About 30,000 people die of gunshot wounds every year in the US. Is that OK?  And the vast majority of those deaths are not accidents but intentional killings! While most gun deaths are suicides at least 10,000 every year are murders. If we are a civilized society should we care, or do anything about it? Is gun violence a domestic crisis as well as a national embarrassment? I think so.

It seems to me that the political leaders in any healthy democracy with so many gun deaths should be looking for ways to work together to reduce those statistics. Whether people kill themselves or someone else I think we need a serious national debate about what to do to reduce gun violence. And everything should be on the table except the specific language of the 2nd Amendment and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of it.

Just so there is no confusion: I am certified by the NRA as a firearms safety instructor in all disciplines except black powder (though I choose not to be a member of the NRA). I was also certified in another state as a concealed weapons permit (CWP) instructor. I taught those courses until I moved to Ohio last year. So I am neither ignorant of firearms nor anti-gun.

I will have more to say on this subject in the future!