"...long tradition in the United States of killing other people or oneself with a gun"
Tradition? Really? We may have a tradition of firearms ownership in this country as it's been passed down from one generation of Americans to the next but that's pretty much the extent of the tradition.
As far as gun control and progressives are concerned, if you give an inch of gun control to progressives, they'll want another inch, then a foot, a yard, a mile and before long, the Second Amendment will have been gutted...progressively.
However, I'm all for keeping as many guns as possible out of the hands of methheads and others who would rob at gun point for whatever purpose. It's just not possible without a gun registry. To that I am opposed.