Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Looking down the barrel of a gun

The shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado happened while I was out of the country. Amazingly, Newsweek didn't have anything about it. I was home before the shooting at the Sikh Temple faded from the news, so I heard all about that one. I'm now catching up on Terrence Heath's blog and he has five posts about the Aurora shooting.

Our politics are such that we're not allowed to talk about such shootings. That would "politicize" it. So now is not the time. But that translates into never. We can't solve what we don't talk about.

On second thought -- might as well shut up because nothing is going to change. Politicians were very careful not to talk about it.

Holmes, the shooter, amassed an amazing stockpile of ammunition. All of it legally. Why did he do it? And why didn't it attract attention from national security?

Responses from politicians have been in just a few categories.

A very small number have talked about the need to prevent buying enough ammunition for an army.

A few, like Obama, have talked about beefing up enforcement of existing law. But Holmes bought his stockpile legally.

A few, like Romney, have declared Holmes' stockpile was acquired illegally. Is he clueless or is he perhaps saying it should be illegal?

A few blame the "enabling attitudes of the political left."

Most do nothing more than hold a moment of silence. Somehow Dems in marginal districts are terrified of not getting an A from the NRA but aren't worried about such equally partisan groups as the Chamber of Commerce. Yeah, I know, not many voters know much about the Chamber of Commerce, much less write to candidates about the CoC goals.

Heath concludes the series by recounting the time 25 years ago when he looked down the barrel of a gun. Only one person, the intended victim, died. Heath wonders if others in the strip mall where the incident occurred had concealed weapons whether more would have died in the crossfire as citizen vigilantes tried to take down the shooter.

He notes:
It's easier to get a gun today than it is to do many other things, like voting, buying Sudafed, buying a cell phone, getting a credit card, or even a hunting license.

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