Tagging and Guns: Drawing a Comparison

* I was shocked to read that The Times would admit that to fight graffiti, “stiff sentencing and vigilance by ordinary citizens do seem to be making a difference, which is heartening news.”

This quote was taken from the editorial “Crime and Graffiti: It’s Everyone’s Fight” (Oct. 17). The editorial explains how cooperation (among) citizens and police and stiff jail terms by at least one municipal judge (Martin Hairabedian Jr.) results in a decrease of graffiti tagging.

How can The Times acknowledge that tagging is committed by the person pushing the button of the can on spray paint and laud the judge for putting that person in jail? Stiff sentencing of taggers will never work because we all know that the only way to prevent graffiti is to ban spray paint and marking pens; just like banning handguns and rifles will stop drive-by shootings and violence.

The next thing you know, The Times will be calling for the death penalty for murderers who use firearms. What a novel idea.

LAWRENCE P. BONHALL

Mission Viejo