This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Re "Doctors target gun violence as a social disease" (Tribune, Aug. 12): Not all physicians share Dr. Stephen Hargarten's simpleminded solution of limiting public access to guns to solve the rare high-profile tragedy in which guns are misused to kill.
No mention that guns are used to protect life 60 times more often than they are to shoot with criminal intent. Two hundred million corpses in the 20th century remind us not to trust any government keen to disarm us.
And what is the effect on our children's minds when society glorifies gun violence by our police and military and countless movies and television programs, yet imposes zero tolerance when a child so much as draws a picture of a gun at school?
Are guns schizophrenic, or is it the social engineers who can't decide if we're to be a warrior nation crusading for the New World Order or limp-wristed wimps who should cower at the sight of a badge and gun?
Michael S. Holland, M.D.
Green River, Wyo.