In my home there are only two kinds of altercations: situations where I am completely in the wrong (and I apologize) and situations where my outsized overreaction to my wife's misconduct puts me completely in the wrong (and I apologize). The shooting of Rep Gabrielle Giffords in Tuscon on Saturday has brought a similar response from the political right. The liberals are blaming the neocons for the political climate that produced Jared Lee Loughner and the neocons are crying foul.
Naturally, every accusation carried a disclaimer: "While there is absolutely no proof that the ads of Sarah Palin or the rantings of Glenn Beck contributed to the mental state of the shooter...shame shame everybody knows your name." Opinions like SUV's appear in no short supply. Some blame guns (290,000,000 in America and counting). Others think the Community College that expelled Mr. Loughner is at fault (something of a stretch but after Virginia Tech?). Sadly, at the end of the day, there was probably nothing that could have prevented this tragedy...or the next, or the next.
Among the more interesting responses, we have the suggestion of Republican Congressman Peter King of New York's third. Congressman King's primary contribution to the national discourse recently has centered around the "Ground Zero Mosque"; (he's again' it) and illegal immigration, (also opposed). Congressman King's Nassau County district, being 90% white suburbanites from New York City ensures that his stand on these issues will aggravate few of his constituents (except those who might be deprived of the occasional maid or gardener).
Mr. King has proposed that, in light of the shooting in Arizona, citizens be prohibited from carrying a gun within 1,000 feet of "high profile government officials". Presumably Congressman King believes that 1,000 feet gives him hope that a gunman might hit someone else. So let's be clear, Gabrielle Giffords is fighting for her life in a Pima County hospital and Rep. King's first response is "how can I save myself"? To hell with the people who have been gunned down by crazies at Columbine or Fort Hood, now that they're shooting at me and mine something must be done.
There might be some small justification for this if Congressman King had ever voiced a word of protest at the disgraceful lack of gun restriction in America. Or if Mr. King had stood in the well of the House and decried the lax laws that allowed Virginia Tech madman Seung-Hui Cho to amass enough firepower to kill 32 people. Rep. King was noticeably silent when Texas passed a law allowing concealed weapons in bars or when gun-nuts brought AR-15 rifles to an Obama political rally in 2009. Unfortunately, Congressman King was only moved to action by the thought that the guns that pollute this country might someday be aimed at him. What a man!
No one should be surprised at this sort of selective restriction. Antonin Scalia and his pro gun Supreme Court are all for the right to keep and bear arms...just not in or near the Supreme Court. How is it that public officials are gun-ho (sorry) about guns in churches or schools (Heath Shuler, Congressman from Tombstone, North Carolina thinks legislators should "go strapped") but ever so skittish when those guns appear around their place of employment. So I guess it's OK to bring my Glock 19 to the local Burger King as long as Peter King isn't in there ordering a Big Mac. And I can haul my Sig Sauer to catch the next showing of Black Swan at the Bijou as long as Justice Scalia isn't munching popcorn in the fifth row. Seriously, I can understand Congressman King trying to use his legislative power to protect his own ass but what about the six citizens who died in Tuscon? How many feet of protection should they have had?
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