LETTER: Digging deeper on U.S. firearm deaths

John T. Wilson Las Vegas August 14, 2026 - 9:00 pm In her Sunday letter, Sherry Hobbs points out that there are approximately 45,000 firearm deaths each year in the United States. She then implies that many of these deaths involve otherwise good people who lose their temper after a few drinks and have easy access to a gun. The implication is that these are homicides. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Of those approximately 45,000 firearm deaths, more than 27,000 are suicides. The number of firearm homicides is closer to 15,000. The larger error, however, is the assumption that making it harder to legally purchase a gun will solve the problem. There are already numerous laws governing the legal purchase of firearms. The reality is that criminals do not have to walk into a gun store a