U.S. Has Competition in Prize for Violence
In “Facing Up to Our Real Gun Problem” (Nov. 8), Tim Rutten quotes Dr. Jason Toth, an emergency room physician familiar with gunshot wounds: “We’re the most violent society in the world and can attribute more deaths to alcohol and smoking each year than to the war in Vietnam.”
I would take issue with our taking the first prize in violence. Do not the millions killed in Cambodia, China and the Soviet Union count? Are we neglecting to count the thousands who disappeared in Argentina? Maybe we make the Top 10, but I doubt we are No. 1.
I would also ask where is the hue and cry to ban alcohol and tobacco, each of which is killing more people annually than guns; with alcohol, innocents not using alcohol are often victimized by alcohol abusers.
As should be clear, the implication is that the inert object--be it alcohol, tobacco or a firearm--is not the culprit and is not, and should not be, the victim. The culprit is the abuser.
SYLVAIN FRIBOURG
Woodland Hills
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