Jenny Chapman

Tucson. Aurora. Columbine. Newtown. The list of places — and lives — scarred by mass shootings continues to grow. There were at least seven mass shootings in 2012, the worst year on record in terms of casualties. In every incident, semi-automatic or assault weapons were used. 151 people died, and numerous lives were forever altered.

Shoot-outs were rarer in the Wild West than they are now. Even Dodge City, Tombstone and Deadwood had gun-control measures. Frontiersmen owned guns for hunting and protection, but when they entered towns, they were requested to hand them over to the sheriff in exchange for a receipt to reclaim them later. The result? Gun violence in the Wild West was far less prevalent than TV Westerns would have us believe.

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Chapman wrote this on behalf of Roanoke Quaker Meeting, of which she is a member. She lives on Bent Mountain.