The sardonic political cartoon (June 26), showing a bumper-sticker reading, "Guns don't kill people. Flags kill people!" sends a pertinent message regarding the tragedy of the Emanuel Nine killings in South Carolina.

Almost all discussion in the aftermath has been about where or where not to display the Confederate flag. There has been little discussion of how apparently yet another bug-eyed lunatic (this latest a virulent racist with a felony arrest record) can enter a gun store, plop down money and walk out with a .45 caliber weapon.

President Obama has once again called for more stringent gun control in the wake of this latest massacre. However, the cowardly Congress has not, and probably will not, consider even the no-brainer of strengthening of background checks that could possibly prevent at least some of these inevitable future slaughterings.

Yes, it is long past time the anachronistic, divisive symbol of the Confederacy should be mothballed. Much more important, enabling evil crackpots to bear arms does not translate into a well-regulated militia. Rather, this will continue to enable the carnage we have too often witnessed.

Flags don't kill people. Guns kill people!

Gerald Drury

Ledyard