Spree killings have always been a part of our history taking the lives of innocent people as those that use these lethal weapons brandish them. Yet McCain has chosen as his VP pick a member of the NRA in Sarah Palin.
As Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman sang her praises, on Tuesday night, someone who has been identified as being mentally unstable went on a shooting rampage killing six and wounding two.
As reported by the AP: “The dead were found at multiple crime scenes. They included the deputy shot while responding to a call and a second person killed at the same location near the small town of Alger; two construction workers found shot nearby, and a third body found a few houses away” I would love to hear Sarah Palin speak of this deadly incident and many just like it.
Last year, Virginia Tech suffered at the hands of someone who too was mentally unstable a day of death as Cho Seung-Hui took the lives of 32 innocent people who had everything in front of them. He took his life as well.
Another deadly incident occurred when Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32 in a case of a revenge killing took the lives of so many children in an Amish school house in Pennsylvania. He killed his victims execution style before killing himself in a revenge killing at that too can be seen as being a case where a gun was used by a mentally unstable person.
According to CNN, Roberts carried with him, "three firearms -- a shotgun, a semiautomatic pistol and a rifle. State Police Commissioner Jeffrey Miller said Roberts also had a stun gun, two knives and a bag holding 600 rounds of ammunition." A bit excessive and clearly showed his deadly intent.
While the Amish were forgiving of this man, I doubt that victims of other deadly shootings are as forgiving. What would Sarah Palin say to those whose loved ones were taken by deadly gunfire?
In Senator Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic convention here is what he said of this issue, “The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals.” I would go one further and say we do need to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally unstable.
Palin applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to end the ban of owning guns in Washington, DC and here is what she has to say of gun ownership, "I am proud to join the State of Texas in support of the Second Amendment," Governor Palin said. "We need to send a strong message that law-abiding citizens have a right to own firearms, for personal protection, for hunting and for any other lawful purpose." But, what about guns that find their way into the hands of the mentally unstable? In searching the Net, I could not find any statement coming from her as to what we do to keep weapons out of the hands of those who go on shooting sprees such as the ones mentioned above.
Those who lost loved ones in these killings need to hear what her plan is to keep the guns out of the hands of the mentally ill for all of our sakes. While her being a member of the NRA is appealing to some, those that die at the hands of these weapons do affect all of us. We only have to remember the images coming from Virginia Tech to know that.
You can contact the author at this email address, xmjmac@optonline.net
