There are roughly 200 million guns in America. From year to year, guns contribute to the deaths of 20,000 to 40,000 persons through suicide or homicide. It's hard to get more specific, because violent crime has been trending downward, and even if all guns disappeared there still would be a certain level of violent death. But even taking the high-end figure at face value, that still means only two one-hundredths of 1 percent of guns are used in suicides or homicides.

In fact, the figure almost certainly is far lower than that, because a small percentage of guns are used in a disproportionate number of violent acts. Not every homicide is committed with a separate gun. Indeed, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence contends that 60 percent of the guns used in crimes are supplied through only 1 percent of the nation's gun dealers.

IF SO, THEN it would seem the height of unfairness to view with suspicion the 99.98 percent of guns and the similarly high percentage of gun owners who pose no threat whatsoever -- wouldn't it? Advocates of gun control might respond, reasonably, that the imposition of modest regulations such as registration, waiting periods, and one-gun-a-month limits do not impose an excessive burden on gun owners. Gun owners might retort, equally reasonably, that given the above, statistics a particular gun owner should not be treated as if he is a homicide waiting to happen.