The attempted kidnapping of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — in which a delusional, hammer-wielding assailant broke into her home and left her husband, Paul, severely wounded — was a heinous and despicable act that reflects an increasingly toxic US political culture. But it reflects something else, too: a nation that leads the developed world in murder.
No other high-income country even approaches the US murder rate, and the primary reason is simple: No other country makes it so easy for dangerous people to acquire guns — and to carry them, without any safety training requirements. Knives, of course, can kill people. So can hammers. But they are far less likely to kill their targets, to kill innocent bystanders, to kill children who stumble across them, to kill people who are gathered in schools, malls, theaters, houses of worship and other public places — or to kill people in their own homes.
The fact is: Paul Pelosi is likely alive because his assailant did not have a gun.