Letter to the editor: Let's discuss gun violence instead of Will Smith

For two weeks, America has been scandalized by the violent smack at the Academy Awards. A plethora of news articles, opinion pieces and Twitter comments have been unleashed. We are shocked to the core by this violent act.

Since the March 27 event, there have been 18 mass shootings in America, leaving 20 dead and 95 injured; and that doesn’t count suicides and the deaths of children playing with weapons. You probably haven’t heard much about those, and if you have, that news probably hasn’t entered your everyday discussions like the “smack” has.

Consider this: 2021 was the worst year on record for gun violence, with 693 mass shootings (defined as four or more people shot), 20,726 gun deaths and 24,000 suicides by gun. Yes, we have a right to bear arms, but that right is not immune to commonsense rules like universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons and ghost guns, and laws to safely store weapons. It is time to press Congress and state legislatures to do the hard work of enacting sensible gun legislation.

We can summon the will to address this epidemic — or we could just go back to discussing the smack, since those conversations are so much easier.

Janet Gray

Squirrel Hill