The politicians, pundits and public will debate until we're blue in the face about who is to blame for the tragedy in Tucson, Ariz., and like the political discourse of the past decade, there will be no winners.

What is not debatable is the fact that if Jared Lee Loughner hadn't been able to purchase a Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun with four magazines capable of holding 33 rounds, there would be six fewer lives lost to handgun violence and 14 fewer injured. As long as our country allows lax laws governing the ownership of handguns, the American people must take collective responsibility for these deaths.

Nancy Dalsheimer Savage, Baltimore