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Gabrielle Giffords Shooting
Jan. 10th, 2011 09:32 amSince it seems everybody else is talking about it, three thoughts about the Gabrielle Giffords shooting.
Thought #1: I'm a member of the NRA, own guns and so has my family going back to both grandparents. Trying to ban specific weapons is not going to work. Having said that, we really do need everything possible to keep crazy people from getting guns. I'm not blaming the authorities in Arizona - for all I know, everything that could be done was done. Unfortunately, nothing in life is perfect or fool proof, but crazies and guns do not mix, and reasonable efforts to prevent that from happening should be undertaken.
Thought #2: From what I've seen in the news, Jared Loughner's craziness was well known. Now, some of that is undoubtedly 20/20 hindsight. Having said that, the question remains - can we do more to find and treat potentially dangerous mentally ill people?
Thought #3: Regarding the political fall-out of the shooting, I agree with that very reasonable fellow John Scalzi: If your political messaging traffics in rhetoric heavy on gun imagery and revolution of the overthrow-y sort, then when someone shoots a congressperson who you opposed, then guess what: You get to spend some uncomfortable moments in the spotlight being asked if it’s not reasonable to suspect a connection between your rhetoric and the actions of a shooter targeting someone you’ve opposed. You also get to spend time being asked if, in fact, your rhetoric isn’t overblown, simplistic and on balance detrimental to the nation’s body politic. Querulous complaints about the unfairness of this can be reasonably overruled by others; the time to complain about your bed is before you make it. (Go read the whole thing.)
Thought #1: I'm a member of the NRA, own guns and so has my family going back to both grandparents. Trying to ban specific weapons is not going to work. Having said that, we really do need everything possible to keep crazy people from getting guns. I'm not blaming the authorities in Arizona - for all I know, everything that could be done was done. Unfortunately, nothing in life is perfect or fool proof, but crazies and guns do not mix, and reasonable efforts to prevent that from happening should be undertaken.
Thought #2: From what I've seen in the news, Jared Loughner's craziness was well known. Now, some of that is undoubtedly 20/20 hindsight. Having said that, the question remains - can we do more to find and treat potentially dangerous mentally ill people?
Thought #3: Regarding the political fall-out of the shooting, I agree with that very reasonable fellow John Scalzi: If your political messaging traffics in rhetoric heavy on gun imagery and revolution of the overthrow-y sort, then when someone shoots a congressperson who you opposed, then guess what: You get to spend some uncomfortable moments in the spotlight being asked if it’s not reasonable to suspect a connection between your rhetoric and the actions of a shooter targeting someone you’ve opposed. You also get to spend time being asked if, in fact, your rhetoric isn’t overblown, simplistic and on balance detrimental to the nation’s body politic. Querulous complaints about the unfairness of this can be reasonably overruled by others; the time to complain about your bed is before you make it. (Go read the whole thing.)
