Pubdate: Wed, 18 Jan 2012
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2012 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author: Don Leverty

LOSE DRUGS, WIN GUN WAR

Re: =93A Courageous Stand on Guns =AD Obama likely to
include long-needed provisions,=94 Wednesday Editorials.

I'm a liberal who also hunts and shoots. I
support most of your proposals, including
universal background checks. However, your
proposal to ban assault weapons and high-capacity
magazines may not be very well thought out and
doesn't seem to reflect a cost-benefit analysis.

The FBI reports that 323 persons of all ages were
murdered with rifles of all types in 2011, while
728 were beaten to death. These numbers are too
high, but given a population of 300 million, they
put the issue in perspective.

As proposed, assault weapon bans would
grandfather existing weapons, leaving millions in
circulation. Confiscation would be more
effective, at least in eliminating legally owned
weapons, but it would require tremendous
resources for very little additional benefit (and
I won't even touch on the constitutional issues).

Any honest discussion of gun violence must
include the elephant in the room =AD the war on
drugs. We have wasted trillions with nothing to
show for it, other than a well-financed criminal
class. Far more children die from gang and drug wars than in school
 shootings.

Dismantling the drug war could make a serious dent in gun violence.

Don Leverty, Highland Village
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