Sorry to have been out of touch. Too much going on I didn’t want to discuss in a public forum. Still don’t. Recent events are devastating. My thoughts best encapsulated below. Nancy > All points are good ones. But it is instructive to look at gun homicide in > industrialized countries. These are the numbers per 100,000 people in a > couple with comparable socio-economic status to us: > > Australia: .14 > Belgium: .68 > Canada: .51 > England: .07 > France: .06 > Germany: .19 > Sweden: .14 > > United States: 2.97 > > The US has less than 5% of the world’s population but has approximately > (it’s difficult to get an exact number here) 45% of the civilian owned > guns. More guns, more gun deaths. > > There is a significant correlation between the proportion of people in a > state who own a gun and the murder rate in that state. More guns, more gun > deaths. > > All other things being equal, one utterly compelling fact comes though: > the more guns there are the higher the rate of death from a firearm. > > The question of how to go about dealing with this simple and unassailable > fact isn’t easy to answer. But we have got to do something to reduce the > violence. It’s killing our children, eating us up emotionally, shredding > communities and pitting good people against each other. > > Some things seem fairly obvious (at least to this liberal): > > a. ban assault weapons — no civilian needs an assault weapon. They exist > for a single reason: to kill many people. Ditto for high-powered ammo and > rapid fire rifles. > > b. institute a voluntary gun buy-back — melt down the guns turned in > and build a monument to the children who have been slaughtered by those > assault weapons > > c. close down the gun shows where anyone can buy any weapon with no check > other than whether his/her credit card is approved. regulated gun shows > can, of course, continue just like shows for any other commodity. > > d. require background checks for anyone who wishes to purchase a gun — > heck, we do this for anyone who wants a mortgage, a passport or a Nexus > card (for crossing the Canadian or Mexican borders) > > e. require a re-application after five years — heck, we do this for > drivers’ licenses. > > None of these would violate the 2nd Amendment. None would cause problems > for skeet shooters, rifle-range enthusiasts, hunters or people who feel > they want a gun for their own personal protection. > > Finally, there are some things that get glossed over in the debates: > > a. The myth of the lone gunman stopping a robbery or taking out the bad > guy in the mall or stopping the intruder coming through the window is … a > myth. These things happen in novels and movies. They virtually never happen > in the “real world.” > > b. In most cases where a guy with a gun tries to stop a guy with a gun it > goes badly. Within the last month a pastor killed his own granddaughter who > he thought was an intruder and a home owner shot and killed a 12 and a 13 > year-old who were friends of his son whom he thought were trying to break > into his house. > > c. even if you manage to kill an intruder the psychological costs of this > act are terrible. We get so used to seeing Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis mow > down the bad guys and then go home and pour a beer that we fail to > appreciate the horrific mental toll of actually killing someone. Talk to a > soldier who’s actually killed someone up close and personal. Talk to a cop. > It’s devastating