Guns are for game hunting, not human slaughter

[erronis]

https://vtdigger.org/2019/08/08/schubart-guns-are-for-game-hunting-not-human-slaughter/

Since the national opinion writers have thoroughly covered the president’s role in stoking the violence we experienced last weekend we can agree that the next election offers us all the opportunity to repudiate his “thoughts and prayers” response to the violence he has encouraged. But there are two elements that ignite such violence and only one is our national leader. America’s saturation with 270 million guns is the other.

Vermont must look to its own role in the carnage and do better. We have among the most lax gun laws in the country. We also have one of the lowest per capita homicide rates in the country, but the opposite is true of our suicide rate. For decades, Vermont homicides occurred largely within families. Soured drug transactions accelerated the rate somewhat. A good year would be 12 murders, a bad year, 20. Chicago sees that on a weekend. Clearly, our lax gun laws are not affecting our crime rate, as gun rights proponents correctly point out.

But Vermont is not an island. The Gilroy Festival shooter bought his gun in nearby Nevada, as its sale was banned in California. In our national carnage, no state is an island. A drug dealer delivering $10,000 worth of fentanyl to Rutland can double his earnings by buying handguns here cheaply and easily and going back to sell them in New York City.