Texas Killings and Gun Control

Looking back on the events of Oct. 16, I don’t know what disgusted me more, the news that America had once again been treated to the horror of a mass slaughter as a deranged gunman opened fire in a crowded public place, or the ugly spectacle of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) appearing on television before the bodies were even cold to spew the NRA’s usual anti-gun-control propaganda, blaming the incident on liberal courts and lenient judges despite the conspicuous absence of any connection between the two.

The problem here is, always has been and remains that guns are far too easy for the wrong people to get and until our leaders concede to and confront this reality, or the NRA runs out of bribe money (neither of which seems likely soon, especially in the light of the congressional vote on the anti-crime bill), all we can do is watch our backs and pray that when the next massacre happens, and it will, it happens somewhere else, like maybe the NRA headquarters in Washington.

MICHAEL MAHER

Apple Valley