Free Republic

My post “12 facts about guns and mass shootings” included a mention of Israel and Switzerland, societies where guns are reputed to be widely available, but where gun violence is rare. Janet Rosenbaum, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center School, has actually researched this question, and she wrote to tell me I had it wrong. We spoke shortly thereafter on the phone. A lightly edited transcript of our conversation follows. Ricky Carioti — The Washington Post Ezra Klein: Israel and Switzerland are often mentioned...

[snip] But that and everything else in my clipping file faded to insignificance when reports of the Newtown, Connecticut school massacre hit the wires. There have been school shootings before but this one was particularly painful to learn about. In the first place the children were so young and innocent -- kindergartners. In the second, it is the season when young children are especially full of happiness. Their homes are filled with Chanukah and Christmas decorations and gifts. Their houses smell of yummy things to eat. Families make a special effort to be together for the holidays. [snip] Now families...

If we are going to take mass shootings as an occasion to infringe constitutional rights, the most effective place to start would be the FIRST Amendment [Freedom of the Press].