摘要
2012年12月14日，位于美国康涅狄格州桑迪·胡克小学的枪声让原本笼罩在圣诞欢歌里的美国乌云密布。20名小学生和6名教师，在短短5分钟内不幸罹难，整个美国瞬间陷入悲痛和愤怒。桑迪．胡克枪击事件绝非个案。美国频发的枪击案或许会引发新一轮关于美国枪支管控的深刻反省，美国各州也对枪支管控进行一系列“治标不治本”的改革。类似的举措是否会对美国公民的人身安全产生实质性的改变？答案显然是否定的。
Some time ago, really, let me be more precise, many years ago, I went for a job interview. Halfway through the interview, one of the interviewers asked me a question, ＂If someone robs his victim using a gun with a bullet in it, should he be punished more severely than if he uses a gun that does not have a bullet in it？＂ ＂What＇s the difference？＂ I got a quick response for that one. Isn＇t it true that if a person robs a victim with a gun, only the robber knows whether or not the gun is loaded, but the victim has no way of knowing it？ The gun is used to threaten the victim into submission, and a crime is committed. Why should there be a difference between the sen- tence of a person committing robbery with a gun that has an empty chamber and a person robbing while holding a gun with a bullet in it？ Of course I didn＇t get the job -- I guess I didn＇t need a job then anyway.
