The four participants were moderated by Tom Heitz. Tom O'Brien is a member of the Oneonta Sportsmen's Club and said he keeps at least one loaded unlocked gun in his house. Dr. Chuck Hudson, with a background in psychiatry, spoke about his time in Alaska, where he inadvertently learned about the danger of guns in society. Dr. Anna Gadomski, a pediatrician, is opposed to domestic guns, having treated children with wounds and some who died as a result. Sheriff Don Mundy, who said that he is a not a gun buff, was the fourth member.

Heitz began with a brief speech placing the gun in historical context as a "handheld successor to the catapult and slingshot, a refinement of the first weapons, sticks and stones, used for hunting and protection from animals and to repel human attackers."

He went on to describe the ever-increasing sophistication of weaponry, far more "advanced and deadly than our forefathers could have predicted" when adopting the Second Amendment to protect our right to bear arms. He then touched on the night's theme: Responsible gun owners are the majority, he said, but what about the rest?

"It is a plain fact," said Heitz, "that guns in the twenty first century have become a health issue of major proportions."

O'Brien spoke next about his fascination with guns.

"I don't want to lose my right to do something I enjoy," he said.

He later said that he had been robbed at gunpoint and kept a loaded gun at home to protect himself. He spoke about the hoop jumping necessary to get a pistol permit, the ninety day wait, the verification and references required.

"Generally," he said, "responsible gun owners can make sure that nobody gets hurt."

Hudson said his career granted him the realization that this country "is swollen with guns."

"There has been a big movement in product safety," he said, "seatbelts, airbags, baby seats, product recalls, but nothing like that in the firearms area."

Over half of the people who die from gunshot wounds, he said, are suicides. He said that the availability of guns makes them easy to use for suicide.

Gadomski felt similarly that the availability of guns is a tremendous crisis since guns in the home increase the likelihood that a family member will be injured or killed.

"The self-defense myth is propagated by the gun industry," she said. "A civilized society should ban guns from the home."

Her family left Baltimore after two instances of gun murder in their neighborhood.

Gadomski said that as a pediatrician she asks young patients and their parents to fill out questionnaires regarding risk behaviors, including questions about sex, drugs and guns in the home.

"The gun question is the real sticking point," said Gadomski. "People get indignant about it, as if it's an invasion of their privacy. Considering the nature of the other questions, I find this difficult to reconcile."

She likened this phenomenon to societal suicide.

"It's the same feeling like they must have had before the fall of the Roman Empire," she said.

Mundy, who declined to say whether he was carrying a gun during the discussion, said that guns should not be blamed for suicide.

"If a person is depressed enough, they'll find a way to kill themselves," he said. "It's not the gun. It's the person behind it."

Mundy believes in safety where guns are concerned. His grandson, fourteen, is an avid hunter and "knows to respect guns." He also believes that silencers, assault weapons and other related paraphernalia should be banned.

Local historian Hugh MacDougall said that the attitude of not teaching gun safety to children is akin to the belief that teaching them about sex is like encouraging them to do it.

"If we're going to have guns," he said, "at least we should train people to use them responsibly."

Gadomski had a startling statistic about guns in the home, garnered after a survey conducted by the Otsego Public Health Partnership. In 1998, twenty-eight percent of middle school students had carried a gun in the last month. While eighty-eight percent said they used the gun for target shooting and hunting, twelve percent said they carried it for personal safety.

Christine Heller, founder of the local chapter of the Million Mom March, said "I was really happy with the turnout. I've kind of gotten burned out with the hostility of the NRA members. The panelists wanted a calm night, and that's what we had. Sheriff Mundy is really somebody we can work with."

Heller added that a video for discussion and the book "Making a Killing," are both available for at the Cooperstown Village Library.