Worst Things First

The thing I fear about the anti-gun campaign -- which I support wholeheartedly -- is that it will distort our national priorities. Universal affordable health care would save countless more lives than gun control, for example, as would social programs addressing malnutrition, educational deficiencies, homelessness, joblessness, drug addiction, mental health and suicide (any and all of which also would have positive impacts on gun violence if they were to be addressed). I hope the federal legislature comes to grips with the gun problem. But if they do, we mustn't allow that accomplishment to obscure all that remains to be done.