The gun-control debate is not addressing the problem. The gun, type of gun or the size of the magazine is not the problem but the individual’s chosen solution to the problem. Those who massacre a large number of people see a gun or another weapon as the only solution to their problem.

We can have as many committees or commissions as anyone wants. If we wish to stop gun violence we must first identify the problem that caused an individual to resort to the use of a gun as a problem solver. The problem can be real or it can be perceived whichever it is the perpetrator deems it a problem that can only be solved by causing death or bodily harm by using a gun or some other weapon.

The confiscation of all guns and gun paraphernalia will not stop individuals from committing crimes involving bodily harm or death. The question remains do we, as a nation, have the fortitude to identify, attack, and solve the problems that cause individuals to the resort to the use of weapons (guns, knives, clubs, sticks, chairs, rocks) as the solution to their problem? Or do we continue to skirt the problems and attack an inanimate object that has no control over how it is used.

Ray Shamlin

Rocky Mount