For all the talk about toning down violent rhetoric in this country or even how we deal with the mentally ill, we Americans are tip-toeing around one very large and obvious subject: That this proves we need more gun control.
I mean, how in the fuck does this not result in more gun control? Some asshole walks up to a national congresswoman and shoots her right in the head, then turns around and tries to unload his weapon to the crowd gathered to see her and watch her speak. Six dead (including a nine-year-old girl), 13 injured (Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically), and no one thinks that maybe we should stop letting this fuckin' psychopath get his damn hands on a gun?
It's easy for the gunnuts and the NRA out there to demagogue talk from any potential pro-gun control groups in the wake of the Tragedy in Tucson. I'm not here to take everybody's guns away -- just those automatic and semi-automatic weapons from people who walk around public with them while failing to respect the inherent danger they cause and the consequences from using them, incorrectly or correctly.
I recognize the Second Amendment. If you use rifles to hunt, keep your rifles. If you want a piece to protect yourself and your family in your home, knock yourself out -- even though you have to understand that studies show you're more likely to hurt yourself or another family member than any intruder. And if you want to conceal-carry a killing machine, you damn well better have a good reason to -- you're a police officer, you're a trained security guard, or you're being stalked. Living in America isn't a good enough reason for you to carry a fucking pistol with you wherever you go. That is the maximum extent of how guns should be disseminated in this country.
I will concede points the pro-gunnut lobby made just after this unstable bastard took the lives of six innocent people ... even though I need to make the observation that the pro-gunnut lobby gets so defensive it leaps to give its "What? Not us!" posture just after mass murders like these without apparently giving a shit about the innocent lives just taken. Yes, someone determined to kill using guns will find a way to do so. Yes, the mentally ill need to be officially declared mentally ill so that no dealer will sell him a gun. And yes, blame for these deaths belongs to the killer. OK -- so does that mean we do nothing to make buying a gun harder? We just say, "Oh well, shooters will be shooters" and throw our hands up, or worse, think we could stop this prick by letting more guns loose in public? Remember, no one subdued Jared Loughner with a bullet; he was wrestled to the ground by people, heroes, who did not have guns. Unarmed citizens prevented the murders of more innocent people.
Some would say that if somebody there had a gun, no innocent person would die. But you just said that if someone wanted to shoot and kill somebody, he'll find a way. Which one is it? And besides, I'll take my chances that this supposed gun-toting hero wouldn't know what hit him as soon as one of the many strangers in public whips out his piece and starts taking lives. Let's see how fast you are on your righteous trigger then, deputy. In the meantime, I'll continue to believe that if all psychos and idiots are going to get guns, I'd rather prevent any American from having one.
My condolensces and prayers go out to the families and friends of those that died Saturday, and my thoughts go out to the survivors and their loved ones.
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