VOICE

Jesse Ventura tells it like it should be Ordinarily, I consider watching C-SPAN about as exciting as staring at a gray wall. But the other day, as my pet beagle and I laid in bed surfing the TV, I made an abrupt stop on C-SPAN and turned up the volume. I watched excitedly as one of my heroes, the great governor of Minnesota, Jesse "The Body" Ventura was talking about his new autobiography, "I Ain't Got Time to Bleed." As he reminisced about his days in the Navy Seals, he paused for a second. Then, in classic Ventura style, he started to look angry.

I write in response to Mr. Rosenkrans' commentary on violence and the Constitution's Second Amendment. Mr. Rosenkrans is thoughtful in raising important questions: what are the effects of access to guns in our society? Does it make sense for all Americans to have access to firearms? Like most Americans, he wishes that we could find some way to end the violence which makes the United States nearly unique among the industrialized societies of the world.

I'm terrified. There's only been one other time in my life that I've been this scared. Almost four years ago I packed up everything I could possibly need to start a new life and left my home in Connecticut for a university in Mississippi. Beside being 1300 miles from home, I didn't know anyone at Ole Miss and was worried about fitting in, making friends and surviving on my own. It took a while but I got used to school and grew to love it here.