Over at the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence website is a frightening list that appears to be up-to-date. I have a problem with the cause-and-effect claimed by the Coalition but the list of gun violence incidents they provide is breathtaking.
More below the fold.
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence has compiled and posted on their website a list of incidents involving gun violence, threats of gun violence, and comments by such as Glenn Beck, Ted Nugent, and Michelle Bachmann. The list appears to be updated -- as of today, the last item on the list is dated 18 July 2010 and deals with Californian Byron Williams who was headed for San Francisco with a truckload of guns and ammo, bent on attacking the ACLU.
I have one problem with this list and that's the "cause-and-effect" that the Coalition cites in their introduction.
On June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court embraced the National Rifle Association's contention that the Second Amendment provides individuals with the right to take violent action against our government should it become "tyrannical." The following timeline catalogues incidents of insurrectionist violence (or the promotion of such violence) that have occurred since that decision was issued:
I don't know that the SCOTUS decision in Heller opened the floodgates to gun violence, threats of gun violence, and the rest of the incidents cited by the Coalition. However, this is a small nit to pick. The REAL story emerges as you go the the Coaltion's website and scroll down the list of incident after incident after incident.
While we certainly could expect an occasional armed nutcase to shoot up his neighbors, a police station, or some other target, it's a whole different story when time and time again armed violence is urged by politicians and media personalities. And now, it's becoming more and more clear that many incidents of armed violence are generated by the ravings of rightwing media personalities -- for example -- there's another diary currently running on Kos that rather convincingly links Byron Williams to Glenn Beck.
Does anyone else get the feeling that we are watching a horror movie unroll in front of us -- frame upon frame -- each scene more terrifying than the one before -- wondering how or when this will end and where it's leading?