I did a simple online research, via Google, just to see how many people die by gun each year compared to other means and I was surprised by the results I got from the Centers for Desease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Approximately 443,000 people die prematurely from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke each year; 24,518 people died of alcohol; 17,774 died of AIDS; 34,485 died of car accidents; 39,147 died of drug use - legal and illegal - 36,909 died of suicide; and 16,799 died of murder (I' m uncertain how many of the murders were gun related). At any rate, murder is the smallest number listed. Now, I'm not a rocket scientist but it seems to me that if we're really concerned about saving lives we need to control autos, smoking, AIDS, drug use, etc.

We've tried the beefed up background investigation approach before, it didn't work then so unless we're prepared to spend the money to do good background checks, it won't work again. What's the next step? It's moving towards changing the Second Amendment and taking your guns.

Cars are still on the road, cigarettes are still on for sale everywhere, alcohol is readily available. I don't hear any talk about more controls on them.