I am an Anglo-Irishman who has the good fortune to be married to a girl from Minnesota. We return to our home in France mystified by the aberration in your legal system that already has taken 30 lives in Minneapolis this year alone. Mystified by the lack of gun control, and aware that guns are out there in people's houses, cars, handbags and pockets. In most cases they are legally held and ready to carry out their purpose: to kill or to maim. When will your great country learn from the shocking statistics of gun-related killings? I know about your Constitution, which is the admiration of the world. But it was written for a pioneer society without a proper police force. I also know about your powerful gun lobby. But I also know the outrage of my American family, which dearly wants laws changed to control this senseless access to such an amazingly easy way of killing. I leave America with this notice in my mind: "In accordance with Minnesota law, Mall of America bans guns in these premises." Could not this extend to the whole of your society? I hope so.PADDY CARPENTER, FERICY, FRANCE