The left’s fondness for violence largely went away in the early ’70s, with the demise of the Weathermen and similar groups. The right, on the other hand, continues to foster violence at its fringe, by word and deed. “Second amendment remedies,” “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants,” “Don’t retreat, reload,” etc. These are incitements. And the right’s obsession with guns makes it easy for nutjobs like this Arizona shooter to get them. The NRA continues to chip away at all efforts at reasonable limits on gun ownership and where they can be carried. Our craven legislatures are entirely complicit in this, as is the current supreme court. But “guns everywhere, all the time” is definitely a right wing obsession, not a lefty one.
All the hand-wringing about not blaming the politicians for the acts of a mentally ill man is specious. It’s pretty obvious where the blame lies. Right wingers who want to say “enforce the laws” as the solution to incidents like this need to explain what law and what enforcement would prevent this kind of occurrence.
We live in one of the most violent countries in the developed world. And it’s not because every one goes around with a loaded handgun in the other rich nations.
