Tag Archives: gun violence

International news

Yes, keep the gunman ‘nameless’

Jacinda Ardern is a woman after my own heart.

The prime minister of New Zealand, a nation reeling from the slaughter of 50 worshipers at two Christchurch mosques, has pledged never to mention the name of the suspect arrested in the tragedy.

Why? Because, according to Prime Minister Ardern, he wants notoriety. She doesn’t intend to give it to him.

I am following her lead. Indeed, this blog hasn’t published the names of several mass murderers over several years for precisely the reason that Ardern has laid out. I don’t want to give these individuals any more publicity than they are getting already.

Keep their names out of print

Indeed, merely writing about the events they perpetrate does serve some nefarious purpose for them. They get publicity merely with the mention of the act.

As for publishing their names, I won’t do it.

Yes, I know that we all remember the names of noted assassins: Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan Sirhan, James Earl Ray all come to mind. And . . . yes,  I have posted the name of the guy who blew up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April 1995, killing 168 people.

That was then. I have turned the name ID corner as it regards these monsters.

To that extent I totally endorse Prime Minister Ardern’s decision to keep the name of the mass murderer to herself.

International news

That’s why they’re called ‘terrorists’

To be terrorized means that acts of blind hatred can strike anyone, anywhere and in any context.

Such horror has erupted again in what I consider to be a most terribly ironic location.

Gunmen believed to be white supremacists opened fire in two mosques, killing 49 Muslims, in — get ready for it! — Christchurch, New Zealand.

Forty-nine people are dead. Why? Because the people who killed them hate immigrants. They despise non-Christians. They took their vengeance out on people in their houses of worship. Three suspects — two men and a woman — are in custody.

What in the world does one make of this latest spasm of utterly senseless violence? I am shaking my head in mourning and grief this morning as I seek to make sense of something that makes no sense at all.

Expressions of sorrow are pouring into the country from around the world. Donald Trump extended his sympathy and support for New Zealand as it seeks answers to what its leaders call the worst such event in the nation’s history.

The president spoke for his country. Indeed, it is impossible to grasp fully the mayhem that has exploded in a country long believed to among the most peaceful places on Earth.

Terrorists and the acts they commit against unsuspecting victims are, by definition, cowards of the first order.

The world’s heart is broken today.

national news

Almost forgot about this guy’s bad manners!

D’oh!

I almost forgot this item. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican who tweeted a threat to Michael Cohen on the eve of Donald Trump’s former friend’s expected blockbuster testimony before Congress, has acted boorishly before.

He tweeted a threat of exposing alleged affairs Cohen had with women who aren’t his wife. Bad form, dude. That kind of witness intimidation can get you in serious trouble.

But then there’s the tirade he launched during a House committee hearing with survivors of the Parkland, Fla., high school massacre. He threatened to boot them out of the committee hearing because he didn’t like the tone they were using while giving testimony about gun violence.

I just hate it when members of Congress act like horses’ asses.

You may spare me the “both sides do it” crap. I get that already. I’m talking about this clown.

A member of Congress, a guy who writes federal laws that affect all Americans, needs to act with some measure of decorum and dignity. Matt Gaetz is sorely lacking in both qualities.

national news

Comedian steps into it

Louis C.K., a discredited and disgraced comedian, had this to say about the survivors of the Parkland, Fla., that occurred this past Valentine’s Day.

“You’re not interesting because you went to a high school where kids got shot. Why does that mean I have to listen to you?” C.K. said as audience members are heard laughing along.

“How does that make you interesting?” he continued. “You didn’t get shot. You pushed some fat kid in the way and now I got to listen to you talking.”

This doesn’t rise to the level of radio blowhard Alex Jones contending on the air that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a fantasy, that the kids who died were actors. It’s still pretty damn hideous.

Louis C.K. has some baggage, you see. He was accused of pleasuring himself in front of women — and has joined the list of powerful men accused by those during this “Me Too” era. So for this idiot to make cheap fun of the 17 victims who died and those who had the good fortune to survive the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is, shall we say, beyond disgusting.

The response has been furious.

