Trib still AWOL on gun carnage commentary

It was easy to predict the Trib's response to the mass gun slaughter in Aurora ('After Aurora, Illinois has to tighten gun law enforcement'). Just enforce the gun laws on the books and the massacre would have been prevented. That is the NRA playbook: no new laws, just better enforcement of current laws. That argument is fallacious with the Gary Martin crime because any such person bent on murderous revenge is committing 'suicide by mass murder'. He would not have been deterred from illegally acquiring one of 390 million guns infesting our society if his personal firearm had been confiscated. Blaming lack of enforcement has always been the Trib's response to mass shootings (3 or more murdered) that happen daily (345 in 2017).

When will the Trib take on the NRA and the gun lobby by demanding:

Smart gun technology to prevent any gun from being fired by other than its owner. Smith & Wesson tried to implement that after the 2000 Columbine massacre but stopped after an NRA boycott tanked sales. No gun maker has dared try that since.

End to state laws that forbid pediatricians to begin discussion of gun violence with kids starting at age 3. A 2011 Florida law threatened doctors with license suspension and fines if they did that. The law was overturned by a federal appeals court but less onerous such laws are on the books in several states.

Repeal of the Dickey Amendment, the 1996 law forbidding the CDC from spending funds on gun violence research that could possibly advocate for gun control.

End to legal immunity for gun manufacturers. Over 500 people a year die from accidental shootings. If a toy or household product caused such carnage, the maker would be hauled into court in a flash.

These are just four major initiatives of many which the Trib never touches for reasons only the Editorial Board can answer. The US has a gun violence death rate 25 times higher that any other wealthy nation. Our ratio of 120 guns per 100 citizens dwarfs the measly 32 per hundred of the next highest wealthy country, our neighbor Canada. Gun deaths per 100,000? US 12; Canada 2.

Ignoring the nearly 40,000 annual gun deaths from murder, suicide and accident by offering "Oh, just enforce current laws" is not responsible editorial policy. The Trib can and must do better.