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Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler's support for same-sex marriage comes in stark contrast to other senior Democrats like Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller. (Photo by Kathleen Lange/AP)
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HOME > VIEWPOINT > EDITORIAL
By: KEVIN NAFF COMMENTS
 
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on 9/11, but we shrug our collective shoulders at the news that nearly 18,000 people are now dying annually from gun violence.
What will it take for the American people to realize that the only solution to this madness is tough gun control laws? The nefarious influence of the NRA ensures that we will one day soon exceed 20,000 fatal shootings in a single year. This is unfathomable to residents of Europe and Canada, who are lucky to live in societies where lawmakers have restricted access to guns.
Our lawmakers have grown so spineless on this issue, that even in Virginia — the site of the worst mass shooting in history at Virginia Tech — the General Assembly failed to act. As the Washington Post noted this week, the state legislature has left open a loophole that “enables anyone, including ex-cons, escaped felons and those suffering from severe mental illnesses, to purchase firearms from private dealers at gun shows without undergoing a background check of any kind.”
This sort of cowardice from our public officials costs thousands of lives each year.
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