Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and six others died after a gunman opened fire at a public event on Saturday.There are other reports that say that she hasn't died and is in surgery.
UPDATE: Fewer are dead than the first report. Rep; Giffords is alive (as of now).
The perp is in custody after being tackled (or shot) by a brave bystander.
The motive of the gunman is, as of yet, unknown.
But I'm betting, Gentle Reader, that most of you can probably make an accurate guess as to the motivation for shooting a Democratic congresswoman.
Or, for that matter, a federal judge.
15 comments:
Is this not a smoking gun for open and/or concealed carry? And especially at political Rallies? All those in favor of the rights of unregulated militias to bear arms should get in line to wash innocent blood from their hands. It is time for us, as a nation, to take up the unconstitutionality of standing un-regulated militias.
I'm an East Coast liberal who proudly defends the Second Amendment as meaning we individuals are allowed to own all sorts of explosive hardware. I myself don't own any guns because I'd be way too likely to blow away the neighbors, but by God I'll defend the right of everyone else to own one.
Arizona has liberal open-carry laws. I'm just surprised somebody didn't blow this asshole into the middle of next week.
Read more carefully. My issue is not ownership. You keep your guns at home and I will keep my home, too. My issue is carrying around town; especially to political rallies.
Vigilante, I really doubt that anyone shows up at a political event and spontaneously decides to dump a couple clips of 9mm into the speakers.
No, this guy went there with the intent of killing people. Just like that Glenn Beck fan who wanted to massacre the staff of the Tides Foundations.
Right to carry laws are not going to stop anyone with murder on their minds. All they do, as was seen at Luby's Cafteria (for one example) is guarantee a supply of unarmed victims.
Comrade, believe me: there are people out there carrying guns for no logical reason, and being armed inflates their sense of power and importance. Random impulses come to them. You would know if you ever carried loaded guns in the streets, as I have.
Vigilante, really? "Random impulses" come to those who are armed? Since you say that you have carried a gun, have you been going around shooting at people?
After looking at all the available news on this is the shooter is a nutcase that had planned to do this and it has nothing to do with armed people carrying for self defense.
Note: he was stopped not by someone carrying but tackled thereby denying his apparent wish to "suicide by cop".
Eck!
Apologies, Vigilante - you are correct, I did not read your post carefully enough.
Still, I find myself in a teensy bit of disagreement with you. I have no problems with people openly carrying guns to political rallies, to church, to school - what's critical is their intent (something I admit is impossible to determine). However, until there's a way we can determine someone's intent without their speaking it, I allow that we will need a compromise.
You know, I've never had a problem with anyone openly carrying a gun. The problems I've encountered have been with people with a small handgun in their pocket and no idea how to deal with one at all, much less safely. I think basic firearms safety is a good thing to teach children. That's when I learned it, when I was 9. It gave me enough sense to leave my guns at my father's house in Eureka when I moved to Oakland. I have no use for them here; I don't hunt any more and I have never liked shooting ranges. They make me nervous. Also, I have had my music gear stolen from my home(s) twice, so I would have lost them right away. Gun ownership is one thing, but Oakland does not need a burglar with a model 94 .32 special or a Browning 12 guage semi-auto.
Back on topic, guns aren't going away, and (at least here in Oakland) they can be had for cash with nothing said or signed by the very people who do the things with them like this thing in Arizona. So I just don't see how regulating them could be effective. The problem I see with guns (again, here in Oakland) is when young people here use them as a power prop and an excuse not to learn the kind of social skills needed to live in an urban area. Firearm sanity, that's what I want. That Beck fan who was going to shoot up the ACLU and the Tides Foundation pulled his shootout about a mile from my house. With a rifle. On an elevated roadway. No sane person would do that. Enforcing sanity, though, seems even more problematic than enforcing gun regulations, so maybe life in America doesn't get to be made completely safe? Sorry for the long post, but I really wanted to say something about this, and this seemed like the right place.
-Doug in Oakland
Rationally speaking, this terrorist attack is an example of why private gun ownership should be banned. If some idiot started trying to shoot the terrorist, chances are more innocent bystanders would have died.
The most important thing is to hold Sarah Palin accountable for her role in this.
Doug, I just want to see guns regulated/licensed/registered like automobiles. Laws generally deprive the latter from people people with serial DUI's on their track record. Additionally, people with guns in their homes are not the problem. It's people out and about with guns on their belts and in their cars are the problem. (And at political rallies?) I may trust you, but not the guy standing next to you. Not at all.
Wingnuts are actually blaming this on the left.
Here's my 2 cents. SOME people say that Faux News is to blame...MANY people say that Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin are to blame because of their comments...MOST EXPERTS agree that the NRA is at fault...see how easy it is? I think that we are all to blame, all of us, because we as a country have allowed a fake news organization to continue to poison our political process with lies, false accusations, bogus outrage and false controversy. This needed to be addressed years ago, when FOX went to court and actually won the right to lie because they were an entertainment/opinion network verses a news organization. Why they were not then treated as the de-facto propaganda wing of the GOP I cannot understand, I feel that the other news organizations lost their courage after 9/11, when anyone who even had the nerve to ask a question of the Bush admin. was labeled as a traitor by FOX, patriotism was the only virtue and any questioning of authority was considered to be disloyal. It is time to call them out for inciting violence and hatred and fear, no, they didn't pull the trigger but I believe they threw gasoline on a fire that they started! I'm a registered Republican who believes our party has been taken over by corperations and the rich, I beieve a woman's decisions about her body are her's to make, and I believe we should care for all of our citizens, even if that means the rich pay a little more in taxes. I also think that we can no longer afford to be policeman to the world and we need to cut our defense budget in half, and close any overseas base or instillation that is not fully funded by the host nation and bring our troups home.
As for guns, I've got a whole safe full, I hunt and fish and shoot cowboy action. Look at Australia and their crime rate now that they banned private gun ownership, now only the criminals have guns and all violent crimes are up dramatically. We all should have the right to protect ourselves as we see fit...the police are only going to come after the fact.
Thanks for allowing me the chance to vent a little, EB your blog is one of the best, keep it up!
No better reason than this is needed.
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=13797200
I'll happily associate myself with OldRetiredDude!
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