In the weekly feature called "e-views," we invite readers to answer a question via e-mail.

Last week's question:

Shots being fired — whether at a "party" or in anger — seem to be a common occurrence in parts of East County these days. What can be done to stem the violence?

FROM WHAT I KNOW, sentences for crimes in the East County (especially Antioch) area are not strong enough. I am aware of one case, in particular, where the accused robber refused to acknowledge his crime, even though the proof was presented. He is doing insufficient time in my estimation and will no doubt be out and around to commit some more thefts, if not worse. The victim in that case asked to be at the thief's arraignment, and also at his sentencing, but was never called to give her testimony in person. There is no fear of prosecution in our county, maybe not even in the state of California, so people who commit crimes do not suffer as much as the victims. Some of our judges should be recalled.

Beth Pforr

Brentwood

IF EVERYBODY was armed or presumed armed that would stop all the violence.

For example, what just occurred at Fort Hood is a microcosm of our current situation in the country. At the largest military base in the world the only person armed was a maniac major. It took a city police officer to take him down. Look at all the horrific damage he caused before he was stopped.

Roy Maxson

Oakley

GUN SHOTS and other violence will continue to worsen until our legal system "toughens up" and demonstrates to potential lawbreakers that there are severe consequences for such dangerous (and sometimes deadly) behavior. A minimum amount of jail time and community service just doesn't seem to deter all the serious criminal activities that we hear about every day.

Let's start setting some strong punishment examples throughout this country, so the message will get out through the media. For murderers, etc., we have to think more about the victims — and less of the murderers. A couple obvious examples that come to mind are Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan. Our justice system has "retired" them for decades at taxpayers' expense while their victims have been six- feet under. The only thing that dangerous criminals will understand is the severe and swift penalty that lies ahead if they get caught.

Glenn Young

Brentwood

THE FORT HOOD TRAGEDY underscores a national homicide rate leading the industrialized world with fourfold England's, sevenfold Japan's, eightfold Ireland's. Psyches are battered by broken families, economic upheaval, urban loneliness, numbing materialism and a breakneck speed of societal change.

Credence to Crosby, Stills and Nash: "Teach your children well." Well begun is, after all, half done.

As no substitute for active moms and dads and tough love, the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE), a program that teaches parenting skills in the Antioch schools, needs expanding. The local Youth Intervention Network is, likewise, invaluable, with cross-agency referrals, family counseling and volunteer mentors.

Adult-wise, mental health agencies can't overstress the wellness survival tools of this age of angst and alienation: family, community and self-connectedness. Centering practices like anger management, prayer, meditation and exercise can instill a disposition of chill out vs. shoot out.

Walter Ruehlig

Antioch

NOT MUCH! A generation of kids raised on TV violence and video games such as "Grand Theft Auto" may have real problems knowing where fantasy stops and the real world begins. Shooting someone in a video game gets you points, shooting someone in real life gets you jail time. We may have to start over with the next generation to fix the problem.

Don Anthony

Pittsburg

FIRST AND FOREMOST, police departments have to hire more officers to help with improving response times, but that may be difficult with budgetary constraints being experienced currently.

Police cannot be "everywhere," and are often occupied with numerous other calls, also of a hot nature. Large parties can, and often do, get out of control with young partygoers. One thing that might be helpful in reducing these large parties is for parents preventing their family members from "advertising" large parties on Facebook and MySpace, because these advertisements tend to attract some of the more undesirable young people looking for some "party action," and they quickly become uninvited guests, possibly armed, causing trouble. There is a vast difference between a small party of friends, compared with one of those monster parties numbering 100 guests, with many of them strangers. As for any business establishments with night entertainment, combined with alcohol sales that has even one incident with gunplay, they should be shut down period, with a zero tolerance for criminal behavior.

Hats off to the police today, as they have one tough job policing in a city of 110,000 — especially with parents quick to act with lawsuits, instead of good old-fashioned "parental discipline" and control of their kids.

Dick Augusta

Antioch

This week's question:

What are you thankful for this year?

E-mail your response to bnews@bayareanewsgroup.com. Please limit responses to a few sentences, and be sure to include your full name and city of residence. Not all responses will be published. Note: Please reply on or before Monday, Nov. 23.