I've watched the continuing coverage of the horrible shooting rampage in that grocery store parking lot in Tucson. Certainly the shooter is a nut; a crazed psycho who is now getting satisfaction out of knowing the entire world is reading his idiocy on the web. We all mourn the loss of a beautiful, curious 9-year-old... ironically born on another violent day. We've learned a lot about the 5 other victims, too, whose lives were ended by this moron-- all normal people doing normal things on a sunny, warm Saturday morning.
But why aren't we talking about the gun? The Glock? The handgun that shoots dozens of bullets in a matter of seconds? The shooter bought his weopon from a "sportsmen's store" just after Thanksgiving. Did anyone ask him what he wanted it for? Clearly this is not a gun you buy to hunt deer or bear or any other kind of animal. This is a gun that is meant only to hurt people-- whether for "protection" or for attack.
Here's a young guy who has already had run-ins with law enforcement of some type. He was dissed by the military because he failed his drug test. Campus police at his community college (I didn't know community colleges needed campus police!) knew who he was. Why was he able to purchase a Glock and not have to jump through even a single hoop to do so?
It used to be that if you really disagreed with someone or they really pissed you off, you might actually be angry enough to punch them in the nose. It actually takes more courage to do that-- be close enough to punch someone. It's a lot easier to show up with a gun and pull the trigger. You never even have to touch the human you're about to harm.
Just yesterday, someone with a gun walked into a Life is Good store here in my quaint little village of Pittsford and demanded cash. We pass that store in our car several times a day... we shop there. It's one of my kids' favorite stores. My daughter and her friends could easily have been in that store on a Sunday afternoon shopping for a birthday present. And the masked guy with the gun, in a split second, could have ended their lives just because.
Why don't we ever talk about the gun?
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