You may have heard in the news about the shootings in Salt Lake City, Utah, where five people were shot dead in a shopping mall when a man ran riot with a pump-action shotgun.

I have friends in Salt Lake City and over the years have got to know some of their friends who live locally. I’d read the news story, but hadn’t really connected until I received a personal email about the event from one of my virtual acquaintances whose daughter works in one of the stores in the mall. I've changed the names of the people involved...

Sarah was supposed to work but the schedule was changed at the last minute and she got off early. Fortunately for me she came straight home, or I’d have been frantic. Having heard the news Sarah tried to ring her friends at the store. She finally got through to Charley, the manager on site after hours of trying. Charley told her that she and Carole, who were the only people in the store, were at the cash wrap when they heard a noise.

They looked up and saw the guy walking through the west entrance with the gun at his hip. He turned and looked at them, raised his gun, then turned away and then walked on. They were literally frozen with fear. When they got their wits about them they ran to the store room and locked themselves in.

Thank God the guy walked away and the girls were OK. Sarah, who had broken into tears on the phone, was still shaking hours later.

Suddenly the whole event took on a different meaning for me. Imagine the horror my friends and their families must have felt; too terrible to contemplate.

Isn’t it time our American cousins changed their minds about gun ownership?