To the Editor:

Retired Teacher Chapter Leader Tom Murphy argues in his column [“Stopping gun violence a priority,” May 2] that Congress must follow the lead set by the New York State Legislature and governor “to pass strong and effective gun-control legislation.” Implicit in his impassioned rhetoric is the notion that a nationwide call for gun control will prevent another “Sandy Hook” tragedy.

The thesis of Tom Murphy’s argument is fallacious because it begs the very question at issue, which is whether a nationwide “NYSAFE Act” would in fact serve to stem firearms violence in our nation’s schools.

Mere assertion, tacit assumption and the naked appeal to raw emotion through excessive reliance on anecdotal account and use of strident prose do not substitute for independent, verifiable evidence that such legislation would indeed work. Otherwise, one is asking much of the U.S. Congress to have it cavalierly enact legislation that directly impinges upon and infringes upon a fundamental right.

Impassioned rhetoric is ever a poor substitute for tempered, cogent and coherent reasoning. If we are to have a quarrel over firearms violence in the schools, let us begin with an honest critique of the stakes, a laying bare of personal biases, caustic attitudes and aesthetic sensibilities toward firearms generally. And let us not deride opposing views and dismiss them out of hand simply because we happen to be caught up in the frantic, frenzied energy of the moment.

Stephen L. D’Andrilli, retired