Baltimore Sun - Expecting the horrible is the American way

[OmahaBlueDog]

By now, every American expects to be somewhere some day when horrible happens, as it did Saturday in Columbia. There are too many guns, and a gun culture that is endemic to American life, and too many people with grievances, fears, extreme anger or untreated mental illnesses.

The expectation that you will be somewhere some day when horrible happens is lodged in the American psyche now. You might not think about it every day, but you have certainly thought about it, forced by the events of the last quarter-century, and maybe longer than that, depending on your age.

We are an exceptional country, all right — we have made it possible for people with steaming grudges or profound mental illness or mere anger-management problems to kill or wound themselves and others easily, taking several victims at a time if they wish. Too many guns, too many disturbed people, and too many opportunities for extravagant displays of violence: How many metal detectors can you have in the Land of the Free?

We also have what appears to be a cycle of emulative behavior: copycat shootings.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-rodricks-shooting-20140125,0,1853518.column#ixzz2rVz8xEAE

[LiberalEsto]

1. "we've reached a critical mass of depravity and firearms,"

Writer Dan Rodricks, from the same article:

"I hate saying never, I hate throwing in the towel, betraying resignation to a severe problem. But we've reached a critical mass of depravity and firearms, and there's apparently no turning back. We do not seem inclined to do anything about all the guns and the access to them. If the killings in the elementary school in Newtown, Conn., could not move Congress to act, it never will."

snip

"We have spent billions of dollars in the fight against terrorism — the National Security Agency is maybe 10 miles from the Columbia Mall — when the real terror is right here in our midst, accounting for thousands upon thousands of premature deaths by homicide and suicide, most often impulsive acts made possible by access to guns."

Amen, Dan

[OmahaBlueDog]

2. If the killings in the elementary school in Newtown...could not move Congress to act, it never will

If mothers of drunk driving victims could get together and beat down outdated attitudes and the lobbying power of the liquor industry, then there has to be a way to get common sense action here. I'm actually on the conservative end of DUers on this issue; I support responsible gun owners' rights to have weapons for home defense, hunting, and shooting sports. But I also know something has to gove on this issue. Too many innocent people are being needlessly slaughtered.

Here in Omaha, last week, a gang shootout took the life of 5 year old Payton Benson. Payton was the niece of city councilman Ben Gray (a good Dem -- a speck of brilliant blue in a vast sea of red). She was an adorable little gorl who caught a stray bullet while eating breakfast. They've had some great meetings and life celebrations, etc. -- doing what is always done: calling for change, meeting to discuss change, holding signs for change, holding candles for change, and will end up changing nothing.

I understand the frustration of responsible shooting sports enthusiasts who've never done a thing wrong. I understand those who've argued that banning firearms, in addition to being unconstitutional, wuld work as well as banning liquor. To put an even finer point on it, Darion Aguilar had no criminal record, and bought his shotgun completely legally -- in a state with tougher-than-average gun laws.

What is the answer? I have a relatively small circle of friends, and I've lost to people in my life to firearms violence. One was a co-worker, and one was a very close friend. One was killed in a robbery. One was killed in a murder-suicide by his lover.

What.is.the.answer???

I grew up in Columbia. A substantial chunk of my childhood was spent in and around that mall. There was an arcade there once called "The Boardwalk" in which I think I may have dropped enough in quarters to pay the national debt. I bought Led Zeppelin albums in the Harmony Hut that became a Sam Goody that is now long-gone. I drank milkshakes at the Friendly's; ate endless burgers at the now-relocated McDonalds; bought blacklight posters at Spencer gifts; and bought a heat transferred T-shirt of Cheryl Tiegs showing a helluva lot of clevage that almost got me tossed from middle school.

...and now teenagers are shooting 20 year olds there. And bringing explosives made from fireworks.

CreekDog posted WilliamPitt's missive on gun violence. It got like 300 responses and a bajillion recs. That's cool. Pitt's popular (as he should be). I didn't post because the post really didn't resonate with me. Obviously, my post didn't resonate with many other Duers because it got like one response and a couple of recs. I think to most her, this shooting is just one more shooting. To me, this one is personal, so I posted the Sun piece because it echoed many of my own feelings.

..anyway, thanks for responding to my thread and reading my rant.

[LiberalEsto]

3. You lived in Columbia? I saw some of Columbia being built

A number of folks from the two high schools in my home town - Wayne NJ - moved to Columbia during its early stages. They were friends with a girl whose father was a Rouse Co. executive. He was involved in the development of Willowbrook Mall in Wayne in the late 1960s and then was transferred to Maryland to work on Columbia.

The concept of Columbia sounded so cool when she described it that her friends from Wayne went to visit her and ended up moving there. I didn't know her except by sight -- she was a couple of years younger than I was, and she had attended Wayne's other high school -- but I had friends who knew people who had moved to Columbia, so I visited there a number of times in the early 1970s. All the area around it was farmland, and we used to drive around getting high, getting lost on the back roads.

When did you live there?

I live near Rockville, about 40 minutes from Columbia.

That mall shooting makes me wonder if any place is safe any more. I never go to malls because I dislike them, but shootings can and do seem to happen anywhere.

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. I lived in Columbia from '75 - '83. I still have friends and family there.

You are right -- back then, farmland on all sides. Every year I'd watch the developers come toward Columbia from the north and south along US 29. Once upon a time, the Columbia Mall was a kind of day-trip for folks in suburban DC. Until '75, it had a Baltimore anchor store (Hoschild-Kohn) as well as a Washington anchor (Woodward & Lothrop..aka Woodies).

Lots of places outside of town for teens to drink, skinny dip, etc., etc., etc. in those days.

I've been to Rockville many, many times. My dad is a classical music buff, and he would go to a department store there called Korvette's to buy cheap records.