Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Virginia Gun Insanity

Yesterday, Virginia's gun insanity hit home in dramatic fashion when a disturbed teenager, who'd escaped from a mental institution a couple weeks earlier, used an AK-47 assault rifle and other weapons to attack Fairfax County police, killing a female detective (with two elementary school age children) and seriously wounding another officer.

The incident occurred just a few miles from the National Rifle Association's national headquarters, which is located in Fairfax County. Too bad the gunman didn't take down a few of the jerks at the NRA who are constantly lobbying to make sure "gun enthusiasts" have access to AK-47's and other totally unnecessary weaponry.

Many details of the shooting are still sketchy--no doubt, we'll learn more over the coming days.

One thing I'd sure like to learn is where the troubled teen--who was also killed in the shootout (after firing at least 70 rounds at police)--got that AK-47. In a sane society, the seller of such a weapon would face at least the possibility of ruinous civil damages if he/she was in any way negligent in selling such a powerful weapon to someone.

But NOT in Virginia. Nope. We probably shouldn't even bother tracking down the info, because there's practically nothing that can be done. Viriginia lawmakers continue to make it easy to buy guns, to buy multiple guns, and to conceal guns. They protect gun sellers from liability. In fact, a gun seller has GREATER protection against lawsuits than the average citizen. Is that SANE?

A few police officers dead? Children orphaned? Who cares--gol-darn-it, we're talking the second amendment here!

The saddest part is that even with such a brazen attack on police, the GOP-led Virginia assembly won't even THINK about doing anything different.

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