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Letter: Lack of gun regulations precludes U.S. from being a model for democracy

(Ruth Fremson | The New York Times) A display of handguns at Sharp Shooting Indoor Range & Gun Shop in Spokane, Wash., Nov. 4, 2019.

(Ruth Fremson | The New York Times) A display of handguns at Sharp Shooting Indoor Range & Gun Shop in Spokane, Wash., Nov. 4, 2019.

Nations guilty of violating human rights are never democracies -- except for the United States, with its scandalous death toll from guns and its refusal to do anything about it.

A total lack of life-saving gun regulations in both our state (about 400 deaths annually) and nation (about 40,000 deaths annually) is inexcusable. The Second Amendment right was never meant to demolish the right to life. Citizens of other advanced nations are appalled. This moral blindness precludes the United States from being a model for democracy, a nation to be trusted. And Republicans willing to accept this unconscionable death toll destroy the moral voice of a once respected nation. Is there no shame?

Ron Molen, Salt Lake City

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