GUNS, GUNS, GUNS - Social Vibes

EDITORIAL
Another Year for Weapons
Published: December 28, 2011
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The F.B.I. reports that gun dealers submitted the names of almost half-a-million customers in the six days before Christmas, with December on its way to surpassing November, which had a record tally of 1,534,414 names submitted for background checks for criminal convictions and mental health issues. Only a little more than 1 percent of buyers are typically rejected by federally licensed gun dealers. No one knows how many more firearms were purchased through the gun-show loophole that enables black marketeering.

The F.B.I. data are particularly grim given the approaching anniversary of the shooting rampage in Tucson that left Representative Gabrielle Giffords gravely shot in the head, six people dead, including a federal judge, and 13 others wounded. In the nation’s shock and grief, politicians vowed gun reforms, like a ban on the 33-round assault clips that enabled the shooter to attack a crowd in an instant, improvements in the federal background check system and to have more states track and prevent individuals with histories of mental illness — like the shooter in Tucson — from acquiring guns.

None of these have been enacted as the nation heads toward the end of another year of almost 100,000 people shot or killed with a gun. There’s been a hearing for a worthy Senate bill that strengthens the background check and applies it to all gun sales, but the House is poised to swat it down. The gun lobby, fairly crowing, claims the spike in gun sales is because more people are feeling the need to protect themselves — even though the latest F.B.I. data show a 6 percent drop in violent crimes. A raft of studies have found that the presence of guns greatly increased the likelihood of homicide and suicide in households.

Instead of cowering before the gun lobby, political leaders in both parties should be treating the annual gun death toll as a serious public health and moral problem. Polls show the public is wiser than many politicians on the gun issue. Protest candlelight vigils organized by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence are being planned nationally for Jan. 8, the anniversary of the Tucson rampage. Nearly 30 cities and towns have signed up, proof that sensible voters are demanding stronger protection from gun violence.

A version of this editorial appeared in print on December 29, 2011, on page A26 of the New York edition with the headline: Another Year for Weapons.
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