Texas has issued more concealed carry permits than any other state. If reports of 3,000 customers inside the Wal-Mart attacked in El Paso last week were correct, then there should have been somewhere between 200 and 350 ‘good guys with guns’ in the store. Adjust for children and spouses, let’s say there was a minimum of a hundred good guys present that day.

How many rushed the shooter? Zero. Were these Texans all cowards? We can assume some were; but relying on a handgun against a shooter wearing body armor and firing an AR-15 is little smarter than the joke about taking a knife to a gunfight. Hiding or running makes a lot more sense, not to mention that you will avoid being mistaken by police for another gunman.

If we think about Civil War deaths as the “price of freedom” for 2 million enslaved Americans, the price has been estimated as 360,000 Union dead and another 260,000 Confederates. These numbers, which were relied on for nearly a century, may be as much as 20% too low based on recent analysis of 1870 census data. So, let’s say it was 400,000 and 300,000 for a total of 700,000 deaths over five years. At least half of these perished from disease, infection or starvation. The overwhelming majority of fatalities, however, on both sides, were the white sons of American families.

During the decade ahead of us, nearly as many Americans will die from gunshots. Second Amendment zealots, including the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, recently labeled as Colorado’s Taliban by the departing El Paso County Republican chairman, would have us believe this is an acceptable “price for freedom.” Too bad about the children at Sandy Hook. Too bad about the patrons at the Aurora movie house. Too bad about the kids at Parkland. Too bad about the gay patrons in Orlando. Too bad about the country concert crowd in Las Vegas.

It’s well past time we asked whose freedom they think they are protecting. Wayne LaPierre has already alerted the White House his members will be mightily upset if the president supports universal background checks. Forget about red flag restrictions. Polls show a majority of NRA members actually support background checks. So, who will actually be upset with sensible gun restrictions? Gun manufacturers, of course, and those purchasers likely to be denied a firearm. How concerned should we be about the objections of either? Not too much in my view. It can only be a matter of time until we witness a coordinated slaughter involving multiple shooters – perhaps including a diversionary use of explosives, as occurred in Norway, to lure law enforcement away from their primary target.

As recently deceased author Toni Morrison pointed out in her Nobel Prize acceptance speech, violent words are in themselves acts of violence. Donald Trump’s televised criticism of white supremacists was about as convincing as an Al Qaeda hostage video. He could barely read off his teleprompter without retching.

We should not fool ourselves that public shooters are all right-wing extremists. Certainly, they are the more dangerous at the moment, but there is little reason to believe left-wing extremists aren’t assembling just offstage. Recall the lunatic who fired at Republican congressional members practicing for a softball game with Democrats; and, perhaps, the Dayton killer. There is no reason to believe an enraged left will not prove just as lethal as the Russian Bolsheviks of the last century.

Neither group should enjoy ready access to weapons of war. The last time I wrote about this issue I received an email pointing out that colonial property owners frequently purchased their own cannons, which were emplaced to protect against who knows what. Perhaps this made sense, but these weapons required two to three minutes to reload and their cannon balls were rarely explosive. This contention is similar to those who also believe grenade launchers, anti-aircraft batteries and drone missiles are equally guaranteed under the Second Amendment. Give me a break. These are not the trappings of a “well regulated militia.”

The Rocky Mountain Gun Owners must be experiencing a seizure. While they actively attempt to recall Democratic legislators for supporting the red flag law, their president has, at least for the moment, announced he agrees with Colorado’s legislation. I’m sure Dudley Brown and his members are demanding the White House let President Trump know he’s way out of line.

Meanwhile, Colorado families try to figure out how to make Republican legislators understand they would prefer the freedom to drive to Wal-Mart, attend a movie or spend an evening at a night club without worry. Is this really too much to ask? Or, will voters have to continue electing Democratic majorities for a few more election cycles to grab their attention?

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former state legislator. He can be reached at mnhwriter@msn.com.