Editor’ Notebook: Is it Time to Talk About Gun Control?

• June 27, fired a weapon at a car that was fleeing a crime scene and had hit .
• Thursday, July 12, a 17-year-old Benicia boy was arrested on drug and weapon charges after a traffic stop.  According to police, the boy had a small amount of marijuana and a loaded .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol wrapped in a shirt on the back seat of his car.  The gun was determined to have been stolen though police don’t believe the Benicia boy was the thief.
• Saturday, July 14 a suspect in a stolen car, fleeing from police after a traffic stop, .  The officer in the police cruiser wasn’t hit but there were three bullet holes in the windshield.  It was determined that the weapon allegedly used was also stolen.
• Last week, early in the morning of Friday, July 20, James Holmes walked into a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado and opened fire with a legally purchased assault weapon.

Groups For and Against Gun Control 

The National Rifle Association website doesn’t mention the Aurora shootings.  However, an article in the San Francisco Chronicle alludes to the political power of the NRA by pointing out that there have been few if any calls by members of Congress for new gun control legislation, not even a new law to ban assault weapons.

A quick check at Gun Owners of America website shows an article titled Tragedy in another “Gun Free Kill Zone”.  That article argues that had there been an armed citizen in the theater then the body count might have been much lower.

At the other end of the spectrum is the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.  That website offers a petition that can be signed and will be sent to both Governor Romney and President Obama as well as an article titled 60 Mass Shooting Since Tucson.  The website also offers articles on Common Sense Gun Laws.

What do you think?  Can we have a discussion of gun control in this country? Is it time to ban assault weapons?  Should citizens who have a history of severe mental illness be banned from owning guns?  Tell us what you think in the comments section.

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If there’s something in this article you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, call editor JB Davis at 707-628-0051 or email him at benicia@patch.com.