Speaker: Better laws needed to reduce U.S. gun violence

YOUNGSTOWN

Stronger and more consistent laws are needed to reduce gun violence in the U.S., but the problem also must be attacked from an economic standpoint, a marketing consultant contends.

People were shocked and appalled by shooting rampages at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., in 1999 and 2007, respectively. Nevertheless, neither tragedy led to tougher federal gun laws, Elliot N. Fineman said during his presentation Tuesday at the Main Branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.

Fineman, president and chief executive officer of the National Gun Victims Action Council, spoke to about 50 people on providing economic leverage leading to tighter state and national gun laws.

In December 2006, Fineman’s 44-year-old son, Michael, was shot to death at a San Diego restaurant by a paranoid schizophrenic who had legally obtained his firearm.

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