To the editor:

We live in a country where a nationally known political figure places on her website a map of the United States with congressional districts in rifle crosshairs as a plea for those representatives to be voted out of office. The opponent of one of those representatives drums up support by inviting people to fire his M-16 rifle. A national political organization fights tooth and nail for the right of our citizens to own firearms, even those conceived solely to shoot as many people as possible with maximum speed.

It is difficult to watch a film or television show without seeing stories that glorify firearms. Then some nut with a gun shoots up a university campus or a grocery store, killing and injuring many people, and we call it an “unspeakable tragedy,” with similar phrases even coming from those who employ the imagery of firearms and violence for political purposes.

Shouldn’t the phrase “unspeakable tragedy” by now have been changed to “foreseeable consequence”? All one can really hope at this point is that the next nut with a gun doesn’t shoot someone you love.

I love this country, but our love affair with guns is completely out of hand. Sadly, I doubt any solution is on the horizon.