Largely unnoticed in the flair of Florida's outrageous George Zimmerman trial was a similar incident in Milwaukee, where a jury found white shooter John Henry Spooner guilty of fatallly shooting a 13-year-old black neighbor. The verdict was greatly aided by actual video of the incident. You can see that here: http://www.cbsnews.com/...
Spooner is 76 and his defense was that he was mentally unstable. The jury rejected that argument and it seems unlikely, given that Spooner told the court he was angry but had every right to fire his gun and did so intentionally. Whether you believe the defense in Spooner's particular case is irrelevant. Long-term, however, it's a troubling sign and portent of where we may be headed as a society. Three facts about our nation are now very clear:
1. More and more people are stocking weapons at home.
2. More and more of those gun owners are elderly folks worried about crime.
3. And more and more of those elderly gun owners are, at some point, developing mental instability, ranging from plain old forgetfulness, to dementia to full-blown Alzheimer's, and everything in between.
So what's going to happen when the US population continues to skew old, as is already happening to thanks to the baby boomer bulge? And what happens when those elderly members of our society -- who are also more likely to be confused or otherwise addled than younger people -- have more guns?
I'll wager that we're going to see more shootings and killings akin to the incident involving Spooner. Assuming that's correct, what should our society be doing right now to prevent that expansion of tragedy? Not to discount the confounding interference of the National Rifle Association, of course.
The huge irony is that when senior citizens get into their '80s and their senses and reflexes dim, their right to drive motor vehicles is sometimes removed by relatives or motor vehicle departments or even the courts. These are spotty situations, but at least there is public recognition that driving a motor vehicle when you're mentally impaired can be a problem, and there are examples of how to deal with it successfully before innocents are hurt.
But what about senior citizens wielding guns?
Just to be clear, I tend to believe Spooner when he told the court he just snapped and that anger overtook him -- not a sufficient defense, at least in Wisconsin, despite the state's own recent and tragic implementation of a "stand your ground" law. Another Wisconsin shooting tragedy directly affected by that law can be reviewed at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
But the Spooner case got me to thinking. And reflection led me to this:
The very real possibility exists that more and more potential shooting incidents will occur because more and more guns are in the hands of people who sometimes and in some respects have no more common sense or reliable perception than a two-year-old.
And here's the really troubling thing: It's likely to be easier to take away your crazy dad's car keys than to take away his guns.