Miscellaneous: The Worst Mass Shooting in American History--Until the Next Worst One

It's raining again--a shower of thoughts and prayers from Republican senators who voted against a ban on assault-style weapons.

Maybe these senators should keep their thoughts and prayers to themselves and instead support commonsense reform of America's insane gun laws.

But I guess that's not as lucrative as supporting the NRA.

[Update: We have a new weapon in the arsenal for dealing with mass shootings: "warmest condolences."]

Miscellaneous: Yet Another Deadly Mass Shooting

At the end of last month, in Santa Barbara, California, a young man, armed to the teeth (with apparently legally acquired weapons) randomly shot and killed six people and wounded another 13. It's sickening that we have to talk about such an incident yet again. In my view, the problem is at least partly that we've acquiesced in accepting false interpretations of the 2nd Amendment. The idea that the 2nd Amendment gives every individual the right to possess and carry deadly weapons is wrong and historically novel. James Madison's original wording of the Amendment makes it absolutely clear what was intended. A well-regulated militia is unambiguously equated with organized military service.

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well-regulated militia being the best security of a free country; but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person."
– Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 1st Congress, 1st Session: pp. 451. 

The 2nd Amendment, although confusingly worded in its final form, does not say what gun advocates want us to believe it says. It says nothing about the gun rights of individuals. It’s time to take back the 2nd Amendment.

What a country this is: Legal to carry a loaded AK-47 down the street, illegal to carry a glass of wine down the street. 

Miscellaneous: "Typical for Mass Shooters" (December 12, 2012)

Yesterday, yet another killer armed with a semi-automatic weapon opened fire in a crowd, this time in a shopping mall in Portland, Oregon. He killed two people and wounded several others before killing himself. The shooter was 22 years old. How does a young man of 22--or of any age--get his hands on an assault rifle? It must be a fairly easy thing to do, which says something about our idiotic gun laws that no one wants to hear.

But we are used to such things by now. They have become positively normal. The tone of news reports about the incident is indicative. One report I read noted that the young man wore a ski mask and went on to quote former FBI agent (and ABC News contributor) Brad Garrett as saying "The shooter's mask is typical for mass shooters, who often dress up in costume or wear something other than their regular clothes when they open fire in public." Is it just me? Or is it not deeply depressing to hear a news commentator use the term "mass shooter" as if he thinks it a rather ordinary category of persons--like "golf player" or "gift shopper"? "Open fire in public"? It's what mass shooters do.

[Update: And today, December 14, a man armed with three guns walked into an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut and killed (besides himself) 20 young students and six staff members. Earlier in the day, he shot and killed his own mother. I know all the arguments, but it still seems to me that we REALLY need to do something about the availability of weapons of mass murder in this country.]