I’m reluctant to add to the flood of commentary in the wake of the horrific Arizona shootings, although to me the key point is always going to be gun control. Despite what the NRA says, guns do kill people, and Loughner acquired his gun and extended ammunition clip with no problem whatsoever. Governor Jan Brewer signed into law in April 2010 a measure allowing concealed weapons to be carried in Arizona without a permit. And now some on the pro-gun right, of course, are suggesting that the answer to massacres like Loughner’s is for more people to be armed.
William Saletan debunks the argument conclusively in this column, which tells the story of a witness at the Loughner scene who was in fact armed, and very nearly shot the wrong man:
That’s what happens when you run with a firearm to a scene of bloody havoc. In the chaos and pressure of the moment, you can shoot the wrong person. Or, by drawing your weapon, you can become the wrong person—a hero mistaken for a second gunman by another would-be hero with a gun. Bang, you’re dead. Or worse, bang bang bang bang bang: a firefight among several armed, confused, and innocent people in a crowd. It happens even among trained soldiers. Among civilians, the risk is that much greater.
As for the political recriminations: no, there is no strict causal connection between Sarah Palin’s rhetoric and Loughner’s actions. And yet “Don’t Retreat, RELOAD” is pretty far from an innocent statement, given what has happened. The fact that Giffords’ office was vandalized in recent months, and that her Republican opponent appeared on ads posing with an M-16, is absolutely relevant to the story. You expect cretins like Rush Limbaugh to deny it, but even supposedly thoughtful conservatives like David Brooks are peddling denial as well.
The same debate occurred in the wake of Yigal Amir’s assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. The right clung to the lone-madman argument for dear life, despite its clear record of incitement. How tiresome to have to rebut those same arguments now.
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