Americans have a gun problem.  No other developed country has as many shooting deaths and injuries.  Some studies indicate that we have four times and others indicate seven times as many shootings as any other country.  Travelers are safer in Ireland or Japan than they are at home.

 Those who support improving gun safety measures include survivors of mass shootings, the families of victims, those concerned with public health and safety, and those who are horrified by gun violence

Those who support the rights to bear arms include hunters, collectors, target shooters, those who arm themselves for safety, and the National Rifle Association with its supporters. They fear tyranny from Washington, but they do not fear the tyranny of one of their own with an AR15 assault rifle.

 A major Constitutional issue is the Second Amendment, which specifies the right to bear arms because of the need for a well regulated militia for the security of a free state.  Once this was regarded as a collective right, to be exercised by state militias.  Now the Supreme Court regards it as an individual right. 

Those who have been shot might ask, “What about the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?”

Those words are elsewhere, so that those rights are not a Constitutional issue.

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