I am writing in response ot Brian Bennett's column, "Gun control not the solution but part of the problem" which ran in Thursday's edition of The Daily Collegian.

Mr. Bennett initiates his argument against gun control by questioning the validity of one of New York's most recent billboards, the infamous "Body Counter." He writes that the "reasoning behind this display is to permit altering these numbers (of gun-related deaths)."

Come now, this isn't some kind of conspiracy; there's no altering or number fudging going on here. That number -- which will probably end the year at between 25 and 30 thousand -- is a painfully real statistic. The billboard's starkly impersonal quality is a perfectly awful indication of America's indifference -- a haunting reminder of our inaction.

Next, after bashing Hillary Clinton for advocating gun control in American society, Mr. Bennett wonders aloud as to whom that society includes? Please, let me help you.

It's the society where 12-year-old children take guns to school. It's the society where there are nearly as many guns as people. It's the society where for too many people a violent death is a foregone conclusion. It's a society where -- because of a spiritual emptiness, lack of community and love -- violence has become so common it seems almost normal. In short, it's the most violent and angry industrialized society on earth.

Mr. Bennett proceeds to argue that gun control will unfairly jeopardize the lives of innocent people who feel they need guns to protect themselves. This kind of logic proves, as studies have shown, to be self-fulfilling.

To wit: The chances of being shot or killed by a handgun increases dramatically when you own one. Let's face it, if you purchase a handgun it is done with the expectation that you're going to have to use it. Unfortunately, most people do.

The Brady Bill, therefore, is a step in the right direction. It will help to keep guns out of the hands of people who have a criminal record and/or a diagnosed mental illness. Hopefully, in turn, "innocent" people will feel less compelled to buy a handgun for self-protection. As for those forsaken few who will find other means of murder and abuse, we can only hope to pull them into society's fold, to help make "them" part of "us."

So turn on your televisions, read the paper and understand what the "Body Counter" is telling you. The violence is real -- it doesn't discriminate -- and no place in America is immune.

Like rape, sexual assault, drug abuse and homelessness, America's gun violence is but another example of a society functioning without a real sense of community. And in the end, America's obsession with death, violence and guns reveals an awful truth: We are living in a society that has, in a very fundamental way, forgotten how to live. If we don't understand this, we will never be able to heal.

Our goal, then, must be the creation of a heightened consciousness and purpose. For history has shown, out of the chaos and destruction of one civilization can emerge a new and more beautiful one.