Soon I'll be reliving a nightmare. Nine years ago on Dec. 14, my granddaughter escaped with her life from the Sandy Hook Elementary School after a young man killed 20 first graders and six adults. He used a Bushmaster rifle and a Glock handgun. It took him just 4 1/2 minutes. His mother bought the guns.

Last month, a 15-year-old fired at least 30 rounds to kill four and injure seven students at Oxford High School in Michigan. It took him just a few minutes with a Sig Sauer handgun. His parents bought him the gun.

I'm trying to stay calm and not wish that the wrath of God descend on our Congress for doing absolutely nothing to change what's happening with school shootings.

I can't stay calm with weapons being sold via Christmas fliers from stores like Cabela's and Scheels. With parents giving guns to their kids (for what possible reason?). With lawmakers asking Santa for ammo for Christmas.

Or maybe the wrath of God should descend on all of us for putting up with 32 deaths and 94 injuries on school grounds in 2021, according to Everytown For Gun Safety. For not doing a thing about it. For not doing obvious things like universal background checks, holding parents responsible, red-flag laws, prohibiting military weapons for nonmilitary people.

Maybe like climate change, we will just sit back and leave it to our children, when they're not too busy doing active shooter drills at school.

Betty Beier, Edina

When my daughter was murdered in 2007 (Katherine Ann Olson, first Craigslist killing) the storage of the murder weapon was a side issue. Her killer took it out of his father's dresser along with the bullets stored in a pill bottle. After the murder he cleaned the gun and replaced it in the drawer.

But recently, with the school shooting in Michigan, the 13-year-old killing his 5-year-old cousin in Brooklyn Park, and the 14-year-old caught in his St. Paul school with his father's handgun taken from a bedroom, I have been prompted to reconsider the parents' role in my daughter's murder ... and in these other situations. Research shows that it is often a key factor (the majority of firearms used in school shootings come from home, a relative or a friend). The National Rifle Association champions safe storage of guns, basically locking them in such a way that no one but the owner (and no child without permission) can use them. Rare as it is, I am in league with the NRA here.

As a gun owner and supporter of hunting, I have no quarrel with owning guns. But they are obviously deadly and need to be dealt with accordingly. It is clear that the safe storage message is not getting through and that current laws are not deterring dangerous behaviors. People are dying as a result. With the tsunami of firearm sales in recent years, largely to untrained owners, this trajectory of tragedy is inevitable.

I implore our legislators to revisit legislation on safe storage and emphasize this aspect of gun ownership — especially at the point of sale. A recent proposal in New York required the purchase of a lockable gun case with the purchase of a firearm, but it was defeated. Without action on this issue we can foresee the consequences. I know the pushback from the gun rights folks about laws that "punish legal gun owners," yet the ones getting punished by this oversight are the victims — like my daughter.

Rolf Olson, Falcon Heights

According to the National Institutes of Health, rural women reported significantly higher rates and severity of physical abuse than their urban counterparts. Women in small rural and isolated areas reported the highest prevalence of intimate partner violence (22.5% and 17.9%, respectively) compared to 15.5% for urban women. "The mean distance to the nearest IPV resource was three times greater for rural women than for urban women, and rural IPV programs served more counties and had fewer on-site shelter services," according to the NIH.

A reminder for the editors: Violence doesn't cease to be violence because it's happening in your home.

Rachael Joseph, Minneapolis

Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson faces alcohol-related charges following his one-vehicle accident in Douglas County last week ("DWI charges for Hennepin Co. sheriff," Dec. 11). As an alcoholic with 40 years sobriety granted to me through the good graces of other recovering people, I suggest a path that may provide him a full life that will exclude alcohol.

In one article last week, Hutchinson indicated that he will seek treatment. It's a good first step to examine the effects of alcohol on his family, work and community life. Presuming he decides to enter treatment, some of us in recovery might suggest that he dedicate his treatment time to reflection on his drinking habits, pausing particularly to measure how his family and work life have been negatively impacted. I and many others in recovery can share how we initially thought life as we knew it would end if we could not enjoy a "brew or two" in many of life's settings. Those with whom I share time in recovery agree to a man or woman, there is life — great and productive life — without alcohol. May the sheriff find his place in such a world, if he wants it.

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I may be assuming wrong, but I can't help but think that Sheriff Hutchinson was socializing and drinking with his peers. Did any of these people, presumably law enforcement personnel who are trained in detecting impairment, not see that he shouldn't be driving? A 0.13% blood alcohol content well after leaving tells me he had to have been drinking quite a bit and must have shown some impairment. It would be interesting to see video from where he was drinking to see who was possibly an enabler in his actions.

Chris Bradshaw, Columbus

I appreciate the coverage given the proposed development on Snail Lake ("Shoreview neighbors balk at big project," Dec. 4), but I need to clarify a couple of key points. This looming lakeside behemoth would be far, far larger than anything near it — completely out of character with the neighborhood, current zoning and Shoreview's recently minted 2040 master plan. Also mentioned in the article was Mayor Sandy Martin's comment that development happens. I respect and have voted for the mayor every election since 1996. But no one realistically expects this beautiful piece of property to go undeveloped. The issue is what that will look like.

As it stands now, the proposal calls for cramming in around 300 new residences on an already fragile, vanishingly small urban lake. This unprecedented density requires clear-cutting dozens of landmark trees, draining wetlands and vastly increasing traffic loads on already overstressed roads. The costs of this development on critical habitat and lake health are unfathomable. We all have a stake in this — Snail Lake is one of Shoreview's crown jewels, with a huge public beach and surrounding trails that draw thousands of people from throughout the region every year. Shoreview has long been a leader in promoting and protecting these priceless, irreplaceable treasures. For all of us and future generations, let's hope our public servants continue on that green path.