One commenter said this:

My point is that politicians and MSM have whipped folks up into a frenzy over something that is statistically insignificant (10,265 gun homicides in a population of 327,000,000 equals 0.0032%) but makes a great sound bite.

Felt like someone just whacked my elbow with a wrench .. I’m still reeling from the nausea and confusion.

Have we managed to slide down this particular rabbit hold to such a degree, that 10,265 deaths by hand guns is insignificant when compared to a much larger number?

Insignificant? Wow. Then pray, what would be a significant number? Do we have to aspire to, say, Rwanda type numbers before taking a step back to re-evaluate things? That was over 500,000 deaths in six months. But wait, that included death by machete, ax and other farm implements, so I guess that’s a bad example.

The right to bear arms is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights … yes, it’s right there. But WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Does this right have any context whatsoever? It was enacted in late 1700s. We had just ended a war with a super power and were still anxious about the future. There were no police forces patrolling the streets. We were still “at war” with indigenous peoples. Lives were short and easily snuffed out by disease, famine, a lead shot. All of these environmental factors created a context for the Bill of Rights.

But today, what is that context? Not saying … take all the guns. But since we are not currently at war with a super power; and we do have capable police forces patrolling our streets and diseases and famine are more under control, why do we need to be so armed? What specifically, are we armed against?

I respect dialogue. I respect disagreement. But the almost universal reflex action that has come into play whenever someone mentions the word “gun” has moved well beyond reason.

The same commenter mentioned 250,000 deaths caused by medical error. Not sure of that number, but I know it’s high and constant every year. Why aren’t we reacting in the same way when someone mentions the word, Doctor? Why don’t we raise our fists and get ready to fight when we walk into Grandma’s Ellen’s home and see 23 prescription drug bottles lining her kitchen counter? Why aren’t we enraged when humans are covered in bed sheets and wheeled down to morgues in hospitals because some exhausted intern gave Uncle Willie a lethal does of morphine, thinking it was an antibiotic? We have to move past the rhetoric and instant rage. We have to.

Sorry, Karin, if this went off topic. Appreciated your effort.