The problem with guns | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Gregg Roseborough's letter "Idiot media hypocrites" (Forum, Jan. 6) argued that "gun violence in our schools, malls and streets" was the result, not of too readily available lethal weapons, but of violent TV shows and movies.

The opinion might have been worthy of consideration but for being laced with hyperbole, inflammatory characterizations and biased attacks that originated with the National Rifle Association and the right-wing radio echo chamber.

Roseborough overlooked some important facts. TV programs and movies produced in the United States are widely viewed throughout Canada and other developed countries. The relative lack of gun violence and mass shootings in those and other countries shoots holes (so to speak) in the theory that TV and movies are at the root of the problem.

We know what the solution to the problem is, to severely restrict the availability of firearms. Australia applied it in the wake of the 1996 a killing spree at the historic Port Arthur prison colony in which 35 people were killed and 23 wounded.

How many more innocent Americans must die before we do what is right? Look in your children's bedroom tonight and decide.

Paul B. Choberka

Ogden