When former U.S. Representative Bob Barr and I met last week at the Marietta, Georgia Rotary Club luncheon to debate gun safety, we had a polite exchange of views on the issue. I was invited because of the gun safety opinions I’ve expressed in a weekly column I write for the local newspaper.

Barr did take exception to my invoking the National Rifle Association when I observed that the organization has, for years, engaged in a relentlessly bellicose misinformation campaign designed confuse and scare gun owners.