Three weeks ago yesterday, on January 8, 2011, a man went to a Safeway supermarket where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was holding a meeting with constituents and opened fire. He killed six people and injured thirteen, including Congresswoman Giffords, his apparent target. The name of the alleged shooter is Jared Lee Loughner.
Since the shooting, a lot of debate has taken place, much of it very heated, about what caused this young man to commit this horrific act. The Pima County Sheriff blamed conservative rhetoric on radio and TV, although admitting he had no proof of such a claim. Within hours after the shooting, some of the major news media outlets were running with the Sheriff''s accusations, trying to tie the shooting to Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann and the Tea Party in general.
As more information came out about Loughner, it became clear that his views were more paranoid than anything else, although his own profile on his YouTube page indicated some more liberal beliefs. Regardless, this was an act of a disturbed individual.
Also in the weeks since the shooting, there has been much debate about what can be done to prevent something like this from happening again. As always the topic of gun control comes up, and in this case banning the sale of ammunition clips like the one Loughner used, which holds 33 rounds. The standard Glock magazine holds 15 rounds. Although I personally don't see any reason to own a clip that can hold 33 rounds, the fact is he could have killed and injured nearly as many with a standard 15 round clip.
While some politicians and some in the media have used this as an opportunity to advance their own anti-gun agenda, people for the most part just want to see this type of madness end.
We Americans, as a rule, are problem solvers. When something like this happens, we like to get involved and do something to prevent this from happening again. It is, without question a noble idea, but it is sadly unrealistic. The reality is, if someone makes up their mind to commit a crime like this, there is no way to prevent it. You can place restrictions on ammunition and clips, you can even ban guns entirely and it won't prevent another incident like this. Guns and ammo would still be attainable on the black market. If making something illegal to possess actually worked, we wouldn't have a drug war.
We already have sufficient laws in place to deal with people like Loughner. There have been reports that his computer was analyzed and it was found he checked out sites regarding the death penalty, lethal injection etc., so apparently he was anticipating his future if he followed through. Arizona already has the death penalty, so tougher laws wouldn't have deterred him. After all, how much more can you do beyond putting someone to death?
So, what can we do? It's been suggested that more security should be provided for members of Congress. I believe this is a good idea.
We can remember those who lost their lives, and pray that their families will remain strong and get through this tragedy. We can honor the Judge who gave his life protecting someone else. We can pray that Gabrielle Giffords makes a full and complete recovery and someday returns to work in Washington. By all accounts Ms Giffords appears to be quite a fighter given how well her recovery is already going.
We can honor the heroes who tackled Loughner and held him down until the authorities arrived and Ms Giffords intern, Daniel Hernandez, who ran to Ms. Giffords not knowing if the gun fire had ceased to help her. He applied pressure to her wounds and is credited with saving her life. Although he wishes to not be thought of as a hero, he truly is and we should all think of him in that way.
The most important thing we can do is pray. Pray for our fellow Americans, pray for our nation and pray for the world, because with each passing day we see that there are people who don't value human life and will continue to commit these horrific crimes.
Good evening and may God bless.
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