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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Asphalt plant sued in federal court ... Mapping Muggers Alley ... Spotters needed for National Weather Service ... Asphalt plant sued in federal court ... Mapping Muggers Alley ... Spotters needed for National Weather Service ... OUR VIEW Our View: Gun lobby's influence exceeds its support MailTribune.com Writer Posted Oct. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am Posted Oct. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> "Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it. We’ve become numb to this." — President Barack Obama The president spoke hours after the latest mass shooting in America, this time at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. And he was angry. "We talked about this after Columbine and Blacksburg, after Tucson, after Newtown, after Aurora, after Charleston," he said. "It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun." But it is, of course. And every time someone suggests we should make it just a little less easy for those who shouldn't have guns to acquire them, the outcry erupts again. Even though, as the president noted, there is a gun for nearly every man, woman and child in the United States, and all that firepower does not keep us safe from the kind of carnage we saw Thursday in Roseburg. One gun for each American is approximately 300 million firearms. And each year, guns kill more than 30,000 of us. And the answer to that, according to gun-rights groups such as the National Rifle Association, is even more guns, and fewer laws to control access to them. "Does anybody really believe that?" Obama asked. It was a rhetorical question. Of course some do believe it, but poll after poll shows a majority of Americans, a majority of gun owners and even a majority of NRA households favor universal background checks on gun purchases. Will universal background checks make us safer? Will banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines reduce the number of mass shootings? We don't know the answer to those questions, because, as the president also pointed out, Congress has banned federally funded research to find out what works and what doesn't. Why? Because the gun lobby, led by the NRA, made sure of it. Noting that this country has passed countless laws and spends more than a trillion dollars to fight terrorism, Obama called on the news media to compare the number of Americans killed in terrorist attacks with the number killed by guns and report it. We're happy to oblige. CNN reported Friday that according to the State Department, since 2001, terrorist attacks anywhere in the world have killed 3,380 Americans — nearly all of those, of course, in the single attack on Sept. 11. Gun deaths on American soil during the same period, including homicides, suicides and accidents, total 406,496, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We have apparently done a good job of preventing terrorism deaths. We ought to be able to do the same for gun deaths, but that can't happen without pressure from citizens. As the polling data clearly shows, the NRA doesn't represent the majority of the American public. It doesn't even represent the majority of gun owners. Congress does, or at least it's supposed to. If the public speaks loudly enough, maybe Congress will pay more attention to those voices than to the howls of the gun lobby. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Oct. 4, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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