The horrendous tragedy of the massacre of innocent children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut last week has generated the usual outpouring of horror and outrage over the availability of high-powered military grade weapons with high-capacity magazines to ordinary citizens. Everywhere except at the National Rifle Association, of course, where the NRA website features only a Wayne LaPierre editorial from November 27th crowing that more guns have led to less crime in Virginia.
Too bad about Connecticut.
And, of course, a tragedy like this brings out the despicable morons of the Westboro Baptist Church, who have announced plans to picket the funerals of the Sandy Hook victims.
People more passionate and erudite than I have already written more - and better - about this ghastly event than I can. Duckbutt had a marvelous post on his blog last Friday, and commentator Petula Dvorak published an excellent opinion piece in the Washington Post, in which she wrote,
The 20 young children gunned down inside Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday were swaddled in federally regulated, fire-retardant blankets, rode in elaborate car seats plastered with safety stickers, and learned to ride bikes with elbow pads, knee guards and safety helmets. Some of them may never have had a Twinkie pass their lips. Cribs, bouncy seats, cough medicine, scooters, sugary snacks — we have no problem regulating the life out of those. But how do we keep our children safe in their kindergarten classrooms when we live in a culture that has persuaded itself to accept guns?
There are also the usual editorial cartoons, some of them banal and many of them devastatingly ... if I can be forgiven for using the expression ... on target. This was one of the best ...
And this one goes back a few years to yet another mass murder, but is still every bit as accurate as when Tom Toles first drew it ...
Despite all the horror and outrage, nothing will happen. Public figures will give pious speeches, memorials will be held, editorials will be written, the Westboro Baptist Church will act stupidly intolerant, and the dedicated partisans of the gun lobby will continue to chant their mantra that guns don't kill people, people kill people ... neglecting to mention that people can kill far more people, faster and more efficiently, with guns.
I can't really say anything else about this, but others will.
And nothing will be done, which is the real tragedy.
My heart goes out to the families of the murdered children and their teachers. My complete and utter contempt goes out to those who willfully ignore the lessons of this terrible event.
Have a good day. Love each other. More thoughts tomorrow.
Bilbo
4 comments:
Those awful shootings in Sandy Hook, CT have left us as a nation stunned -- in no way can those innocent children deserved that fate! There are too many guns around, and malevolent and/or crazy people cab get their hands on them and repeat that kind of event.
Sadly, the hardest thing to change is our national love affair with handguns. That has made some of our cities hellholes. And it has visited sorrow on the lives and families of 30,000 people per year.
Those Westboro Baptist people manage to ride into being public annoyances at the drop of a hat. I wish them bad cess.
Thanks for your comments on my remarks. I wrote it in the heat of the moment.
WTF do people need with assault rifles, anyway?
I knew about a guy here in St. Louis (friend of a friend) that was paranoid the government would take away his guns and ammo. Eveytime something like this would happen he would go out and buy more ammo. When he died recently he had between 10 and 20 thousand rounds of ammunition stock piled.
My new vote for ass clown of the year is anyone who opposes reasonable and meaningful gun control. For example, we once had a ban on assault rifles and that made sense. Who needs such weapons? It's not like the hunters are getting shot at by deer (or whatever prey they are after)...
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