Let's take a deep breath and think about what we know about gun violence and gun control.

Even for politicians, hard facts must eventually matter. If they can't see that gun control laws have failed to deliver as promised, it's hard to know when facts will make a difference.

The current ban on handguns in the District of Columbia has not reduced violence in the city.

Evenif theCanadian government were to convince the United States to ban guns, that would provide no more of a magic solution to Canadian crime than its own failed gun registry.

Everyone wants to take guns away from criminals, butif the law-abiding citizens obey the laws and the criminals do not, the rules create sitting ducks who cannot defend themselves.

The closer one gets to the Democratic base, however, the greater the support for gun control grows.

Despite promises to the contrary by gun-control advocates, many nations find that increasing restrictions on guns actually increases the number of violent crimes committed.

Exploding crime rates in countries that have banned all guns shows that we can add gun control to the list of government planning efforts that do not live up to their billing.