The shootings in Arizona - six people killed, 13 wounded including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was shot in the head - is another senseless tragedy that has raised more questions to which no one has answers.
But the media and people around the country are once again pointing fingers at the "weak" gun laws in Arizona - and other states - for allowing persons like Jared Lee Loughner, to purchase the gun and ammunition which was used in his killing spree.
Let's be clear about one thing: It is NOT the gun that kills, it's the person behind the gun. And "weak" gun laws in any state are not going to prevent the tragedies as has occurred in Arizona.
Loughner, a 22-year old young man with a history of mental illness, opened fired on Giffords' "Congress On Your Corner" event, an event she had created for the benefit of the general public, an event where anyone could attend and voice their concern or issue - and be heard. Loughner purchased a semiautomatic gun and two magazines that held 30 bullets each, and two more that held 15 bullets each. He filled out the paperwork as required, provided proper identification (over 18 years of age) as required and passed the ATF federal background check which asked if he had ever been adjudicated mentally ill.
Loughner apparently has never been adjudicated mentally ill but is erratic behavior, his postings and writings on youtube.com have now raised the anger of many because he was allowed to purchase the gun that he used to kill six people in Arizona, including a nine-year old, and seriously wounding Giffords with a gunshot to her head.
Sadly and tragically, Christina Taylor Green, the nine-year old who was killed, was an "aspiring politician" who was newly elected to her school's student council and who was born on 9/11/01.
The media has profiled the victims of Loughner's massacre. The media has profiled Loughner to some degree and the portrait painted of this killer is blurred and smeared with indicators of mental illness.
Loughner was prone to "outbursts" of such an unusual nature that no one wanted to sit next to him in class. His behavior forced him to leave a community college. He was turned down when he attempted to enlist in the Army.
But the pointing fingers keep turning back to the fact that Loughner was able to purchase a gun and use it to the extent he did.
How do we "tighten" gun laws? Should these laws even be tightened? The Second Amendment - the right to bear arms - is a constitutional right because as I stated - it's not the gun itself that kills - it's the person pulling the trigger. And determining if someone is "mentally stable" to purchase a gun is not up to the shop owner who sells that person a gun. It's not going to be found on a form and a blank box waiting to be checked either "yes" or "no" as to the purchaser's adjudication - or not - of mental illness.
A person can have mental illness without ever committing a crime. Unusual behavior or "outbursts" are not crimes and will not turn up in a background check. Loughner was not qualified to join the Army. Why? He was simply determined to be "unqualified."
You can sit and ask four thousand questions about Loughner, and you can point fingers at the alleged too weak gun laws but the fact remains is that mental illness can be hidden, it is not a piece of tangible, concrete evidence that will confirm or deny the psychological state of mind of a person, and certainly whether someone is approved or denied the ability to purchase a gun.
Even if Loughner had been denied his purchase, he would have found another way to carry out his murderous killing spree.
The killings are horrific tragedies and yet another reminder that mental illness still remains a mystery to many and is truly only brought to light when this kind of tragedy occurs.
Loughner will most likely not be deemed competent to stand trial and be committed for the rest of his life to a psychiatric institution and never be held accountable for his crimes because he himself may not understand his actions. It does not absolve him of his crimes and certainly, the store that sold Loughner his gun and ammo should not be blamed.
Perhaps Loughner has everyone fooled and knew exactly what he was doing - his actions being justified by only himself inside his own twisted, upside down world in which he has lived, inside his own blurred and smeared portrait of himself he painted in his brain.
His picture, unfortunately, is not worth a thousand words but a thousand more questions of how deep his mental illness is which will go unanswered forever.
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