I have purposely been slow to respond to the latest shooting in Tucson by Jared Loughner, who allegedly took the lives of nine and wounded 14.
Included were a murdered judge, John Roll, and a wounded representative, Gabrielle Giffords (who happens to be Jewish).
We are all trying to answer the same question: “Why did this happen?”
Right now, I am comfortable arguing the following:
There will always be sociopaths, the mentally ill and those who lash out at their perceived enemies. What sets them off? No one will ever know for sure. Why do they resort to violence? No one will ever know for sure.
Right now, the question we need to answer is “how will we lessen the damage they inflict, the next time one of them lashes out?”
What we do know is that their preferred weapon of choice is assault weapons. Our nation is swimming in them. Legally, they are easy to obtain, and since there are so many on the black market, they are easy to obtain illegally.
If Loughner had lashed out with a knife, he would have inflicted much less damage; even if he had lashed out with a revolver, there would have been fewer casualties.
But Loughner legally obtained a semi-automatic Glock handgun with a 33 bullet clip.
I am not arguing against the 2nd amendment: ”A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
I can understand why our nation’s founders wrote those words; after all, we had just rebelled from the mighty British empire.
But today, who is the enemy that drives so many of us to obtain arms to feel safe? (The argument that the enemy is the U.S. government is nonsense; and concerning illegal aliens, terrorists, drug addicts and hard-core criminals, I continue to sleep well at night trusting the skills, training and tools of local law enforcement, the National Guard and the U.S. military.)
The psychotic and deranged will always exist in our nation; they will continue to snap and lash out. Why do we allow them to lash out with deadly force?
With the current laws in place, we should hardly be surprised when they inflict massive casualties at universities, high schools, work places, or political gatherings.
The bottom line is this: We need stricter laws, including thorough background checks. We desperately need greater controls on assault weapons.
But here’s the kicker: Anxiety and fear spur gun sales.
According to reporting by “Bloomberg,” the day after the shooting, one-day sales of handguns in Arizona jumped 60 percent compared to last year, in Ohio jumped 65 percent, in Illinois jumped 38 percent and in New York jumped 33 percent.
As a nation, what is wrong with us?
Oh, and we need a better healthcare system that increases the likelihood the mentally ill will be treated for their condition so that the overwhelming majority of us can go about out days, saved from them, as they are saved from themselves.
But that’s the subject for another blog posting…
Posted by tbirabbi1 
