Guns: People Sometimes Agree     

   Seventeen died in another terrible school shooting. So, we clamored for a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. States began planning to arm defenders in every school.

   Then a teen walked into another school protected by two officers, killing 10 with a shotgun and handgun. We urge better background checks and age limits on purchases.

   Then an angry seventh-grader with two hand guns shot his classmate and a teacher. 

   Are we ready to admit that all the rules money can buy won't guarantee safety? No law prevents guns getting into the wrong hands, for instance, the mother who bought the gun used at Sandy Hook.  

   But, gun owners and non-owners alike agree that some new measures will help - this according to a survey of 602 owners and 1,522 others, reported in the American Journal of Public Health.   

   Some 80-90 percent of both groups approved of universal background checks, and testing requirements for concealed carry permits. A slightly lower percentage favored gun violence restraining orders.

   (We're not sure why that couldn't be 100 percent; the right to bear arms comes with a duty to be responsible and expect others to do likewise.) 

   About 80 percent of non-owners want licensing requirements for all gun purchases, and child access prevention (safe storage), while just 60 percent of owners agreed.

   Lower percentages of both groups, about 20 percent lower for owners, favored an age-21 limit for handgun ownership, an assault weapons ban, and a high-capacity ban. 

   But, where the two sides mostly agree, if one survey is representative, we would think politicians could easily act. 

   Like every controversial issue, there is no perfect answer for a free people. Some individuals are immature, some temporarily angry or depressed, some always angry, some in gangs, some mentally troubled, some with PTSD (so much for all veterans and officers getting an automatic pass), and don't forget the spiritual aspect. Then there are officials who fail to act on measures already on the books, such as legal confiscation and sharing information. 

   Those on the no-guns extreme, and those unwilling to accept common-sense limitations, aren't saving any lives.

        Jimmy