Column: Rash of Weapons Violence May Be Our Own Stupidity

A recent letter to the editor by a hopeful politician mentioned going door-to-door, generally at dusk (because folks were most likely to be home then), gathering signatures to qualify for the ballot and to get the word out about his campaign. He was often “greeted” by homeowners brandishing a weapon. Stupid.

I turned onto a “road” in eastern North Carolina a few months ago at dusk looking for the country house of a friend. The “road” was just a dirt path, really, one of those with two muddy tire tracks bordering a grassy middle. The road passed through an open farm gate but there were no “private property” or “no trespassing” signs. The property owner at the end of that path charged out of his home shaking his fist and cursing at me (and my wife, who was with me in the car) to get off his property.