Thoughts on Gun Violence

1. It's hard to know what to say anymore, especially for those of us who can't believe the insanity of our gun laws and our bizarre relationship with weapons. Nothing anymore, no matter how heinous, moves us to do anything about our violent country. Those who suggest even the slightest bit of regulation are ignored or denounced.

2. When I hear people argue that armed citizens in the Aurora movie theater last week might have prevented the tragedy, I feel like putting my hands over my head and screaming.  What kind of delusion is this and where does such thinking come from?  It defies both common sense and experienced testimony--that of Joe Zamudio in Tucson, for example, who--armed when he came upon the Gabrielle Giffords shooting--almost shot the wrong man.  And a 10-year study of New York City police officers showed they hit their targets about a third of the time in actual shooting situations (Robert Spitzer, author of The Politics of Gun Control, speaking on The Diane Rehm Show).  We're to believe that regular folks sitting in a movie theater or college classroom could do better than this?

3.  When my mother asked someone at her church why anyone needs an assault weapon, he answered, "because they're fun to shoot."  Many gun owners, for some reason, think their rights supersede the safety of others.

4. The only data I could find on the difference in opinion between men and women on gun control comes from the Pew Research Center in March 2010.  Those surveyed were asked if states and localities should be able to pass laws banning handguns.  Only 38% of the men responded yes, while 51% of the women responded yes.  Interestingly, the other groups with high percentages responding favorably were non-Hispanic blacks (64% yes) and Hispanics (61%).  I guess those of us with the least power would like better protection.

5. It's wrong that we ask our police officers to stop cars, enter homes, and patrol neighborhoods where citizens may be better armed than they are.  How can they focus on protecting us when they have to worry about protecting themselves?   Even the most innocuous incident can turn deadly for police officers.  This is immoral.

6. Initially I ignored the predictable emails this week from the Brady Campaign.  After all, the organization hasn't been very successful.  But then last night I answered the phone, even when the display indicated "unknown name, unknown caller," got out my credit card, and made a donation.  I simply can't give up.