Bob Williams: Decreasing the shots

The NRA tells us that, “Guns don’t kill, people do.” That’s true but only when in the hand of a person. But why so many deaths?

The 1929 St. Valentine’s Day gang massacre involved four weapons, but only seven men were killed. When a man kills by strangling, he usually kills only one person. When a man kills by stabbing, he usually kills only one person. When a man beats another to death, he usually kills only one person. When a man kills with a revolver or a pistol, he usually kills only one person. When someone kills by poisoning, usually only one person dies.

When a man kills with an automatic or semi-automatic weapon, he frequently kills multiple people.

We may not be able to stop the number of incidents of murder, but by making military-style weapons harder to obtain, we could at least reduce the number of deaths.

This story was originally published June 25, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Bob Williams: Decreasing the shots."