Shootings: Too many guns, same violence, different cities

There is a common thread in what happened across America last week, and it goes back to guns and fear of guns. Police officers know that the large number of guns out there make every traffic stop a risk. They are rightfully afraid, as one officer here was killed on a simple traffic stop.

In Dallas, the police were doing a wonderful job supporting a non-violent march against gun deaths by police. People of color are killed much more frequently by poorly trained police. Not so in Dallas, where community policing is excellent. One man with the wrong kind of weapon fired repeatedly, killing good officers who were doing their jobs.

The main issue in these deaths is about the use of guns by civilians and by police. Police are afraid of the sheer number of guns. Civilians are terrified of their police. Fixing it is never going to be about more guns. So far, that has not worked.

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Shootings: Too many guns, same violence, different cities."