Gun manufacturers, the NRA and the Republican Party share the blame for so much violence.

When a murderer with a gun is arrested, tried and convicted, citizens assume justice has been served. Unfortunately, more share the guilt.

A sinister, well-funded cartel including three plotters indirectly contributes to many gun deaths, yet they are never indicted. They never pull the trigger but they work diligently to make sure the trigger is readily available. Justice demands liability for all the players.

So, who are the members of this cartel, this mafia that assists the killer? The number of their victims is legend. They do not kill, they just make killing inevitable. And they don’t give a damn how many deaths result.

First are the gun manufacturers and gun shop owners who produce and sell assault weapons and handguns knowing many will be used for homicide or suicide. They resist all regulations that could save lives, fearing those might cut into sales and spectacular profits. Yet with no regulations, 40,000 end up dead and 60,000 wounded annually because without regulations guns end up in the wrong hands. And manufacturers have no liability for a product designed specifically for killing. No other product of any kind enjoys this kind of protection. Fighting gun regulation makes them accessory to the crime.

The National Rifle Association, the second member of the gang, is the public face for gun rights while fighting gun regulations. They champion the Second Amendment and fight reasonable gun regulation that save lives. By fighting gun regulation, the NRA becomes accessory to the crimes that result and the scandalous death toll.

The Republican Party, a once respectable conservative party, is now the third member of the conspiracy. GOP legislators, in an incestuous relationship with the NRA, take their donations, pass permissive gun laws, and reject all attempts at gun regulation. GOP gun bills focus on gun owners’ rights alone, ignoring public safety. This rejection of regulations of merit shows the GOP conspirators to be members and accessories to the killings that result. Guilty as charged.

The world’s oldest democracy is held hostage by a conspiracy that has engineered laws producing a gun violence epidemic. The clique is getting away with murder. This is insane.

The irony is that a huge majority of Americans want gun regulations and have every right to demand them. We cannot allow a self-serving cabal to stop gun regulation. No other advanced nation has this problem.

Canada is the perfect model. No guns shorter than 18 inches are legal. And those who don’t comply end up in jail. The handgun, our major killer, is banned altogether along with the assault rifle. This is standard for every other advanced nation. The clique has cursed our nation, and gun violence will continue to increase until the network is stopped and held responsible.

The solution to gun violence is not as daunting as controlling them COVID virus. First, a Center for Gun Regulation should be established similar to the CDC, with public health and safety specialists establishing regulations and standards that protect the public. A federal agency free of both politics and special interests is imperative.

Then comes the accounting for members of the cartel for crimes against humanity. Certainly, the death toll approaching 400,000 in the last decade qualifies as a human rights violation.

The 400 million privately owned guns must also be addressed. The syndicate should be financially liable for any buy-back costs. They created the problem and should pay for the solution. Had there been no conspiracy the nation would not be awash in guns. Justice must be served.

A primary obligation of government is to provide a safe environment for its citizens and taxes are paid to achieve that purpose. That’s democracy free of the tyranny of the cartel. The misguided remnant of the Republican Party, along with its mostly decent but confused supporters, has created a mess — the elephant in the room.

The nation will never be free of the gun violence epidemic until the NRA is vanquished, gun makers assume full liability for their product and the GOP returns to a responsible conservative party and demands gun regulations that save lives.

Ron Molen, Salt Lake City, formerly an architect, is now a voice for Campaign to Save Lives.