Story highlights Actor Liam Neeson criticizes gun culture in U.S.; in response, gun advocates call for boycott of his movie

Philip Cook and Kristin Goss: There's actually a common sense approach to the gun issue

(CNN) In case we need any reminder that gun politics can be over the top, there's the recent report that gunmaker PARA USA regrets supplying weapons to the action flick "Taken 3" and is calling for a boycott.

Why? It's not because they're feeling guilty about triggering violent fantasies in some viewers, but because the star of the movie series, Liam Neeson, had the gall to tell a reporter that there were too many guns in America.

Philip Cook

There's no doubt Americans are worried about gun violence and support some proposals to keep guns away from potentially dangerous people.

Kristin Goss

For example, in poll after poll, Americans of all political stripes, including gun owners, support background checks on all firearm purchases. (A requirement of that sort was enacted by popular vote last November in Washington state.) California, New York, and a handful of other states, altogether constituting one-quarter of the U.S. population, have regulations on gun design, transactions, possession or use that go well beyond federal requirements.

On the other hand, public opinion in support of protecting gun rights has grown in recent decades, and in red states there has been a highly successful effort to deregulate guns.

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