Editor:

It appears that in any given week, we see or hear about senseless killing of our citizens.

As a veterans advocate and combat veteran from Viet Nam, I can recall back then that men with a criminal record given the choice of going to jail or being drafted into the military and risk going to Viet Nam.

We veterans have experienced combat, where we had no choice but to kill or be killed, as our enemy had no regard for human life. Convicts now in prison for taking a human life in our cities had no regard or disregard for life, killing for senseless reasons, as to satisfy their egos, so maybe they should be forced to join the military.

If they are so dead-set on killing, go to war for your country to serve your sentence and experience killing the enemy or risk being killed. Thus they won’t overload our taxpayers’ tax dollars supporting them for life.

We combat veterans had a license to kill or be killed. Did the citizens that you decided to kill give you the license? Their lives mattered!

Ernest Garcia

Rio Rancho