Guns kill people, whatever the NRA may claim

I am finding the news of the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and so many others in Arizona very disquieting. We were off the grid yesterday, so I'm getting the news as at least some clarity is emerging (the Congresswoman might live; the nine year old victim had just been elected to her student council; a disturbed young shooter was captured at the scene by bystanders and the police; there may be an accomplice.) It's probably more coherent to get the news of an event like this after a delay, though what's come out still may not be a meaningful picture.

The sheriff of Pima County AZ, Clarence Dupnik, is a plainspeaker:
"Arizona has become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry...."

He said it, not me. I'll say something additional: Arizona's current hateful enthusiasm for trying to erase Brown people and their friends would be less of a danger if we didn't allow just anyone to own and carry lethal weapons whose function is not hunting game but killing and maiming people.

Can we at least get a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms confirmed after this latest demonstration that too many nuts are wandering around with guns?

Arizona might also want to take another look at its recently enacted law that allows carrying of concealed guns without even a permit.

These sort of questions are raised every time we have an outbreak of political violence; the last major round was when John Hinckley took a shot at Ronald Reagan. After the immediate horror recedes, the gun enthusiasts chip away at any restraints that may be enacted.

Right-wing interpretations of the Constitution notwithstanding, I will never understand why owning the sort of gun that is only useful for killing other people should be the personal right of anyone. Obviously many of my fellow citizens differ.