There’s this from Aalayah Eastmon, one of the survivors: “Hey Louis CK — since you like making fun of me and other Parkland survivors behind closed doors, I’m right here if you want to talk. Just try to keep it in your pants, OK?” 

Disgraceful.

national news

‘I want gun control!’

I am going to stand with the mother of a young man who died this week at the hands of a gunman who opened fire at a Thousand Oaks, Calif., nightclub.

Susan Schmidt-Orafanos says she doesn’t want “thoughts and prayers. I want gun control!”

Then she said “no more guns!”

Her son, Telemachus, had survived the Las Vegas massacre a year ago. He didn’t survive the Thousand Oaks tragedy.

As the victim’s father noted, according to BBC: “It’s particularly ironic that after surviving the worst mass shooting in modern history, he went on to be killed in his hometown,” his father told the Ventura County Star.

Mrs. Orafanos’ plea for “no more guns” isn’t likely to gain much traction in the halls of Congress or perhaps in the state capital in Sacramento.

However, she spoke for many Americans who also have grown tired of expressions of “thoughts and prayers” from public officials, whose declarations are sounding more like platitudes in the wake of every such tragic event.

Does reasonable “gun control” mean dismembering or repealing the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment? Of course not! It means, for instance, that universal background checks of anyone seeking to purchase a gun can weed out those who might be predisposed to commit the kinds of acts that erupted in Thousand Oaks.

“Law-abiding” citizens need not worry about their “right to keep and bear Arms” being abridged in any form.

national news

Another massacre, more heroes emerge

Ron Helus went to work Wednesday expecting to come home at the end of his shift.

Then gunshots burst in a nightclub in Thousand Oaks, Calif. He was talking to his wife when he got the call to respond. He told his wife he had to go, said he loved her and then rushed inside because the deputy sheriff was trained to respond in that manner.

Sgt. Helus, who engaged the gunman in a firefight, died a hero. He is among other heroes who have emerged in the hours after the latest mass shooting. Twelve people were slaughtered by the individual who walked into the country music bar and opened fire.

He was dead when police found him.

I heard this morning of male customers standing between the shooter and potential victims, providing human shields. These men, according to witnesses, were willing to sacrifice their lives to save those of others.

Sgt. Helus has delivered yet another example of first responder heroism. He was a 30-year veteran of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department … and was scheduled to retire in just a few weeks.

Sgt. Helus is survived by his wife and an adult son.

This event, dear reader, provides yet another horrifying example of the sickness that has infected our society.

What in the world will it take to find a cure?

Sickening.

national news

Gun control, gun-owners’ rights: not mutually exclusive

When the shooter blasted his way through Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Valentine’s Day, the debate over gun control erupted.

When another shooter massacred those worshipers at Tree of Life synagogue just the other day, the gun control debate has barely scored a blip.

What’s up here? Don’t tell me the issue is dead and buried. It’s not.

The Tree of Life loon opened fire with an AR-15 semi-auto rifle, killing 11 Jewish congregants in what’s being called a hate crime. It is similar to an M-16 military rifle, with this exception: The M-16 has a switch that can make it a fully automatic machine gun; the AR-15 doesn’t have it.

I happen to believe in the Second Amendment, the one that says a citizen’s right to “keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” That all said and understood, I do not believe that the right to keep and bear arms precludes reasonable gun control legislation that keeps faith with the Second Amendment.

I few gun control legislation and gun owners’ rights the same way I view the biblical theory of creation and the theory of evolution. Neither the biblical version of Earth’s creation or Charles Darwin’s evolutionary notion are mutually exclusive … if you conclude — as I do — that Earth wasn’t created in six calendar days.

The Second Amendment has wiggle room within it, I believe, to allow for legislation that makes it more difficult for criminals or those with emotional or mental issues to acquire a firearm. Those so-called impediments to “law-abiding citizens'” rights need not apply if the legislation is applied and enforced strictly.

Yet the gun-owners-rights lobby argues that the Second Amendment, as it was written in the late 18th century, is sacrosanct. It is virtually the holy word, much like the Bible. Don’t mess with it in any fashion, they say.

