And while much will be made of the 18 weapons taken from his home, it only took one to do the deadly work. Clearly, no law will totally eliminate gun violence. Even countries with the strictest of laws have their share of deaths and injuries attributed to firearms. But the numbers are so much smaller. Then there is the argument that while guns can be dangerous, they also have the ability to deter violent crime.
Some statistics suggest that liberal gun laws translate into a decline in violent-crime rates.
This is the point made by a new national group called the Bell Campaign, which recently started a Hawaii chapter. This means simple and reasonable laws, such as regular license renewals for gun ownership, proof of registration for ammunition purchase, strict enforcement of registration requirements and the like. Hawaii may have lost another piece of its innocence yesterday. But it need not have lost hope. That must be the ongoing legacy of this tragedy.