If this nation can summon the strength to talk, really talk, about how to reduce America's tragic tally of gun deaths, to have the conversation this newspaper believes is so desperately needed, it's only fair that we suggest where the discussion can begin.

These suggestions aren't meant as policy prescriptions. We're inviting gun rights enthusiasts and gun control advocates into a dialogue about what can be done to reduce the number of Americans who die by gunshot each year. And to do it in a way that respects, rather than threatens, Second Amendment rights.

Let's talk about:

Mental health

Before he walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and slaughtered 20 children and six school workers, Adam Lanza had long struggled with mental illness. And yet he lived in a house full of guns. Might tougher laws on access to guns by the mentally ill have put those guns out of reach? (The Associated Press)

Before he walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School and slaughtered 20 children and six school workers, Adam Lanza had long struggled with mental illness and had a fascination with mass murder. And yet he lived in a house full of guns. Might tougher laws on access to guns by the mentally ill have put those guns out of reach? Perhaps by encouraging his mother to keep them under lock and key?

What about Omar Mateen, the Orlando nightclub shooter? Despite a history of domestic violence, he walked into a gun shop a few days before the massacre and bought all the weapons and ammunition he needed to earn his grisly place in history as one of this nation's most lethal mass murderers. Might a longer waiting period, or a more thorough background check, have raised sufficient red flags to slow or prevent his purchases?

It's easy to focus on the mass shootings, whose perpetrators so often have such troubled histories. But longer waiting periods and closer scrutiny of gun buyers' backgrounds will do more than run interference for mass shooters.

Two out of three gun-related deaths in America are suicides. Most people who survive a suicide attempt never try again. But when the method is by gun, the death rate soars; most people never have a chance to rethink the decision.

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Mental illness is a challenge that goes far beyond gun violence. Jails, prisons and police all report rising numbers of untreated mental illness.

Gun laws won't solve that problem. But they could help, couldn't they? After all, mentally ill Americans, whether treated or not, live in a nation where guns are more available than just about anywhere else in the world. That makes for a combustible mix.

We'd start by testing the idea of imposing longer waiting times on the purchase of handguns and, perhaps, high-capacity long guns, too. Beyond serving as a built-in cooling off period, the longer waiting times would enable more detailed background checks. Those checks could be trained at revealing a history of mental illness or domestic abuse.

What impact would a history of domestic abuse, say, have on the right to buy a gun? That should definitely be part of this discussion. Clearly, factors such as how long ago the incident occurred and whether there was a conviction would be important. As for mental illness, perhaps a letter from a psychiatrist currently treating the patient would be required.

The important point is that we begin this conversation to see how we might put reasonable and targeted roadblocks between shooters with a troubled or violent past and buying the guns they need to harm themselves or others.

Military-style weapons

The idea that the Second Amendment permits Americans to buy any weapon we choose has never been supported by fact or law. Restrictions on purchasing fully automatic weapons, for example, have been in place since the 1930s.

Gun safety

Accidental deaths by firearms are, blissfully, down from the grisly highs of a decade ago. That's a rare bright spot in the discussion of gun violence. But at 505 accidental deaths last year, with close to 40 percent involving young adults or children, we can't leave these out of our discussion.

Should training be required to own a gun? What rules ought to be in place regarding the storage of weapons in a house where children live or frequent? When a child is killed in an accidental shooting, should the gun owner ever be responsible?

***

These ideas are starting points, invitations to consider what we can do to reduce the number of gun-related deaths in this country. For years, any suggestion of reform or restrictions has been met by an immediate cry that an assault is underway on the Second Amendment.

That's madness. The Second Amendment has always, and explicitly, been held to permit restrictions on gun ownership, just as virtually all of the rights enshrined in our Constitution are subject to reasonable regulations.

The challenge for gun enthusiasts and Second Amendment loyalists alike is to test the ideas for efficacy and to seek a reasonable balance between access to guns and safety.