On 14 December, a deranged young man burst into a classroom and attacked 23 children. His name was Min Yongjun,  and though he injured many of the young pupils at the school in Henan province, China, none was killed. That same day, Adam Lanza went on the rampage at a school in Newtown, Connecticut: he killed 20 children and six teachers. Why the different outcomes? Quite simply: guns. Lanza had a semi-automatic rifle and two handguns: Min had a knife. It’s the same reason the US murder rate is four times the UK’s: in the US, there are as many civilian firearms in circulation as there are voters. Unless you’re a bigot who thinks Americans are four times more homicidal than we are, the connection is undeniable. (The Economist).

A close neighbor of ours was responsible for overturning the ban on concealed weapons in the streets of our city.  It seems really spooky that a neighbor could do astonishing thing.  Guns on the street? A shoot-out at any moment?  Preserve us!  But there are people in the US who genuinely think that concealed weapons are a good, civilized thing.

Well, Epicureans do not!   You cannot have peace of mind walking harmlessly along the street  and wondering if some idiot has a loaded gun at the ready.  Safety catch on or off?   To some people this frame of mind may seem normal.  To me it is the law of the jungle.   One hopes the government, as promised, face down the gun lobby and introduce some sanity into the subject.