Nothing makes my mouth water like venison and rabbit sausage. Hunting is a noble sport with a rich tradition, and hunters help solve the problem of animal overpopulation.

I’m not naïve. Most American gun owners are not hunters.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that there were 12.5 million hunters in the country, as opposed to 80 million gun owners overall, according to the NRA.

With a firearms death rate of 11.66 per 100,000 people in 2004, the United States not only ranks higher than all industrialized countries, but also many much poorer countries in Africa and Latin America.

Certainly, the U.S. has a culture of violence, but it isn’t the only rich country with great bloodshed in its recent history.

Furthermore, young Swedes, South Koreans and Canadians watch just as many violent movies as their American counterparts and play the same mind-numbingly sadistic video games.

The obvious answer is that no other country has such lenient laws on firearms.

What I will remember most about Columbine is that it didn’t happen in south central Los Angeles, but in an upper middle-class, mostly white suburb.

The obvious lesson of Columbine is that such ultra-liberal gun laws can cause a desecration of human life not only in underprivileged, depressed regions.

As mentioned before, I am no opponent of hunting. If someone can pass a psychological test proving that he or she is mentally sound, has no criminal record and genuinely needs firearms for recreational purposes, I have no objections.

Some gun control proponents have suggested ridiculous measures, such as the banning of certain types of kitchen knives. Such proposals are just silly.

However, I see no reason why anyone who does not hunt or is a member of the armed forces or works in law enforcement should own a gun.

Opponents of gun control dogmatically cite the Second Amendment. Yet there are problems with such constitutional literalism.

The Bill of Rights must be interpreted within its historical context. The Second Amendment was adopted in 1791, just after the United States finished a war of independence. I find it unlikely that Her Majesty will soon invade and occupy the U.S.

I value Jefferson and Franklin’s contributions to political philosophy. Yet, I understand that they lived in a historical reality incomprehensible to me. Despite their obvious merits, let’s not forget that Jefferson, Washington and other Founding Fathers were slave owners and outspoken racists.

In 2010, no serious theologian would consider the Book of Genesis to be a historically and scientifically accurate account of the origins of the universe.

Likewise, today no reasonable constitutional lawyer should take such a literalist interpretation of the Constitution. Rather, the law of the land should be read in a way that preserves its general spirit.

Many foreigners are shocked at how easily they can buy guns when they visit the U.S. Yet this should be unsurprising when massacres such as those at Columbine or Von Maur in Omaha shock the world.