After reading Jared Strong’s Oct. 28 column, “Gun control laws don’t address the uncontrollable,” I felt obligated to reinforce one of the main issues his article addressed.

The issue is that of placing responsibility for a certain problem on something or someone that is, in fact, not to blame. In this particular case, it pertained to the issue of gun control and the correlation between gun ownership and national problems of homicide and other gun-related troubles.

Unfortunately, the problem of misplaced accusations is something I believe occurs all too often in our American society.

Mr. Strong alluded to the idea that there may indeed be other factors responsible for our nation’s gun-related problems. He pointed out what took place in Australia, where homicides, assaults and armed robberies all increased after a gun ban was put into effect. It should also be noted there are countries, like Canada, that have more guns per capita than the United States, but do not experience gun-related violence even remotely resembling ours.

Are there other underlying agents that have led to our nation’s problem with gun violence? We need look no further than the family and the responsibility of parents to instill proper values and attitudes in their children. Among these are a comprehension of right and wrong and a knowledge of potential dangers to human life such as misused firearms.

I grew up on a farm, as many people at this university did, where a number of firearms were prevalent. This is not uncommon in many rural areas of this country. As a young child I was taught the dangers of guns and how to use them properly. This, along with other values given to me by my parents, allowed me to live without the fear of misused firearms. My parents could trust me as a young boy to take my .22 caliber rifle out in the field and target shoot. I would doubt the young men responsible for the Columbine tragedy had a grasp on any such values or realities.

I feel many of our nation’s troubles can be linked back to the family and the personal values we hold. This is especially true when it comes to gun violence. So I say to gun-control advocates, stop blaming inanimate objects and start taking a closer look at the people behind those objects and the issues behind their actions.

Garrett Pedersen

Senior

Community & Regional Planning