Violence.

Editor,

Why are so many millions of Americans so afraid of each other and so afraid of their government that they think owning guns will make them safer?

Think about mass shootings. So many guns are in circulation in the USA it is merely a consequence of chance that a certain number will be used to do crazy things. The response? More guns. More of a chance that someone else will do something crazy.

If you dial in right-wing radio anywhere in the USA any time of the day or night, you will hear a steady drumbeat of things a listener should fear: violent immigrants, violent Muslims, violent blacks, Obama, "tyranny," and of course the government coming to take away your guns.

Add to the mix millions of people who listen to this stuff day in and day out who have never read a book, have never heard a Muslim, immigrant, or black voice tell their story, and all they know about the world is their immediate surroundings and what right-wing radio tells them.

There is such a thing as freedom of speech. But there is also incitement, demagoguery, and "yelling fire in a crowded theater." Someone smarter than I am has to figure out how to turn off this endless stream of disinformation and fear mongering.

Also turn off the relentless selling of the USA as the greatest country with the most invincible military in the history of the world. The problem of guns in the USA is how Americans think, are taught to think, and feel about using violence.

Re: "Wisconsin Trial Against Gun Shop to Weigh Obligations of Dealers" (10/13/2015)