Using the right words matters. A few weeks ago, I was struck by a full page ad in the Sunday New York Times beseeching politicians and the media to talk about “gun safety” not “gun control.” The ad was placed by a veterans group lobbying for measures to reduce gun violence. And they were right. Most people want to reduce gun violence; it’s the word “control” that raises alarm bells with militant gun rights advocates. As a nation, we’ve switched to talking about climate change rather than global warming. That’s helped focus everyone on the many effects of global warming beyond higher temperatures and has led to a more universal acceptance of the climate problem. We need to do the same thing with the gun issue. Focusing on the phrases “gun safety” and “reducing gun violence” will help the country reach consensus on measures to help fix the problem. Let’s all work on it. There’s no time to waste.
Judy Markland
Whately