Mental illness, combined with readily accessible legal automatic weapons, is the absolute formula for another Columbine and Sandy Hook massacre. An all-consuming hatred of blacks plus the capability of purchasing a legal weapon on the open market resulted in the senseless deaths of nine innocent worshipers in a Charleston church of God.

The consequence of deep depression – along with the temptation of a legal gun easily available in the home, ostensibly purchased for protection – is suicide. A child discovering and playing with a loaded legal firearm he considers a toy will inevitably result in tragedy.

The common denominator for all these scenarios is legal guns.

Whatever the state of mind of the shooter, the aftermath of his action is always the same: Blameless victims of legal guns lie dead. We mourn with the families and friends of the deceased, but, to our everlasting shame, we do nothing to prevent future fatalities.

Gun control advocates are frustrated by their futile efforts to compete with powerful, well-financed gun lobbies. Gun rights activists invoke their constitutional rights and reject all sensible gun control legislation.

When will we all agree that God-blessed human lives, regardless of color or creed, are infinitely more precious than an obsession with man-made instruments of death?

To paraphrase President Obama’s eloquent eulogy at the funeral of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney: “The vast majority of Americans – the majority of gun owners – want to do something about this, by acknowledging the pain and loss of others, even as we respect the traditions, and way of life that make up this beloved country – by making the moral choice to change.”

Nor withstanding so-called “Second Amendment rights” and the outrageous false claims of professional demagogues, when will Mainers find it in their conscience to make the “moral choice to change”?

Sam Kamin

Cumberland

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