Good guys with guns die too
This is tragic. This man was the living illustration for the imagined good guy with a gun, killing the bad guy with the gun scenario of the anti-reg crowd. He survived multiple tours in Iraq. He served our country by shooting the enemy -- one by one. Yesterday, he died at least partly by his own country's lax gun regulations.
Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL known "as 'the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history,' with 160 confirmed kills" was murdered by a shooter at a gun range in Texas. They have the shooter in custody:
It couldn't be more clear the only answer is better screening for firearm possession. And it seems increasingly clear we need better regulation of gun ranges and survival schools. Because if this is true, it's too irresponsibly crazy:
Chris Kyle, a former Navy SEAL known "as 'the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history,' with 160 confirmed kills" was murdered by a shooter at a gun range in Texas. They have the shooter in custody:
Investigators said Routh, a former Marine and expert marksman who is said to suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome, is believed to have turned his weapon on Kyle and the second victim, killing them both at point-blank range about 3:30 p.m.If this doesn't end the cockamamie notion that more people with firearms is the answer to gun violence, I don't know what ever will. I mean, if America's number one sniper and his companion can be gunned down in broad daylight while he was in possession of a loaded firearm, what chance does anyone have?
It couldn't be more clear the only answer is better screening for firearm possession. And it seems increasingly clear we need better regulation of gun ranges and survival schools. Because if this is true, it's too irresponsibly crazy:
Their bodies were not discovered until nearly two hours later.How is that even possible?
Labels: Gun Law
posted by Libby Spencer at 6:40 PM
6 Comments:
The only person who can kill a good guy with a gun is a bad guy with a gun...
Quite so.
As I read it, the President's proposals is to enforce and re-enforce the requirements for reporting people with mental problems and other factors to the database that we use in background checks. Our record in doing that is reprehensible and obviously, this guy shout not have had guns or ammunition.
But we also have to recognize that we're still fighting the longest war in our history, that people have spent more time under fire than ever, more time away from home -- and are cracking up more often and committing suicide more often. In fact I've read that more troops have killed themselves than have been killed by any enemy.
Murder in general is not on the increase and is on a par with what it was in the early 50's when we had far fewer guns and little gun control.
Perception is otherwise and I'm afraid that we share one thing with the tea party - the willingness to buy into scary propaganda. We've been doing something right or perhaps other invisible factors have reduced the murder rate, but those factors haven't done much about the psychotics, the guys with brain tumors, with PTSD and other conditions. It's a complex problem and no one step procedure is going to chance that. One thing we can do is to really have enough information to make background checks work and another is to make a much bigger effort to take care of our military people and tend to their needs, mental and physical.
Actually Fogg, I'm seeing some coverage coming out of this about the shameless neglect of returning vets and PTSD issues particularly. So there's that. If it draws attention to this unmet need, Kyle won't have died so tragically for nothing.
I hope it does just that, because despite all the flag waving and thanking everyone who ever served in the military for their service in flamboyant fashion, I get the feeling that no one gives a shit if it's going to cost anything.
These last 12 years of constant war has a vastly higher cost than anyone wants to admit and the demand that we reduce government spending doesn't bode well for a change of heart when it comes to helping battle scarred veterans become part of normal life again -- or their families, for that matter.
GOP has never done anything more than pay lip service to "honoring the troops" for years. Michelle Obama and I think Jill Biden have doing a lot of work for vets. Think it helps.
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