I will argue that if there is a sacrosanct amendment to the U.S. Constitution, it isn’t the Second … it’s the First Amendment. Religious freedom, the right to express one’s views and a free press must not be trifled with.

The Second Amendment doesn’t take into account the evolution of weaponry since the time that the founders wrote it.

I am never going to call for the abolition of the Second Amendment, I continue to believe it can be amended, improved and made more reasonable — while keeping faith with its pledge to permit firearm ownership to U.S. citizens.

national news

‘American carnage’ continues

This must be said: The most memorable line from Donald John Trump’s inaugural address didn’t appeal to our highest ideals, but instead it spoke to one of the scourges that plagues our society.

The president said on Jan. 20, 2017: “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”

Now, to be fair, he was referring to the scourge of drugs and gang violence. The law-and-order candidate who became president vowed to end the violence associated with that activity.

However, the “American carnage” that continues to plague us has spilled more blood, caused more heartache, shed more tears, delivered more grief to the nation.

Eleven worshipers at a Pittsburgh, Pa., synagogue were gunned down early Saturday. Four police officers were injured. The cops arrested a man in connection with the slaughter at the Tree of Life temple.

He reportedly is a virulent anti-Semite. He has committed the worst attack on the Jewish American community in U.S. history. The suspect faces charges associated with hate crimes.

The American carnage is continuing. There appears to be no sign of an end to it. The president is demonstrating — to the absolute non-surprise to millions of Americans — a jaw-dropping inability to comfort a nation in mourning.

Admittedly, this latest spasm of bloodletting isn’t “this American carnage” to which the new president referred in his inaugural speech. Nevertheless, it is an American carnage that needs the nation’s undivided attention.

Pittsburgh now joins the roster of communities stricken by mass murder: Littleton, Aurora, Orlando, Springfield, Charleston, Parkland, Orlando, Newtown, Blacksburg, Killeen, Santa Fe, Sutherland Springs … my goodness, I simply cannot remember all of them.

They all have been victimized by the “American carnage.”

Mr. President, you have work to do. Get busy.

local news

Half-staff flags becoming more of a U.S. norm

I ran an errand a few minutes ago and noticed something along Stacy Road, a busy thoroughfare between Allen and Fairview, Texas.

It was the sight of flags flying at half-staff. Several business owners along the south side of Stacy had lowered the flags in front of them, no doubt because of the tragedy that erupted in Pittsburgh, Pa., this past weekend when an anti-Semitic gunman opened fire at the Tree of Life synagogue, killing 11 congregants.

Flags all across the land have been lowered to half-staff.

It makes my wife and me wonder: Is this becoming the new normal in this country?

We seem to be lowering flags and displaying them at half-staff at least as often as we fly them at the top of the flagpoles. I understand that’s probably not entirely accurate, but the sight of those lowered flags serve to remind us of yet another tragedy.

I am not naïve enough to think we’ll ever rid our society of these events. It’s just that they seem to be occurring with such increasing frequency.

This is such a sad thing to see.

national news

What if we had armed guards at the temple?

I feel like playing out a hypothetical situation that today sounds shockingly relevant.

What if there had been armed security guards posted Saturday morning at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pa., when the gunman opened fire, killing 11 congregants? The suspect is a known anti-Semite. He reportedly bellowed anti-Semitic statements as he was mowing down his victims, committing the worst known attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history.

Three of the individuals who were wounded by this moron are Pittsburgh police officers who, I can assume with supreme confidence, were carrying sidearms.

What does stop any idiotic son of a bi*** with a death wish, someone intent on committing “suicide by cop” by exposing himself to law enforcement’s firepower?

Will police or private security guards armed with, say, shotguns or rifles or pistols prevent someone from opening fire in this horrifying manner? I do not believe he — or she — would be deterred.

Donald Trump introduced the element of putting armed security around houses of worship while he was offering otherwise wholly appropriate remarks in response to the Pittsburgh massacre.

I happen to disagree with the idea the president has put forward.

Armed guards at the Tree of Life might have stopped many — if not most — of the deaths during the carnage. But not all of them. Thus, are we now going to quantify the pain we suffer by the number of people who die in such a senseless and hateful manner?

Let’s not go there.