EDHS Contemporary World Affairs

Heroes: Easy.

The Tuscon shooter was taken down when he stopped to reload - he was tackled by two men in the crowd and a 61-year-old woman restrained his arm as he reached for a new ammunition clip.

Villiains:

Obviously the shooter.  The rest is an interesting (a weird word to use in a tragedy, I realize) question.

Do you think that outside forces bear any responsibility?  
* i.e. hyperbolic rhetoric about "Second Amendment justice" and gun-wielding commercials and events on the campaign trail? ("Giffords' tea party-backed opponent, Jesse Kelly, held a fundraiser at a shooting range in which he invited supporters to "help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office" by shooting an M-16 rifle with him" (LA Times); this article has some allegations on that front:  http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jan/08/nation/la-na-giffords-shooting-media-20110109)
* or the media? [Pima County Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik did not ascribe a motive to the shooting but lashed out at what he called a climate of "vitriol that has permeated the political scene and left elected officials facing constant threats. "And unfortunately Arizona, I think, has become sort of the capital," he said. "We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."He went on to point a finger at the media. "I think it's time as a country that we do a little soul-searching. Because I think it's the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out, from people in the radio business, and some people in the TV business ... that this has not become the nice United States of America that most of us grew up in," Dupnik said.Referring to the increasing vitriol, he said, "that may be free speech, but it may not be without consequences." (LA Times)]
* or the public policy decisions that have cut funding for mental health treatments? ("Acts of violence are exceptional. They are a sign that something has gone terribly wrong, usually in the mental healthcare system. Nationwide, the mental health care system is broken. Arizona, like other states, has deeply cut mental health services. Arizona has a broad civil commitment law to require treatment if it is needed; however, the law cannot work if an evaluation is never conducted or mental health services are not available." (National Alliance on Mental Illness) more from DemocracyNow!: http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/11/jared_loughner_mental_illness_and_how]

Or was this an isolated incident and the responsibility belongs to Loughner alone ["There were no immediate signs that Loughner had overt political connections. A rambling series of YouTube videos posted as "my final thoughts" by someone with that name talked of "a mind controller able to control every belief and religion." (LA Times)]?

Does blame matter?

Do we need stricter gun control laws or are we blaming the tool rather than its wielder (do you think Loughner would have used some other weapon had a gun not been available)?



-- Edited by MrsCavalluzzi on Tuesday 11th of January 2011 06:29:01 PM