Guns in America more deadly than smog

As the spokesperson for the Gun Owners of America said, "What happened in Colorado should send shock waves through every legislator's heart that's been supportive of gun control." And he is right on target. This is an election year in which one-third of the US Senate, all of the House of Representatives, and many state legislative and gubernatorial races will be fought. Few of the incumbents want to touch this potentially lethal political issue now, if ever. In this epic gun battle, the gun lobby is the clear winner.

The prognosis is not good. In January 2014 alone, there were 11 school shootings. Former school principal Bill Bond has said that young people who bring weapons to school are "males confronting hopelessness". He should know. In 1997, his high school was where a 14-year-old shot a girls' prayer group, killing three students and wounding five. As Bond said, "schools are still part of American society and American society is violent".

By some estimates there are as many as 400 million privately owned guns in the US and 900 people die in gun violence, including suicides, every day. None of those guns will ever be confiscated by the government and mental health programs will continue to be underfunded.

I cannot help but conclude that the violence will continue unabated in our modern day wild west that is the United States. Despite the pollution, my Beijing cough, and the perils of Chinese drivers, I'll take my chances in Beijing.

The author is a senior adviser to Tsinghua University and a former vice-president of ABC Television. harvardfella@rocketmail.com