Guns And Small Minds Do Not Make One Safer

Two tragic stories have been reported in the last couple of days.

In one, an anti-abortion zealot took it upon himself to dispense what he considered justice by gunning down an abortionist in the doctor's own church, where he was serving as an usher. In the other, a Muslim convert took out his hate for the military by shooting two of America's finest, killing one of the soldiers.

Neither of these shootings are justifiable and both should be condemned for the terrorist acts that they are.

But both stories highlight the senselessness of people that think only guns and violence are the solution to a problem.

A faithful reader sent me this missive, which I reproduce here, unedited. I wish I could take credit for it, since it is so well written, but I cannot:

Proving once again that more guns on the street mean more safety, a doctor has been shot and killed while at church in Kansas and an Army recruiter has been shot and killed outside his office in Little Rock.

It is impossible for a reasonable man to find any virtue in either killer, although some have already tried. Killing somebody who holds a legal job because one disagrees with that job cannot be accepted, or tolerated, by a society that professes to be free.

I had thought it self evident that carrying a gun into a church, openly, concealed, or any other way, should be considered disturbing in Wisconsin, but no...I am told no ...by so many.

So if you see a man carrying a gun in your place of worship next Sunday, please feel safer, not at all disturbed.

Two men are dead. Like all men, they had good in them, and they had bad in them. When we start exterminating all those with similar characters.. sometimes good, sometimes bad, who will remain standing when all the opposing opinions have been expressed by copper jacketed lead alloy?

Another fine example of the insight that to the crisis that society is facing is this post by Chris Walker at Political Heat:

What is of concern is the rising trend of conservative extremists taking up arms and taking the lives of law-abiding citizens -- and doing so because of political differences. Whether you're killing cops in Pittsburgh because you fear liberals are going to take your guns, or you shoot up a Unitarian church in Tennessee because of their tolerance of liberal beliefs, it's still just plain wrong.

Say what you will about those you disagree with -- at least you're still using words. Taking the lives of others because of fundamental disagreements is not only horrendous, it is cowardly. Because they couldn't form the policy they wanted through democratic means, because their beliefs weren't good enough for them to practice while others went about their own business, these extremists (terrorists, even) took the "law" (the "law" of their own ideological beliefs) into their own hands.

I strongly recommend reading all of Mr. Walker's post.

Gun supporters like to chant "Guns don't kill. People do." While they are technically correct, the guns make it too damn easy for the small-minded people to kill. This fact should be kept in mind whenever you hear or read someone trying to advocate for even easier access to even more guns, without any kind of thoughtful limitations to keep the general public safe. Else we will just keep seeing more stories like these, and I for one, have seen too many of them.