Big changes needed to address tragic gun violence

It's come to this. Sausalito's Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with and conducted by the city's police department, is offering a members-only event entitled, “Active Shooter Seminar: What to do if …”

In the invitation, the chamber says it's a “workshop for you and your staff should something happen at your place of business. … Unfortunately, this type of training is something we all need to think about. We just have to watch the news to realize this could happen in Sausalito so let's be prepared as possible.”

It's a prudent but sad commentary on the state of 21st century American life. Many Marin school districts have already taken steps to address this deadly threat. The effort isn't political. It's practical.

Of course, the politics of weapons control and gun safety isn't controversial in Marin compared to the Deep South and rural regions. The cultural divide is between those who demand the freedom to have unlimited access to firepower versus those who want the freedom to live without fear of being massacred while at work, shopping or just walking to church or a movie.

In the developed world, the proliferation of unregulated weaponry is a uniquely American phenomenon. It's unknown in Canada. It's common in much of the undeveloped world where armed gangs are the norm and unregulated guns are as common as bicycles. Haiti is only the most extreme example.

A feeling of hopelessness on this issue is prevalent especially in California since, despite strict laws, weapons easily cross state lines. Our political system as now constituted is incapable of addressing the dilemma.

No one has an effective idea of how to mitigate the deadly problem in a nation where there are more guns than there are people.

Don't blame Old West traditions. Doing so is a 20th century reaction due to intentional misinterpretation and politicization of the Second Amendment's historic intent.

Smithsonian Magazine records that, in 1881, Tombstone, Arizona “required visitors upon entering town to disarm either at a hotel or at a lawman's office. Residents of many famed cattle towns such as Dodge City, Abilene and Deadwood had similar restrictions.”

That was before the second half of the 20th century, when weaponry became part of the “red-blue” political divide.

The “Gunfight at the OK Corral” — a real event — was about Tombstone Marshal Virgil Earp and his deputized brother Wyatt, enforcing the town's common sense gun-control law. In the 1800s, there was no belief that the Second Amendment provisions for a “well-regulated militia” prevented communities from taking practical steps to protect their citizens from outlaws with guns.

Short of repealing the Second Amendment, a valid option, there are few other practical alternatives to halting the ongoing massacre of thousands of Americans each year. In the meantime, being prepared and trained through classes like the Sausalito Chamber's Active Shooter Seminar makes sense.

***

North Bay-North Coast state Sen. Mike McGuire was just reelected to his final four-year term. Like most of his Sacramento colleagues facing term limits, he must decide between returning to the dreaded private sector or staying in the game.

McGuire has apparently set his sights on statewide office. Like former Marin Assemblymember Marc Levine, McGuire sees his future as state insurance commissioner. The just reelected incumbent is corruptionplagued Democrat Ricardo Lara, who defeated Levine in a close primary race last June.

The California secretary of state reports McGuire has established a committee to hold cash in preparation for a 2026 run for insurance commissioner. He won't be alone. Two of his Democratic legislative colleagues who will also be termed out. Assemblymember Tom Daly, the former mayor of Anaheim, and state Sen. Richard Roth of Riverside, who is a retired Air Force major general, have established similar official committees.

In the developed world, the proliferation of unregulated weaponry is a uniquely American phenomenon.