Friday, July 20, 2012
The "Batman Massacre" in Colorado
I got very sick, very quickly, of all the pontificating, prognosticating and posturing that blew up almost immediately the news broke of the murder of a dozen people and the wounding of half a hundred more last night at a screening in Colorado of the new Batman movie. It seems an awful lot of people lack the common sense - not to mention the common decency - to shut up. (Piers Morgan, Mayor Bloomberg, Salman Rushdie, ABC News . . . are any of you listening?)
Tonight hundreds of friends and relatives of those who died, and those who are recovering from their injuries, are going through grief, trauma and emotional strain that most of us simply can't comprehend. I suggest we pray for them, think of them, and do our best to support them in whatever way we can over the next few days.
After that, let's get real. The shooter broke any number of laws with his actions last night, plus a whole bunch more in booby-trapping his apartment, thereby endangering the lives of his neighbors. Passing another law - another ten, or a hundred, or even a thousand laws! - would not make what he did any less legal, or any more criminal. To agitate for more laws, more gun control, etc. as a result of this tragedy is to deny reality. We certainly need to address the culture of violence being propagated by our entertainment industry; but even that can't be solely to blame for this catastrophe.
Evil is present in the hearts and souls of every single human being (including myself). What defines us as good or bad is how we respond to the opportunity for evil when it arises. We'll all have such opportunities from time to time; the opportunity to steal, the opportunity to cheat on someone, the opportunity to deliberately hurt or demean or belittle someone, the opportunity to wound or kill. You name it, we'll probably get an opportunity (perhaps more than once) to do it. We can choose to turn aside from that opportunity, to do good instead of evil . . . or we can give in to temptation, and commit evil.
No laws or restrictions will stop us making that choice, for good or ill. They haven't done so since Homo Sapiens first appeared on this earth. They won't now or in the future. Anyone thinking otherwise is living in cloud cuckoo land.
May the souls of those who died in Aurora, Colorado last night receive mercy for their sins, and rest in peace. May those who were wounded recover speedily and fully. As for the killer . . . we don't know what made him do this. If it's insanity, may he be given what care he needs, and kept far away from the rest of us, so as to ensure he never has the chance to do it again. If it wasn't insanity, but deliberate choice . . . then let him pay the penalty, and find what mercy he may, if mercy there be for such as him.
Peter
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9 comments:
well spoken....
I've been trying to keep my mouth shut about this as all of my favorite gun blogs have posts about this. Here's a bit of perspective as this has hit a bit close to home for me -- very, very close:
My son works at the Century 16 cinema where this occurred.
He was on the schedule last night.
He called and woke me at 330 this morning and the first thing he said was, "So, I need to find a new job."
My response, being that I was just woken up, was something to the effect of, "Are you drunk?"
Then he told me there was a shooting a work and then after a painful silence, he started providing some details.
Later in the day, I would also find out that a former employee with my company was shot and that another engineer with whom I work directly was also in the theater.
The perp had no motive other than destruction. There was no negotiating. No cooperating. No, "giving him what he wants". He was going to take it by force. And with or without firearms, he was going to get what he wanted: destruction.
All I can say is this: carry your damned guns, people. If you're licensed to carry concealed, then do so. Do it every single day. Like your fire extinguisher or your health insurance or your spare tire in your car, you never know when you're going to need it.
As a federal officer and former police officer in a major metropolitan department, I had wondered why no one in that theater could provide an armed response. Here is the answer, if the blog is correct: http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/07/robert-farago/cinemark-theaters-no-legal-firearms-allowed/
In other words, the dead and wounded are victims of another "gun-free zone." The perpetrator is highly intelligent and I would be quite surprised if he did not select this theater as opposed to others at least partially because he knew he would be unlikely to be confronted by an armed citizen.
Moreover, a fact that is being overlooked by the media is that police officers were right outside the theater performing crowd control and traffic duties, and still could not prevent this attack. This tragedy perfectly illustrates the truth of the saying, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
Yea, the Liberal anti-gun creeps now have another reason to cheer Obama.
Guns are inanimate objects just like motor vehicles. Both only cause death when operated by humans.
Which inanimate object kills more people?
Maybe the answer is to ban the "animate" object!
Evil people will find ways to be evil using whatever took are at hand - Monday night in Toronto, anyone?
Here, here, Peter.
LittleRed1
I had several posts come to mind, each one more acidic than the last. The bleatings of people like Rushdie, Bloomberg, etc. along with ABC news slandering a man by implying he was the shooter have me in a state of Annoyed.
But you are right. The victims and the survivors are more worthy of time and consideration. I believe I'm going to avoid talking about this and focus on what matters.
Far be it for me to correct you in any way. We agree so much.
May I please add that enacting 10-100-1000 or even gadzillion new laws would not have prevented this tragedy.
This guy (and those like him) have proven by their actions they are criminals. By extension criminals do not care about laws. Thus, new gun laws of any sort would not have prevented this tragedy..
Hear! Hear! It cannot be said any better. Well done, Peter.
This evil character managed to kill fourteen and wound fifty or more. Compare that to any powerful politician, especially tyrants like Hitler or Idi Amin. Personally, I would propose that it is politicians that need to be controlled, far more than guns. Our constitution was designed specifically for that purpose, but just like criminals find a way around gun control, politicians have found ways to end run the constitution.
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