Aside from guns, there's plenty to ban

No one has guaranteed that any gun-control laws enacted would prevent criminals from getting and using firearms against the American people or any others. In America the top five things that kill more people than guns are:

1. Cars - 10.8 million car accidents in the U. S in 2009, of these 36,000 were fatal, 5,300 were pedestrians. Based on that number and what gun control enthusiasts claim we should make cars illegal since apparently Americans have forgotten how to drive. Better still, using the analogy about "why do you need an assault rifle?" Why does someone need a Lamborghini that goes almost 200 mph when the posted speed limit is only 70 mph?

2. Alcohol - 100,000 people die each year in alcohol related incidents Of those, 43,000 fatalities resulted from drinking and driving. (Isn't it against the law to drink and drive? Looks like that law is working wonderfully.) Thirty percent of suicides are triggered by alcohol use. Maybe we should bring back "Prohibition."

3. Tobacco - 450,000 die every year from smoking, 50,000 of those are from second hand smoke. Worldwide, smoking kills approximately 5,000,000 people every year.

4. Medical malpractice - preventable medical errors account for 98,000 deaths every year in America. Fiften million incidents of medical harm occur each year. For some reason the Center for Disease Control does not include it in its lists of leading causes of death in America.

5. Obesity - kills more than 400,000 people annually.

So to keep us safe, following the logic of a "progressive," the government would have to outlaw not only guns, but cars, alcohol, tobacco related items, doctors/hospitals, and foods high in fat. I suppose after that sit in that the Democrats pulled, the above might be considered acceptable losses since it wasn't gun related.

Tom Stanfa

Batavia