It seems everyone with an axe to grind is weighing in on the mass murder in Charleston, S.C. last week. People with fixed opinions on gun control, hate crimes and religious differences lined up to spout their reasons for the crime and what may or may not have prevented it.
For a few days, I thought maybe it would be best to stay out of the fray, at least until we learned more about the crime and its perpetrator. But then, I read in the current issue of the New Yorker an article by Margaret Talbot about another multiple-murder earlier this year in Chapel Hill, N.C.
It may have been racially or religiously motivated (the victims were three Muslims), but the murderer, Craig Hicks, turned himself in to authorities and confessed to the killings. More than a dozen guns — including a loaded semi-automatic rifle — were found in his apartment. He was said to have had a long-running feud with neighbors over parking, harassed residents over issues of noise and displayed a gun (carried under his shirt) in a threatening manner.
To say that he was consumed by hate may be an overstatement, but he had regularly put leaflets on cars in the parking lot, and labeled himself as a libertarian and “anti-theist” who wished “all religion to go away.” He had also called a local towing company so many times that they would no longer respond to his calls.
So a small sample of reactions to the most recent atrocity include a National Rifle Association (NRA) board member posting a tweet blaming one of the black victims of the Emanuel AME shooting for the massacre because as a state senator, he had voted against a proposed concealed carry law.
GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee echoed this theory, saying if more people brought guns to church “these things wouldn’t happen.”
Fellow candidate and former Texas governor Rick Perry said inexplicable things about prescription drugs being to blame for the massacre. He should know after blaming prescription painkillers for a debate flub last time that (among other things) probably tanked his bid for presidential candidacy.
Another Texan, a volunteer firefighter, was dismissed by his department after posting on social media that alleged shooter Dylann Roof “needs to be praised for the good he has done.”
On the other side, President Obama called the tragic shooting yet another example of damage wreaked on America by guns. He described the historic church as “a sacred place in the history of Charleston and in the history of America.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn), who has worked tirelessly to improve gun laws after the massacre at Sandy Hook, said a change in laws would cut down on this epidemic of gun violence.
Whether or not they would have prevented these two latest episodes is still a matter of conjecture. First reports stated that Roof acquired his weapon as a 21st birthday gift from a relative. Confessed shooter Hicks would not have been refused any of his gun purchases because there was no official record of his mental status or criminal complaints.
And South Carolina is one of 30 states that allow concealed-carry of firearms. We tend to blame the NRA for political pressure that promotes unrestricted access to guns. The group has unbelievable power over politicians and doesn’t hesitate to threaten career destruction to any who oppose their views.
It seems to me that powerful forces are changing laws to allow guns in places they were once forbidden: national parks, college campuses, criminal courts and the like. I do believe that while we may have rights to own arms, there should be gun-free zones where people might feel safe from people with weapons.
I do, however, condone the owning of firearms on ranches and other places far removed from law enforcement. If it takes an hour or more for help to arrive, one would think a gun might be necessary.
At the insistence of my husband, I once got a permit to carry a gun while hauling horses so that I could humanely destroy a terminally injured animal. Fortunately, I never had to use it. For personal protection, however, nothing is more effective than a large dog. Miscreants, on the whole, respect dogs more than they do guns.
So what could turn the tide against gun violence? Would it be willingness for people to get involved in reporting suspect behavior? In all these cases of mass murder, hate seems to be the motivating force that drives despicable action. Neighbors come forward with harrowing tales indicating impending crisis. But they seldom report these feelings in time to avert tragedy.
It takes bravery, like that of the woman who followed the fleeing Roof for 30 miles until police took him into custody; bravery among politicians so they might resist the NRA; bravery to disregard those who say gun control is a taboo subject.