When the news first broke in the wee hours of Friday, July 20 of a massacre that had occurred at a theater in suburban Denver, everyone turned their thoughts to Columbine, the scene of that state’s worst school killings.
Since Columbine, the gun control rhetoric had died down for the most part. Occasionally, a politician like New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg will get on a stump and cry out that we need more gun control because someone in his city killed an innocent gang member.
Well, for the first time in quite some time, a politician got it right. Colorado’s Democrat Gov. John Hickenlooper addressed the real problem: “You know, I worry that if we got rid of all of the guns, and certainly we have so many guns in this country... he would have found explosives, he would have found something else, some sort of poisonous gas, he would have done something to create this horror,” he told the Huffington Post.
He’s right. James Holmes seemed normal to most. He had been a Ph.D. neuroscience student at the University of Colorado. However, his application to a local gun club was denied. Why? Because the owner of the club profiled Holmes, saying the guy’s voice mail was strange. Yes, he profiled Holmes.
Further, if guns were the problem in America, more guns would be on America’s death row, not the perpetrators of murder. Rather than take away the rights of millions of gun owners, perhaps we should spend more of our time evaluating the mental capacity of those persons that are drawn to the dark side.
Holmes had, after all, dressed in all black, dyed his hair blood red, in an effort to identify with the sinister villain of the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” into which Holmes burst in to kill 12 people and injure 59. Holmes was obviously drawn to that darker image. Perhaps it’s time to hold producers of such movies accountable along with mass murderers.
It’s time for all of us to deal with our dark side and not wait for another national tragedy to point out that many are capable of what Holmes allegedly brought on to many in a Colorado theater last week.
Keith Hansen
Comments (31)
Add commentBut Herr Obama want's everyone
disarmed. Actune!
You know he never said that.
You just make things up.
Very true southie11...
Yupper,
" That became complicated following his "cling to guns" statement at a private fundraiser in Pennsylvania and as he distanced himself from 1996 questionnaire in which he called for banning "the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns"
Right out of you lefty's favorite paper, the Huff!
Fulla
F&B is fulla poop and he knows it. Just pushin buttons. Can't take his keyboard away from him so just ignore.
Read that Nan.
He did leave a few tracks.
assault weapons
Ok, we know the NRA controls both parties in power.
They want absolutely no limits on guns.
But WHO really needs these rapid fire assault weapons???
One weapon he had was suitable for deer hunting, but the other carried how many rounds?? Suitable specifically for war or human hunting. Could we POSSIBLY talk about who should be allowed to buy such a weapon?
It took him longer to re-load the smaller rifle, cutting down on the fatalities.
When is it time for a talk about reinstating the limits on assault rifles? When?
Ha! I notice the land of make believe...
...is pointing left.
I think assault rifles have a very important place for law abiding citizens. Let's say you are experiencing a home invasion with multiple armed assailants. Do you want to try to defend yourself against hoard of criminals with a hand gun? Puh-lease!
And let's not forget that criminals don't follow bans on assault rifles.
One last thing, I notice no one has mentioned the bogus accusation on Good Morning America that James Holmes might be a Tea Party member by none other than George Steph and Brian Ross. What was that you lefties were saying about only right wingers being prone to conspiracy theories...
What Happened to NRA sponsored GOP primary debate ?/
The Neo Cons wives were all excited about that for a while... The NRA lobby & others need to be dealt with. Or maybe its time to go pick up all the assault rifles one at a time.
" Suitable specifically for
" Suitable specifically for war or human hunting" ... or sport shooting .... Can't hit 10 steel targets with 5 rounds. unless you just carry more magazines in which the size of the mag no longer matters.
Checking facts ladies
Snowda- check your facts. A shotgun is not a rifle and a pump is not a semi-auto.
Muehly- If my home was being invaded... I'll take the 870 12 ga. shotgun loaded with buck shot over a the AR15 or a handgun.
If a guy had been sitting in the front row of that theater
fully armed, I read, he would have no chance against the shooter's protective gear.
And home invasion to justify assault rifles for all? Sounds like an NRA sound byte to me.
"And home invasion to justify
"And home invasion to justify assault rifles for all?"
How about the fact that the rifle doesn't matter, it is the mindset of an individual that determines the lethality of the object. An Axe is a tool until it cleaves a mans skull, then it's a weapon.
southie,
", I read, he would have no chance against the shooter's protective gear."
I don't think he had it wrapped around his head and hands, southie. A round through one eye would have been sufficiant.
Nice catch on
the left handed direction, Muehl.
In the smoke and dark?
Maybe if he was Batman or Superman.
Oh, that's right, they don't use guns.
Funny how
eyewitnesses were able to see.
On the other side
And on the other side of the sign, saying the same thing, is the arrow pointing right. You can get to the "Land of Make Believe" from both ways.
Good try though.
Denton/Keith, the date is wrong.
It was July 20th, not August.
While I agree with Mr. Hansen on this one...
Once again, what a ridiculous opinion piece.
What a clever lad with such gems as
"...more guns would be on death row." Hyuck, hyuck, hyuck!
"...cry...because someone in his city killed an innocent gang member." Haw-haw!
Again, I agree with Mr. Hansen's sentiment, but can we get just one opinion piece without asinine statements? Cracking cheap jokes when people have died is not the way to make a point on an issue.
It's just tacky.
Why didn't Aurora Theater have a "Guns Banned" Sign???
If only they would have had a "guns banned" sign none of the shootings would have happened. Right? Oh that's right, they did!
1) Maybe the criminal didn't see the sign. 2) The criminal didn't care. 3) It tipped off the killer that no "law abiding" citizen would have a gun there or they would also be a criminal. So he knew they would all be unarmed and be like lambs led to the slaughter.
editor? and he had Aug. 20th
well, that says a lot there, doesn't it?
Lets not just blame the guns,
Lets not just blame the guns, we all know Hollywood, music, and video games played their roles too.
snackfu
Sure, go ahead and write one yourself. No one's stopping you.
Tacky it is!
Congratulations!
JohnnyJing...We should share HTML skills to others...
Slick image tags are cool.
Visual Aids...
Time to tutor others...
My time frame in the HTML arts and sciences...
1993 - NCSA Mosaic 2.0 for Windows 3.11 and NT 3.51
Really??????????? Wake up slaves!!!!
If we ban guns or even assault rifles than that will mean the only people that will posses these will be criminals/cops. All this will do is give more control to the govt controlling our lives. So anyone that believes that we need to ban these really must want to be a slave in the future. Also what criminal will care about the gun laws? Drugs are illegial .... Last I checked the war on drugs didn't stop when drugs were made illegal. I want true freedom not fake carbon tax freedom/slave/sheep freedom. I will keep my guns and protect my family with them!!
guns don't kill people, stupid people kill people
if we ban assault riffles. lets also ban coffee, because that old lady spilled it on her special parts. also lets ban pens and pencils, because a student got lead poisoning from eating the lead.then lets ban automobiles, because more people die from car crashes then from mass murders. if we ban automobiles, then we should ban all religion, beacause it is well known that religion has been and will always be the leading cause of death. so please stop being so stupid that big brother has to ban completely everything to protect us from our idiot selves. If you can not comprehend please watch the movie "Idiocracy" it has happened and we will all suffer. lets all try to think more and let emotions not write all the laws.
Colorado guns sales climb 43 percent since massacre
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0725/Why-gun-sales-a...
I guess people do not think that the police can get there in less than 20 minutes that it took to do this massacre. I would agree. I am glad they are depending on the government but self reliance. That is a positive sign.
Idiocracy is a great movie.
I suggest everyone of you sheep watch the movie!!!