Timothy Wheeler

The recent incidents of school shootings have sparked debates over the accessibility of guns to minors. Opponents argue that juveniles could not commit such mass murders as the Springfield, Oregon, shooting, in which Kip Kinkel murdered two and wounded twenty in 1998, without having such ready access to guns. Proponents of gun ownership, however, argue that guns have been a part of American culture for centuries without juveniles using them on their classmates. In the following viewpoint, Timothy Wheeler makes this argument, claiming that individuals are to blame for violence, not guns. Wheeler is the director of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, a project of the Claremont Institute that supports the safe and lawful use of firearms.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. Why does the author claim that guns do...