This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

When Ron Molen (Aug. 7 letter) cited data on gun issues, Stephen Van Dyke (Aug. 10 letter) responded with a weird complaint that was essentially "Where did you get that crazy data?" Though Van Dyke failed to provide any data, only the opinion that it could not be.

Such data is extremely easy to find. A web search gets to the Centers for Disease Control site, which reported 30,000 gun deaths per year and well over 70,000 ER visits per year related to gun violence.

Private gun ownership is uniquely extreme in the United States and corresponds to the highest rate of gun deaths in the world, more deaths per two-year period than deaths of U.S. soldiers in the total duration of the long Vietnam War.

The scariest fact relates to public opinion about simple rules that would impact deaths, e.g. 87 percent of us support background checks and 79 percent support registration.

This is not taking guns away, but controlling access for some of those likely to kill and helping solve crimes. Maybe Mr. Van Dyke can help us solve the problem of gun violence rather than trying to deny its existence.

David H. Dodd

Salt Lake City