As usual, the details are sad and sickening. Wade Michael Page showed up at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis., just as volunteers were gathering to cook lentils, yogurt and rice pudding for the faithful. He killed six men and women — ranging in age from 39 to 84 — injured three more, and shot a police officer who tried to aid one of the victims.
Now all we know about Page is his short and nasty biography — discharged from the Army for being drunk on duty and other misconduct; musician in a variety of white power bands — with names such as Definite Hate and End Apathy — and the trail of tears and terror he left behind. And once again, too many of our elected leaders take to the microphones for expressions of grief and compassion, but with too little resolve to confront the ready availability of weapons to the deranged that is the a common element in these massacres.
Far more inspiring is the response of the Sikh temple’s surviving members. … The Sikh community in the United States is small but growing, prosperous and peaceful. Unfortunately there’s been a lengthy record of attacks against Sikhs since 9/11; that they have responded to this insensible hatred with calm, dignity and patriotism is one of America’s great unsung success stories.
Once again, Americans must ask themselves: Is there something about our culture that is causing the isolation and rage behind these mass killings? We do know this: Guns may not be the source of this sickness, but, once again, they have magnified its lethality.
San Francisco Chronicle (Aug. 7)
It’s not the gun, he could have used home made explosives. White supremacists have historically been a violent bunch.
Coulda, coulda, he didn’t.
Don’t overlook the media’s role in the Sikh temple massacre: by playing up the Batman killings 24/7, they probably convinced Page that he could be important, too. How about a federally-mandated seven-day waiting period before the media can report sensational killings, to give the news time to go stale?
Playing up the Batman killings? What were they supposed to do? Are you trying to play down that tragedy?
Why are you opposed to common-sense media control? Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to deny the pornographers of violence their instant profit if delaying it saved even one life? Or are you just another one of those First Amendment extremists?
;^)
So we need MEDIA control and not GUN control ? Yes clearly it’s the MEDIA’s fault as words and photos kill….not nuts with guns. So we discount the first Amendment because free speech is the problem in this country but the second amendment is not a problem at all. Brilliant.
On the contrary, it’s exactly the constraints put on the Second Amendment through mandatory waiting periods that allow the same waiting periods to be constitutionally applied to the First Amendment.
I don’t think any rational person can object to sensible media control. Irrational people and (same thing) First Amendment extremists are another matter. But ‘freedom of the press’ no more permits the media to recklessly put the public at risk than ‘freedom of religion’ permits human sacrifice.
The ‘mandated’ gun waiting periods didn’t seem to work so well in Aurora, Colorado or the Sikh Temple or the shooting that just took place near the Texas A&M University. All the waiting period does for those people who have no criminal back ground and are unstable- is prolong the inevitable bad outcome.
What is the common denominator in all of these violent events?? The media?? No. It’s crazy people with guns. Being crazy isn’t illegal (with some clinical exceptions) and having a gun isn’t illegal so long as one has acquired it legally and has cleared the waiting period. Unless you have some sure fire way to somehow magically test people for being unstable (which there isn’t until it’s too late) they only other sensible option is to look at doing something about access to guns.
Your theory is like obese people b*tching about being over weight and eating at McDonalds all the time and then blaming McDonald’s advertising for them being obese. REALLY?
Only the first event. The common denominator for the rest is crazy people with guns driven over the edge by sensational media coverage of that first event. And you can’t really know if waiting periods don’t work, since when they do, nothing happens.
Really, the First Amendment isn’t the license to kill by proxy that you seem to think it is.
The Aurora & Temple shootings were horrible, tragic events that took many good, decent people’s lives. My entire family’s hearts go out to the families of the fallen.
I remember many sermons in church dealing with why bad things happen to good people and how to explain things like the Aurora & Temple massacres. The truth is that we can’t explain them. Bad people do bad things. If we take away one “tool” they will use something else, but in the end bad people will continue doing bad things and hurting decent, Law Abiding people like us.
Its known/thought that the Temple shooter had mental problems and its likely that the Aurora shooter did as well, unless he’s simply a cold blooded killer. How do we keep guns out of their hands though? Do we force every Law Abiding Citizen to submit to a lengthy, protracted psych eval to get permission to buy a firearm? And who will pay for it?
Most States already require a criminal background check to purchase a gun. To obtain a Concealed Carry Permit Most States also require info release forms so checks can be made to determine if the applicant has had any prior criminal or mental issues or been institutionalized including military records. I just applied for my Maine Concealed Carry Permit and its an exhaustive ten page questionnaire with multiple release of info forms and proof of military service, firearms safety training, etc.
Maine’s current system covers the bases pretty well, but still, its possible that someone can “fall through the cracks” . No system is 100% effective and certainly, no system is perfect. We live in a sometimes dangerous world where bad things happen to good people, perpetrated by desperate, evil or deranged individuals. The Aurora & Sikh Temple massacres do not highlight the need for more controls, rather the opposite. They highlight the need for more Law Abiding Citizens (LACs) to arm themselves to protect their families and/or innocent bystanders. More controls only make that more difficult.
Lets remember that most mass shootings occur in so called Gun Free Zones. No one has a gun, except the killer that is and GFZs become Free Killing Zones. Gun controls/bans don’t work folks. Why? Because the very ones we want to disarm couldn’t care less about the law. Only Law Abiding Citizens follow the law, criminals don’t care.
I’m not saying that everyone should carry a gun either, because to be honest, some people just shouldn’t and others simply won’t. I’m saying that anyone who is able and has the training should be armed everywhere they go because you just never know when or where the next maniac is going to strike. Every week there is a Self Defense shooting where an ALAC shoots one or more bad guys. In fact ALACs account for about 60 times more bad guys shot than the police do. Why is that? because there are only so many police officers out there and they can’t be everywhere at once. Citizens ARE everywhere and are always where bad guys try to commit their crimes.
Some of you readers may have noticed a tall 50ish man carrying a pistol around town lately in restaurants and retail establishments in the greater Bangor Area. I carry everywhere, just in case. Most of you keep a smoke detector and fire extinguisher in your homes. Do you PLAN to have a fire? No, you keep them just in case.
Find a way to disarm the criminals and I’ll join you, folks, but until then I’ll continue to stay armed. Just in case.
When seconds count the Police are MINUTES away.