Richard Cohen says "I am, like all reasonable people, in favor of the tightest restrictions on guns". I'm no NRA weenie or any kind of a gun nut, but I like to think of myself as reasonable and I'm not sure that I would favor the "tightest restrictions" on guns. What does he mean, that only the police, the army and airline pilots can have them?

I will never cease to be entertained by those who think that the surest way to make something go away is to impose laws and restrictions against it. Don't we already have the "tightest restrictions" against such activities as home invasion robberies, rape and airline hijackings?

The main point of Cohen's piece was not to ban guns. His main point is that airline pilots should be able to carry guns. He probably threw that other line in there to bolster his credibility as a liberal softie to drive home his main point. But for the same reason that civilian pilots should be able to defend themselves and their passengers when law enforcement isn't around, so too should responsible citizens have reasonable access to weapons of self-defense.