Newsroom readers react to calls for change: ‘Guns are not the problem’

“Guns haven’t changed, but people have. We are asking the wrong questions, focusing on the wrong problem,” one commenter wrote. Another person asked, “How about is America ready to address its mental health problem?” In the wake of the mass shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a Newsroom story posed the question: “Is the tide finally turning on gun control?” Thousands of comments poured in, with the majority maintaining that guns are not the problem, people are. Students are driving the renewed gun control debate, speaking out to demand action from politicians and lawmakers. The mission of the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., next month is to “demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address gun issues,” its website states. But many Newsroom commenters on the “changing tide” story feel “the problem is society.” A smaller percentage agree it’s time for change. “I get it. We have a ‘people problem’ or a ‘mental health’ problem agreed, but can we make it harder for these people to buy a gun?” What do you think? Join the conversation in Newsroom.