Large crowd attends discussion of gun control

A large crowd attended Tuesday night's event

In 2010, the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Department issued 79 gun permits to citizens.  In 2012, the Sheriff's Department issued 977 gun permits.

That's evidence of the growing importance of questions about gun ownership and gun violence.  More evidence is the fact that between 80 to 90 Decorah area residents on Tuesday night came out to the Decorah City Hall for a conversation on the role of guns in our society.

The discussion was civil, although there was no agreement about the causes or cures for recent shootings.  While Brian Backes said "The political divide isn't as sharp as you think," other speakers showed there is still a divide.

Keith Bodensteiner of Ossian objected to the use of the phrase "assault weapons," saying they should be called "modern sporting rifles" instead.  Barb Dale of Decorah said the U.S., firearm homicide rate is 22 times the rate of other developed countries.  Wayne Teslow of Decorah asked if someone drove a Prius and killed someone in an accident, would we take away all Priuses?  Fred Jaehnig of Decorah, who grew up in Germany, stated citizens in Europe don't carry guns around the way Americans do.

In comments at the beginning of the evening, Sheriff Leon Bohr stated "We need conversations."  Organizers of Tuesday's event say they will hold another conversation about guns in March.

Decorah Police Chief Bill Nixon and Winneshiek County Sheriff Leon Bohr spoke at the beginning of the program

(Left to right): One of the speakers, Harland Nelson of Decorah, with moderator Matt Tapscott watching