Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Guns and Madness

Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post:

"We may not be sure that the bloodbath in Tucson had anything to do with politics, but we know it had everything to do with our nation's insane refusal to impose reasonable controls on guns.

According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, about 80 percent to 90 percent of disqualifying mental health records are not in the background-check database. Some states simply don't bother to submit the information; others do so haphazardly. Arizona is neither the best nor the worst on this score.

We must recognize the obvious distinction between rifles, shotguns and target pistols used for sport on the one hand, and semiautomatic handguns designed for killing people on the other. We must decide that allowing anyone to carry a concealed weapon, no questions asked, is just crazy. And for heaven's sake, we must demand that laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of lunatics be enforced."

Senator Frank Lautenberg is being widely quoted today: "We don't have more madmen. We have more guns."

Well, we certainly have more guns.

And we give our madmen daily coast to coast radio and TV broadcasts.

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