois, Pennsylvania
As long as children grow up in a society that is accepting of guns and violent TV shows, videogames and movies, many more Kaylas will die. Why the shock? “I don’t think [the little boy] understood that pulling the trigger kills,” said the county prosecutor on the case. Of course he didn’t; how could he? In this 6-year-old’s world, and in the world of most American children, killing someone just ends “the game.” Isn’t that what the boy wanted to do—end the squabble with Kayla? Everywhere he looks, when you kill someone the game or the show is over, or you simply move to the next level of play. This is the children’s reality. Who’s responsible? Each and every one of us is, for allowing such violence—depicted without realistic consequences—in American society. Lisa Dalton Portland, Oregon
The old apothegm reiterated by those who reject stricter gun-control laws takes on a different resonance if it’s paraphrased this way: “Guns don’t kill children—children kill children.” Stan Messick Downingtown, Pennsylvania
The Truth About Taiwan I read “The Myth of ‘One China’” (World View, March 6) with much cynicism. I believe that the author lacks an understanding of the real situation. The American viewpoint, that Taiwan is an island always struggling to be free from mainland China’s evil grasp, is wrong. Previous Taiwanese authorities have always held the stance that there was only one China, either communist—or KMT—ruled. However, due to the weakness of the KMT, they never managed to reclaim their rule on the whole of China. Thus, an opportunist like Lee Teng-hui started stirring up separatist feelings within Taiwan, changing the call from “one China” to “Taiwanese independence.” Eric Hoe London, England
We should never forget the commitment and promises made by the United States to Chiang Kai-shek when he and his Nationalists ran away from the emerging communism in 1949 and established the Republic of China in Taiwan, with American backing and with the hope of regaining the mainland. Taiwan developed so well, with its wealth growing and reserves multiplying, that it became a solid example of free trade and democracy. It is only fair for China to respect its autonomy and consider it almost like an independent nation. America should stand as guarantor for Taiwan’s free economy even after its accession to China. K. Ravindran Singapore
Most people don’t know the historical truth prompting Lee Teng-hui’s requirement that dealings with mainland China (PRC) be on a “special state-to-state basis.” He spoke as president of an 88-year-old sovereign Chinese state, on Chinese soil—the Republic of China (ROC). The ROC is a multi-island nation, east of mainland China; its population (22 million) is greater than that of most other countries of the world. Taiwan Island by itself is not a country, but the ROC’s central government is in Taipei, Taiwan. For that reason, and because Taiwan is by far its largest island, “Taiwan” is a common nickname for the ROC. The PRC still abides by the ludicrous fiction that only Taiwan is real—the ROC is officially a nonentity for China’s PRC. The sad thing is, the ROC is also an official non-entity for most governments of the world. If indeed there is to be a better world, it will have to be a world more in sync with truth, and less one of appeasement. Richard E. Zeimet Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan
From my youngest years, I imbibed with horror tales of German atrocities inflicted upon my people. As a new violinist with the Israeli Kibbutz Chamber Orchestra 13 years ago, I was thus appalled that our first European tour would be to Germany, especially as orchestra members were to be accommodated in private homes. Amazingly, everywhere we traveled, Germans were delighted that we had come, and made fantastic efforts to make us feel comfortable and welcome. As an Orthodox Jew, I presented a challenge to the woman with whom I was billeted: I require special foods and I strictly observe the Sabbath. On Friday evening she walked with me for two hours to facilitate my attendance at services. I went to Germany prepared to hate, and came away with deep respect for its vast commitment to compensate for an unforgivable past. Channah Jacobs Galilee, Israel
I am not quite sure what your correspondent’s intention was in writing this article. If it was to become “wary of the familiar… impulse to generalize about the Germans,” it failed entirely. I agree that we Germans need to face our past. I’ve just recently finished school where we all watched dozens of movies, had many lessons on German history and visited concentration camps. This is part of an attempt to understand how we as a people came to the Third Reich and especially to make sure things like that never happen again. We try to fight our prejudices in every part of life—it is a never-ending process and a daily effort. I think that because of our history, we are much more aware of possible prejudices than a lot of people in other countries. Alexandra Saenger Furth, Germany
Defeating Napoleon In an article about Vladimir Putin, “Russia’s Mystery Man” (Europe, Jan. 17), you stated: “Kutuzov… drove Napoleon out of Moscow and then beat him all the way to Paris.” This is not correct. Field Marshal Kutuzov died on April 28, 1813. Born in 1745, he was an elderly man. Defeating Napoleon was not easy: in 1813, the Russians and the Prussians were defeated in Lutzen, Bautzen and Dresden. Napoleon was finally defeated in Leipzig by the Russians, the Prussians, the Austrians and the Swedes (Bernadotte contributed soldiers). In Spain, the French generals were fighting the English, the Spaniards and the Portuguese. Defeating Napoleon was a huge European effort. Even two centuries later, the Europeans are still interested in all the details of these battles. Bernard Allemany Marseilles, France
