By LEE GRAVES

I read the comments by Stephanie Nakhleh (letter) in Saturday’s paper, and I have to correct her errors.

She states that “by the time I finish (this letter), three more people will be killed by guns in America.” The truth is, according to the FBI Crime Statistics for 2013, the last year available, there were 14,196 murders in America by firearm, of every type and description, and 69 percent of those were by firearm. 

That equals about one per day, not three in the time it would take her to write a letter, as stated. Quite a big difference. Oh, those pesky statistics. And remember, crimes are declining every year and have been doing so for many years, so the current figure is actually lower. 

Further, she states that we must insist that guns be kept away from the violently mentally ill. I agree, and this is the current federal law. Anyone adjudicated as mentally defective or committed to a mental institution, or subject to a court order restraining them from harassing, threatening, or threatening a child or domestic partner, or convicted of a crime of domestic violence, is precluded from acquiring a firearm from anyone, by any means. 

She also states that we need to close loopholes that make it simple to buy an arsenal on the internet. Poor Ms. Nakhleh, I hate to inform you that while one can certainly BUY an arsenal, as she calls it, on the Internet, in order to take POSSESSION of that arsenal, one needs to go to a federally licensed dealer, fill out a lot of forms, and undergo a NICS background check. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention, multiple handgun purchases require another form to be filled out and submitted to the BATFE letting them know that more than one handgun has been purchased. 

It should be worth mentioning that we do not have a gun problem in this country, we have a mental health problem. Address this issue, and the so-called “gun problem” will pretty much take care of itself.