Too close to home this morning!!!
*"WILMINGTON — Two women were shot to death when a
gunman opened fire at the New Castle County Courthouse this morning,
state police said. Three others were wounded, including two Capitol
Police officers.
Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams reported one of those killed was the shooter’s wife.
The
shooter was killed by Capitol Police officers, according to state
police spokesman Sgt. Paul Shavack. The shooter was in his late 20s to
early 30s Police are still trying to determine his identity and the
identities of the victims.
The shooting began around 8 a.m. when the gunman was stopped by Capitol Police at a security checkpoint inside the front door."
My friend A. posted on FB that she parks at the courthouse and walked by the crime scene moments before the police tape went up.
I noticed that in the comments posted on the website under the story above people were already jumping into their respective corners and spitting out their talking points. One man shared the tale of how, due to his metal knee brace, he is never made to go through security at the court house, and when he pointed this out to the security people, offering to lift his shirt, etc., the security people laughed. This is a valid point about a potential lack of security. However, he immediately followed this story by writing, "SO DON"T YOU DARE, POLITICIANS, make this out to be another crusade
about law abiding citizens and our guns because this is nothing more
than relaxed security....... I'm sorry this had to happen, but don't dare blame
this on anyone but yourselves." In fact, the story above clearly states that "The shooting began around 8 a.m. when the gunman was stopped by Capitol Police at a security checkpoint inside the front door." In this case, it appears that security prevented the man from entering the building, but the carnage then took place in the (publicly accessible) lobby.
One post went directly to the NRA mantra, "I guess the bad guy didn't care about laws or it being a gun free
zone... The only thing that stops a bad good with a gun is a good guy
with a gun." Several people posted comments suggesting that more people should be carrying guns for self-protection, and one person even wrote "Shooter was shot by an armed passerby," another statement clearly contradicted by the story ("The
shooter was killed by Capitol Police officers".)
In response, someone wrote, "Nobody but you would think nuts with guns should be walking into
courthouses with judges,juries, victims and witnesses all together in
the same room. Very moronic nutty argument."
Talking points, insults, and false claims; there has to be a better way to respond.
And while I don't think irony is particularly useful at this time either, while we're waiting for all of the facts to come out, I'll end with this: "Wilmington Police Chief Christine Dunning, attending a roundtable on gun
violence with Vice President Joe Biden and other law enforcement
officials in Philadelphia, declined comment on the shooting and deferred to officials on the scene in Wilmington."
Comments?!?!?
*All news details from: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20130211/NEWS01/302110044/5-wounded-NCCo-Courthouse-shooter-dead
I came across your blog via your link shamelessly posted in the comments on the latest News Journal article about today's tragedy. Clearly you are uneducated about the issue and use nothing but your uninformed gut to make your decisions.
ReplyDeleteIt is simple statistics, statistics that you and the liberal media consistently ignore which prove yours and many others who push anti-gun legislation argument's invalid. Very simply, more guns, equal less crime. Explain to me how in Washington D.C. and Chicago, two cities which have banned guns entirely have two of the highest murder/gun violence rates anywhere in the world? Also, please explain how expanding this to the rest of the country would solve the problem?
Will you go with the "it will dry of the supply" argument? Guess what? Heroin, cocaine and all manner of other drugs have been illegal in this country for decades. Sure looks like those laws have really dried up the supply.
Lets talk numbers, 30,000 plus gun deaths a year in this country. 17,000 of those are suicides. Taking guns away won't stop people from killing themselves, they will find another way. So 13,000 gun deaths. 74% of those are gang related shootings. (These are Federal Government figures by the way, go ahead and check them). Over 90% of gang members involved in shootings obtained their weapons illegally. So we are talking about approximately 3500 gun deaths a year in this county with lawfully obtained guns. Now, I won't even mention the fact that guns can't operate themselves.
Alcohol related deaths in 2011 were over 75,000 in this country. Smoking kills 443,000 people a year. Alcohol and tobacco are legal and kill significantly more people in the United States every year than guns do. Explain to me again why you are so against guns? Where is your anti-alcohol or anti-cigarette blog? Educate yourself before you defecate this nonsense on public airways.
Thanks for commenting. My hypothesis is that fewer guns will result in less pain, not that guns should be made illegal. I am interested in any and all societal changes that will help reduce gun violence, by which I mean homocides, suicides, accidents, and gun-related injuries. It is my goal to educate myself on the topics of guns, gun violence, gun laws, gun-violence prevention and gun-violence statistics, and I am trying to do some of that every day.
DeleteIf 74% of gun deaths are gang-related shootings and 90% of gang members involved in shootings obtained their weapons illegally, then clearly illegally-obtained guns are a huge problem. HOW are these guns obtained, and from where? How many are stolen from other gun owners, or from gun shops? How many are bought by a friend/associate for someone who is not allowed to legally own one? How many are imported illegally? From where? How many gun shop owners ignore laws and sell to those they shouldn't? Are they being bribed, or extorted in order to make them do so? These are all questions that warrant research if we are going to reduce the gun deaths and injuries in our country, and all the pain that goes with them.