But suppose that, instead of being hit by a bullet, Representative Giffords had been struck by a rock falling from space. It does happen occasionally, after all. And you know what? It happens about as often as an American politician is shot by a crazy person.
But that wouldn’t be anywhere near as interesting, because anyone who proposed that politicians never again have public meetings outdoors, or that a crash project be undertaken to sweep the sky clean of meteoroids to make sure that one was never again hit by one, wouldn’t be taken seriously, or have op-eds published, or bills introduced to implement their ideas. They would instead be treated as the lunatics they would be. People with any sense would understand that life carries risk and uncertainties, and that we have to accept them, and get on with it in the face of them.
This is no different. People get randomly struck by lightning, and sometimes there are storms and lightning strikes in human minds, setting off events that are impossible to either predict or prevent.
I agree. Many would like to turn the country at large into a low level loony bin, where you can’t have dangerous materials or dangerous objects for fear you might hurt yourselves or others with them. But I agree with Rand’s outlook. It’s not really much different than other natural phenomena, and as we’ve seen, it happens everywhere, across the globe.
I blame Sarah Palin for meteorites.
I disagree. There is a difference between accidental death an death by intent. There is little anyone can do to stop death from a falling object. There are a lot of things that can be done to stop death by intent. Many solutions may not be the best, like greater security and and gun control.
Death is death.
I like what the father of the dead girl said that his daughter death is a tragedy but it is the cost of liberty.
I find it ironic that now Fuller is arrested for threats, when he was a victim at the shooting. He was more damaged by looney leftist propaganda than by the shooter.
The most persuasive argument is that the large capacity magazine allowed the shooter to shoot more people before he had to reload. I know the difference may be only 2 seconds or less, but the reality is that delay allowed someone time to react and stop the attack.
I was gratified to find out that a CCW holder was running to the scene and ready to act.
The best aspect of this shooting was the crowds reaction to stop the shooter rather than accept death without fighting back like VT.
We can not allow ourselves to rely on the idea that the Constitution protects large capacity magazines. That will have to be done the hard way by politics. Keeping pressure on the Congress.
Those of us in the gun rights have been worried for years that a situation like this would be used to demonize guns like after JFK shooting and the 1968 gun control act.
The left by trying to make the conservative population of the US culpable for this shooting may have shot themselves in the foot. It is not just gunnies but the entire conservative population that will fight back since we were all blamed for this shooting.