Elected officials should solve gun problems, not ignore facts

We all know our country is suffering from a relentless, unending number of mass shootings in particular and gun deaths in general. What is perplexing to me is that despite the overwhelming evidence, some refuse to look for solutions based on the evidence. A Nov. 7 article in The New York Times pointed out the evidence that makes the president’s blaming of mental health or others’ blaming of a plethora of other reasons a classic case of putting one’s head deep in the sand and ignoringthe facts.

According to the Times report, the U.S. has 270 million guns and had 90 mass shooters from 1966-2012. No other country had more than 46 million guns or 18 mass shooters. The U.S. makes up 4.4 percent of the world’s population but owns 42 percent of the guns. In addition, 31 percent of the mass shootings in the world were by Americans from 19662012. Clearly, massive gun ownership has not made us saferbut less safe.

The Times reported that a study by a University of Alabama professor shows there is a direct correlation between access to guns and gun deaths. Even when you take out the U.S. and look at other countries only, the correlation holds. The study looked at mentalhealth, crime and other factors.

Our spending on mental health is in line with countries whose rates of gun deaths are minuscule compared with ours. The Times article noted that a 2015 study shows 4 percent of gun deaths were attributed to mental health issues. As for crime: A New Yorker is no more likely to be a crime victim than a Londoner, but is 54 times more likely to be shot duringthat crime.

Our rate of gun deaths was 33 per million in 2009. In Canada it was 5 per million, and in Britain, 0.7 per million. No one is advocating confiscating guns because it would be logistically and politically impossible.

However, it is the height of incompetence for elected officials, who are supposed to solve problems, to ignore the facts. DAVID HUNTER Forest Hills