Mark Cushman (letter Jan. 11) and Paul St. Jean (letter Jan. 8) and I could debate for hours the issue of gun ownership and usage.

I have no quarrel with a responsible person who undergoes thorough criminal and mental background checks, plus fingerprinting, in order to qualify for a concealed weapon permit. In my letter on Jan. 5, I went on to say that I wished this were the standard process for any and all persons to acquire a firearm, concealed or not. As it stands today, guns are too readily available, as any law enforcement officer or big city trauma surgeon can attest.

The president recently signed a law that improved the original Brady Bill, making mental illness information more readily available for instant computerized background checks, something that might have prevented the Virginia Tech massacre last year.

In the new legislation, gun control advocates and the National Rifle Association found common ground.

As an advocate for trauma prevention over the years, I still cling to the notion that fewer guns would mean fewer wounds and fewer deaths. More responsible gun ownership would encourage that trend.

Dr. Edward Walworth, Lewiston