Everyone has a right to think what they want, and to express themselves, regardless where they stand on any particular issue. I wish people would stop with the "shut up, you idiot" messages.

I've spent a lot of time with guns -- eight years in the military, expert marksman with an M-16, 45-caliber and 9-mm automatic pistols, extensively trained in law enforcement procedures, riot control, etc. My dirty little secret is that I LOVE guns -- I love the way they feel when I shoot them, I love the way all the moving parts work together, and most especially I love the way a gun makes me feel like a tough guy. I am not alone, and anyone who is experienced with a gun (particularly a handgun) and is honest will tell you the same thing. Start carrying a gun, and right away you feel like John Wayne. That's why we need to get rid of most of them, and tightly control the rest. Gun control may be difficult, but if we want to stop the insane escalation of violence, we have to either tightly control the guns or tightly control the people -- all 300 million of them in this country, for starters.

The whole "assault weapon" thing is basically a red herring; only a very small percentage of the gun deaths in this country are caused by assault weapons. The Second Amendment argument is bogus -- the Supreme Court has consistently and correctly ruled that the Second Amendment protects local militias from having their weapons taken away, but does not confer an automatic, inalienable right to individual gun ownership. Besides, the Second Amendment refers to "the right to keep and bear arms" -- which is pretty broad, and includes nuclear bombs, nerve gas, and virtually any other evil device known to man (or as yet unknown). Anybody care to argue that the Constitution says we all are allowed to stockpile nuclear weapons? Anyone want to continue living in this country if the answer to that question is yes?

We in America not only HAVE the most guns, we also MAKE and EXPORT the most guns. Given the economic interests involved, banning them wouldn't be easy. And no, it isn't a stand-alone remedy, and it wouldn't prevent every crime. But it would substantially reduce the level of violence in this country, and for that reason it's worth doing. Either that, or let's learn to live with the high level of violent crime that is such an unfortunate byproduct of our American society and culture