| Gun control can save lives BY MIKE BEARD When I think about how gun violence has shaped my own life, I think of the students at Columbine running away from their high school and children at a daycare center holding hands and following the police out of the way of gunfire. I think of our nations great leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. shot down in the prime of his life and Ronald Reagan being pelted with bullets. I know the sad truth that we all share is that there will be more horrific shootings to ruin American lives and American families. Is there anyone who doubts that a handgun can quickly turn a person who is disturbed into one who is dangerous or that an available handgun can turn a domestic dispute, a bar fight or a shoving match between teenagers into a bloody murder? We should have a national policy that closes the vast unregulated gun markets that allow criminals to get guns. Our current policy is anything but serious. We dont even conduct background checks on all gun purchases. In fact, there are approximately 4 million gun sales in America each year that are conducted with no questions asked. These sales go on at gun shows, on the streets and over the Internet. Since Sept. 11, 2001, we have been demanding background checks for everyone from baggage handlers to dog watchers. As a first step toward a sane gun policy, why dont we require background checks for all gun purchasers? Im not advocating bans on gun shows, just a background check on every gun transfer. I think that every time a gun changes hands, that transaction ought to go through a background check to make sure only law-abiding citizens can get guns. If we want to truly better enforce the laws to keep guns out of criminal hands, we need to give our police the tools to do it. If private citizens carrying guns made for a safe society, the United States would be the safest society in the world. Texas would be one of the safest states in the union. Neither of those facts is true. Recently a study done by UNESCO showed that the United States has a death rate for children under the age of 15 that is 12 times higher than the combined death rate of the other 25 industrialized countries of the world. There is 35 years of evidence that controlling access to firearms makes for a safer society and saves lives. Gun advocates spend a lot of their time talking about rights. I dont hear a lot of conversation about responsibilities. In the United States we walk a tightrope between rights and responsibilities. If people want to carry deadly weapons, dont they have a responsibility to undergo a background check? Dont they have a responsibility to see that those guns are locked up? Dont they have a responsibility to us, as citizens, to see that we have a safer society? Since 1974, Michael Beard has been the president of the Coalition To Stop Gun Violence, a consortium of national, professional and religious organizations including the United Methodist Church. He is a member of Dumbarton UMC in Washington, D.C. | 
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