"In the wake of Galen’s murder, I wrote a book about the shooting. In it I suggested that we view gun crime as a public health issue, much the same as smoking or pesticides. I spent a number of years attending rallies, signing petitions, writing letters and making speeches, but eventually I gave up. Gun control, such a live issue in the “early” days of school shootings, inexplicably became a third-rail issue for politicians.
"I came to realize that, in essence, this is the way we in America want things to be. We want our freedom, and we want our firearms, and if we have to endure the occasional school shooting, so be it. A terrible shame, but hey — didn’t some guy in China just do the same thing with a knife?
"Still, whatever your position on gun control, it is impossible not react with horror to news of the shootings in Connecticut. Our horror is nuanced by knowledge of what those families are going through, and what they will have to endure in years to come.
"More horrible still — to me at least — is the inevitable lament, “How could we have let this happen?”
"It is a horrible question because the answer is so simple. Make it easy for people to get guns and things like this will happen.
"Children will continue to pay for a freedom their elders enjoy."
-- Gregory Gibson, New York Times
3 comments:
Did someone with a concealed weapons permit limit the carnage at Clackamas Town Center?
PORTLAND -- Nick Meli is emotionally drained. The 22-year-old was at Clackamas Town Center with a friend and her baby when a masked man opened fire.
"I heard three shots and turned and looked at Casey and said, 'are you serious?,'" he said.
The friend and baby hit the floor. Meli, who has a concealed carry permit, positioned himself behind a pillar.
"He was working on his rifle," said Meli. "He kept pulling the charging handle and hitting the side."
The break in gunfire allowed Meli to pull out his own gun, but he never took his eyes off the shooter.
"As I was going down to pull, I saw someone in the back of the Charlotte move, and I knew if I fired and missed, I could hit them," he said.
Meli took cover inside a nearby store. He never pulled the trigger. He stands by that decision.
"I'm not beating myself up cause I didn't shoot him," said Meli. "I know after he saw me, I think the last shot he fired was the one he used on himself."
The gunman was dead, but not before taking two innocent lives with him and taking the innocence of everyone else.
"I don't ever want to see anyone that way ever," said Meli. "It just bothers me."
http://www.kgw.com/news/Clackamas-man-armed-confronts-mall-shooter-183593571.html
Limit carnage? 2 murders, 1 girl severely injured, thousands traumatized, including my sister. 28 people dead in Connecticut. And all sick fucks like you see is an unverified story by someone who said they stopped something with a gun? Reprehensible.
Gun fetishists make me want to puke. Then shun them as lepers.
Best,
D
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