Exploiting Tragedy

Watching the different special interest groups exploit the recent tragedy in Littleton, Colo., is a tragedy of near-equal proportion. The secular left, most predictably, makes the point that greater gun control is needed to help stem the tide of violence in America. The fact that 16 existing guns laws were violated by the perpetrators of this horrendous crime seems to somehow not show up on the liberal left’s radar screen.

Equally inconsistent are the religious right’s attempts to lay this tragedy at the doorstep of the Hollywood elite. If spiritual segregationists like Jerry Falwell insist on violating the constitutional rights of writers and movie producers, perhaps the first book deserving of such censorship is the Bible. An awful lot of violence is graphically depicted in the Scriptures.

Both of these groups should be ashamed of themselves for trying to get government to run interference for their unconstitutional agendas.

STEPHEN WAGNER, Canyon Country