Sarah Brady was recently asked to provide an essay on gun control for a new book on American politics. Here’s part of what she had to say:

The fact is that this debate isn’t about guns at all. It’s about how we as a society relate to guns. It’s about how we buy them, sell them, store them, and use them. When we talk about gun control, what we’re really talking about are ways to encourage people to behave differently around guns. A gun may be just a tool, but it’s a tool whose misuse can have profound and permanent consequences.

Sometimes this debate becomes so entangled in legal arguments and hypothetical situations that the larger picture is lost. Sarah’s point is that gun violence can be addressed by encouraging people to realize that public policies and leadership can help prevent gun violence without preventing legitimate gun ownership. Laws can help keep guns from falling into hands of dangerous people, and can punish those who use guns illegally.

32 people are murdered with guns every day in America. 30,000 a year die from gun violence. It’s an enormous problem, it’s a societal problem, but it’s not an impossible problem.

The book which includes Sarah’s essay is “Why We’ll Win,� by Malcolm Friedberg, and it was released last week.