The accidental shootings of Natchez children La’Joshua White, 8, and Cecilia Banks, 13, made local headlines last year. Then on Mother’s Day this year, a Natchez woman accidentally shot and killed her 22-year-old son — which started a flurry of comments on The Natchez Democrat’s Web site and brought the national gun control debate home to the Miss-Lou.

&uot;The accidental Mother’s Day shooting is a sad commentary on our culture of guns,&uot;&160;wrote one reader. &uot;Americans need to take responsibility if they want to keep their firearms. … I and many others will use this example and thousands like it to lobby for a total ban on handguns.&uot;

&uot;What gun control by lawmakers would have prevented this tragedy?&uot; wrote another.

But local residents said that instilling respect for firearms, educating children on gun safety and enforcing current firearm laws are better solutions to firearm injuries than gun control measures that cannot keep guns out of the hands of determined criminals.

&uot;There are plenty of laws now on the books without passing new ones,&uot;&160;said Natchez Police Chief Willie Huff, adding that he believes teaching gun safety is the key.

&uot;Criminals will still find a way to get around the law and get guns,&uot; said Billy McEwen, 23, of Natchez. &uot;Gun control laws are more of a penalty on law-abiding citizens.&uot;

His father, Butch McEwen, said that in an age when schools teach drug and sex education, they should teach gun safety as well in order to prevent needless accidents.

&uot;They can teach everything else, but they can’t teach gun safety,&uot;&160;McEwen said.

Jack Kerwin believes in teaching children gun safety — after all, he teaches such classes for 4-H in Adams County — but believes that parents must reinforce safe habits long after the classes end in order for those habits to stick.

&uot;If they don’t, that instruction is lost,&uot;&160;Kerwin said.

Billy McEwen grew up around firearms, participating in shooting sports and hunting.

&uot;My dad always taught me never to point a gun at someone, even when you think it’s unloaded, because careless mistakes can happen,&uot;&160;he said.

Teaching respect for guns and enforcing safety rules are essential to preventing firearm-related injuries, Kerwin said.

&uot;Guns have been available for a long time with no problem, but when a child is told no and that’s no enforced, they have no respect for anything,&uot;&160;he said.

Reader Larry Bass went hunting and shot B.B. and pellet guns throughout his childhood in Natchez. &uot;But that was a less permissive society,&uot;&160;he said. &uot;These shooting are the collateral damage of such a permissive society.

&uot;Gun control measures are just Band-Aids … but I’m not smart enough to know the perfect solution, and I don’t know if anyone is.&uot;

Readers also gave their opinions on a number of firearm-related measures that are being debated or put into practice throughout the United States, including:

Background checks. &uot;Having to get a background check done assumes that I am a criminal and I have to prove my innocence, and that’s not the American way,&uot;&160;Billy McEwen said.

Waiting periods. &uot;If you have a stalker and it takes you two weeks to get a gun to defend yourself, it may be too late,&uot;&160;Butch McEwen said.

Gun registration. &uot;That’s another way for the government to try to interfere with people’s lives,&uot;&160;Billy McEwen said.

Guns can easily be taken away if the government knows who owns them, he added, although he doubts millions of U.S. gun owners will let that happen.

Licenses. The Second Amendment makes gun ownership a right, Butch McEwen said. &uot;But when you need a license to do something, you give up a right,&uot;&160;he added. &uot;Driving a car, for example, is a privilege and not a right.&uot;

Gun locks. &uot;A lock is a manmade object and can fail, and if a kid wants to get a gun bad enough, he will find a way,&uot;&160;Kerwin said.

&uot;If someone breaks into your house, you might not be able to get that lock off in time,&uot;&160;Butch McEwen said.

But for Butch and Billy McEwen, the biggest issue is the Second Amendment itself.

&uot;If they start weakening the Second Amendment, what amendment is next?&uot; Billy McEwen said.