Tucson, Jared Lauchner, Congresswoman Giffords, Mass Media, the Emotional Aftermath
Mistakes will be made. In the rush to judgement, in the crush for instant news, immediate answers, to be the first with the scoop, the analysis, the media, will forge a culture of hysteria in the Congress, the State House and in the public in general.
Do something! Do anything, just do it, and now!
Congressman Peter King of New York, first to propose gun control, and the bodies were not yet cold. Gun control, yet. Arizona Republic newspaper carried a length article two days after the incident on gun control, and the investigation had not yet even begun in full.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, not the most talented on camera spokesman for southern Arizona Sheriffs, pronouncing his opinions to the nation: " everyone should carry guns, then we'd all be safer."
Or, " southern Arizona is the capitol of hatred, intolerance and bigotry."
Great stuff.But, then again, Tucson is served by only one newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, not known for getting ALL the facts jammed into their stories and eliminating lots of good stuff we should be reading. The cartoonist for the Star rushed down to the market, got himself on CNN and made a lot of hysterical remarks about Tucson's "gun culture," then next day, the paper had to print a retract and apology about him shooting his mouth off. Such is life here in the Old Pueblo.
My wife was right, she said they would eventually get around to making this an issue about gun control, about 2nd amendment rights. I thought her wrong, but she called it.
The young man, it appears as of this writing is plainly nuts. His booking photo in Phoenix ranks him up there with Tim McVeigh and the Oriental gentleman who stormed Virginia Tech armed to the teeth killing everyone he could. His photo showed one angry, deranged looking young man.
My point? Look into their eyes, their smile. They are all living somewhere else, not in touch with you or me, or the planet where we live. They are crazy. Ask yourself this: Does anyone in their right mind, pick up any weapon - anything - walk out and kill a 9 year old little girl?
I didn't think so.
It is not a gun issue, it's a mental health issue. Sure, we have to tighten up how, when and why we sell guns to people when they ask for them. We should ask more questions and ask for more proof. No doubt.
A cursory investigation of Laughren shows he exhibited LOTS of problems, stirred lots of scary fears in people he was around long before he went ballistic in the Safeway market in northwest Tucson. We had warnings.
The system needs tightening. But, then again, when you examine the Pearl Harbor attacks, we said the same thing there. We are as a people, too damn lackadaisical. That's my opinion. I could be wrong, as commentator Dennis Miller used to say.
BTW, I used to stuff my children full of pizza two doors down from that Safeway when they were young and at home. It was by the grace of God I wasn't in that shopping center that day.
###
Do something! Do anything, just do it, and now!
Congressman Peter King of New York, first to propose gun control, and the bodies were not yet cold. Gun control, yet. Arizona Republic newspaper carried a length article two days after the incident on gun control, and the investigation had not yet even begun in full.
Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, not the most talented on camera spokesman for southern Arizona Sheriffs, pronouncing his opinions to the nation: " everyone should carry guns, then we'd all be safer."
Or, " southern Arizona is the capitol of hatred, intolerance and bigotry."
Great stuff.But, then again, Tucson is served by only one newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, not known for getting ALL the facts jammed into their stories and eliminating lots of good stuff we should be reading. The cartoonist for the Star rushed down to the market, got himself on CNN and made a lot of hysterical remarks about Tucson's "gun culture," then next day, the paper had to print a retract and apology about him shooting his mouth off. Such is life here in the Old Pueblo.
My wife was right, she said they would eventually get around to making this an issue about gun control, about 2nd amendment rights. I thought her wrong, but she called it.
The young man, it appears as of this writing is plainly nuts. His booking photo in Phoenix ranks him up there with Tim McVeigh and the Oriental gentleman who stormed Virginia Tech armed to the teeth killing everyone he could. His photo showed one angry, deranged looking young man.
My point? Look into their eyes, their smile. They are all living somewhere else, not in touch with you or me, or the planet where we live. They are crazy. Ask yourself this: Does anyone in their right mind, pick up any weapon - anything - walk out and kill a 9 year old little girl?
I didn't think so.
It is not a gun issue, it's a mental health issue. Sure, we have to tighten up how, when and why we sell guns to people when they ask for them. We should ask more questions and ask for more proof. No doubt.
A cursory investigation of Laughren shows he exhibited LOTS of problems, stirred lots of scary fears in people he was around long before he went ballistic in the Safeway market in northwest Tucson. We had warnings.
The system needs tightening. But, then again, when you examine the Pearl Harbor attacks, we said the same thing there. We are as a people, too damn lackadaisical. That's my opinion. I could be wrong, as commentator Dennis Miller used to say.
BTW, I used to stuff my children full of pizza two doors down from that Safeway when they were young and at home. It was by the grace of God I wasn't in that shopping center that day.
###
Comments
Post a Comment