A FRIEND and colleague warned me years ago about university politics; he called it “a snake-pit of human activity.” And, yes, following some 30 years of direct and indirect involvement with university politics, including the pursuit of faculty rights and fair administrative-faculty relations, it was all too often a viper-like and execrable experience.

Some would say that all levels of politics might be characterized this way. It’s in our human nature and perhaps it’s the only way democracy works. Often the public utterances differ with actual policy (as a result of privacy and closed infighting).

Today, in the national arena, and especially here in the Boston-New York-Hartford area, the recent discussions are intense around how to deal with the damnable unlimited manufacture, distribution and sales of high-powered assault weapons.

As a gun-violent nation – hey, I grew-up in the 1960s with numerous assassinations of national leaders including President John F. Kennedy – our history for safety first is remarkably weak, and in many a mind practically non-existent.

The first piece of federal legislation coming out of Congress in my lifetime (in my remembrance) was the Brady Bill (Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, November 1993). This law basically requires the registration of the gun and name of the purchaser at the time of the sale.

As you may recall, James S. Brady was President Ronald Reagan’s press secretary when John Hinckley attempted to kill President Reagan by shooting him at close range in March 1981. Hinckley did in fact shoot the president, another person, and he also shot James Brady in the head. All three men survived this violent gun assault, but Brady’s severe head wound left him a cripple. Mr. Brady and his wife, however, devoted themselves to gun-control with some results.

The second piece of federal legislation (and supported by Brady) coming from Congress and signed into law by President Clinton was the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, also referred to as the “Assault Weapon Ban.” Its specific life was for 10 years and required congressional renewal in 2004. It automatically expired on Sept. 13, 2004, sad to report.

In the recent mass shooting in Aurora, Colo., James Holmes apparently used one of these – formerly banned – assault rifles, an AR-15 Assault Rifle, also identified as an “assault rife with a high capacity clip.” The clip held 100 bullets in the theater massacre. It jammed, or the death toll might have been much worse.

Of great interest here in the Northeast, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City, a well-known supporter of legislation that limits the public’s access to guns (along with several other national figures), has come forward urging new restrictive gun legislation.

One new twist to this discussion includes a “right-to-carry” and cross state lines with concealed weapons. The National Rifle Association, with millions of dollars and an army of lobbyists surrounding Washington D.C., is calling for more free access to guns. When will this type of insanity be stopped?