To the editor:

I thought I’d clarify some aspects of my letter of Aug. 1 titled “Gun threat.” I did not mean to imply that our government has no gun regulation whatsoever. Of course we do, and undoubtedly I was remiss in not mentioning the ATF as a regulatory agency. However, considering the level of gun violence in our country that directly affects our health and safety, are we really doing enough?

When we examine other developed nations, gun laws in America are relatively lax and anemic. Consequently, we suffer grievously. For example, in 1997 the CDC compared the U.S. with 25 other industrialized nations. They found that the overall firearm death rate for children under 15 in America was 12 times higher than all the other countries combined.

I mentioned New York City’s recent ban on metal bats for high school games. This law is designed to protect our youths from injury or even the remote possibility of death. Nobody seems to be bothered by this kind of legislation. But, if gun control advocates were to suggest a ban, for instance, on the kind of guns the Virginia Tech shooter used or on the high capacity ammunition magazines that facilitated the massacre; well, that’s another story.

These issues are highly complex, and I don’t pretend to know all the answers. As the debate continues, hopefully both sides will be more intellectual than visceral.

Neil Brown,

Lawrence