Gun control works | 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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated.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.

In "Incipient monsters" (Forum, Jan. 7), Lew Hansen wrote: "More legislation restricting ownership of firearms by the general populace does not address the problem of murderous psychopaths walking free on our streets. Restricting guns will only create more defenseless victims."

It is true that it is hard to eliminate psychopaths from our society. But limiting their ability to access high-power, rapid-fire weapons, large ammo magazines and deadly bullets will certainly reduce the odds of a mass killing, like we saw last month. So will closing the no-background-check gun show loophole.

Arming everyone is not the answer. As a Jan. 6 New York Times "news analysis" ("More Guns = More Killing") reported, countries with more gun restrictions have far lower rates of homicides and suicides involving guns, while those countries with liberal or open gun laws have the highest rates of gun-related homicides and suicides in the world. The correlation is impossible to ignore.

Hansen and others should remember that the Second Amendment begins with the words, "A well-regulated militia … ."

Bill Barrett

Torrey