At some point, we have to consider the gun

I woke up at 7 a.m. July 15 and turned on the news: They had recovered the shooter’s rifle and cellphone, but they were still searching for the motive.

Our political leaders and the media have been decrying political violence and urging everyone to lower the temperature of political rhetoric. Great idea. But what if this assassination attempt, which killed one and injured three — two critically — was not politically motivated? What if it was not political violence any more than school shootings are “education violence.” What if it was simply gun violence?

There will be endless analysis of how the shooter could have been stopped. We are hearing commentary about whether the head of the Secret Service should be fired, and questions about how a man with a gun gained access to a rooftop with a sight line to the rally podium. I hope at some point in the discussion it will be noted that if he had not been able to get his hands on that assault rifle, the gunman would have been stopped.

Sharon Stratton

Warrenville