When I wrote this a few days ago, I did so out of a generalized sense of anger that one person could be solely responsible for facilitating so much senseless violence. Now that the latest iteration of random, tragic violence has been visited upon my hometown, I’m even more convinced of Wayne LaPierre’s culpability. I’m even angrier that people here in Portland are suffering and trying to make sense of the senseless. I’ll write more about the shooting here in Portland when I’ve had time to process the events. In the meantime, this will have to serve as sufficient expression of the anger and disgust I feel toward LaPierre. If there’s a sorrier excuse excuse for humanity, I’m not aware of who it might be.
[A]s almost always happens when a prominent act of gun violence occurs, the topic of handgun was again on the radar screen…. However, that moment—like all moments—quickly faded. It is now 25 years later. John Lennon is still dead. (And so is George Harrison.) The NRA years ago moved to a bigger and better headquarters in suburban Virginia. The gun lobby has had its ups and downs, but it’s been mostly ups of late (such as the expiration of the ban on assault weapons). Lennon’s death, it turns out, was no catalyst for action. And we have still—after all this time—not learned how to stem the tide of gun violence. Which is one of several reasons why this anniversary of Lennon’s death is a sad day.
I read David Corn’s reminiscence of the murder of John Lennon (written five years ago for the 25th anniversary of Lennon’s passing) with no small amount of wistfulness. I can still remember exactly where I was at the moment I heard that Lennon had been shot outside the Dakota in New York City. The moment is burned into my memory like few other events in my life.
The real tragedy of Lennon’s murder was that it didn’t need to happen. If Mark David Chapman hadn’t been able to legally purchase a handgun from a Hawaii gun shop, John Lennon would most likely have lived to fight another day. Because a man with a history of mental illness was able to legally purchase a handgun, a life was senselessly snuffed out. And the problem continues largely unabated 30 years later.
Because the National Rifle Association has a firm grip on the balls of most Congresscritters, gun control has garnered little but lip service over the years. Why else would the ban on assault weapons have been allowed to lapse? NRA President Wayne LaPierre has ensured that Congress continues to dance to the tune of the gun lobby, in spite of the growing death toll. As the largest lobbying group in Washington, the NRA gets what it wants…and what it wants more than anything is a world in which personal firepower knows no limits.
If you’re puzzled as to why I consider LaPierre to be Satan Incarnate, all that’s necessary is to examine the list of those who have died from handguns or assault weapons over the years. A convincing argument can be made that sensible gun control could have prevented tragedies like Virginia Tech, Columbine, Aurora, and so many others (including, as of yesterday, Portand). Despite that, LaPierre refuses to even consider gun control, viewing it as the ultimate in government overreach and an impingement on the absolute right of Americans to arm themselves to the teeth.
I could regurgitate the sobering statistics on deaths from handguns and assault weapons, but too many who’ve gone before have done that without meaningful impact. It’s a pretty simple equation, but it happens to be the truth: because of Wayne LaPierre’s inhuman intransigence on the issue of gun control, far too many innocent Americans have died. Far too many will continue to see their lives cut short at the hands of someone wielding a handgun or an assault weapon…which brings me to the crux of the argument, and why Wayne LaPierre should have valet parking in Hell.
The sole purpose of a handgun or an assault weapon is to kill. You can’t hunt with them. Handguns can be argued to have a sporting purpose, which I think would be legitimate if properly controlled. Beyond that, the only job of a handgun or an assault weapon is to kill. That LaPierre can’t find the humanity within himself to recognize and address that reality is something I can’t comprehend. How can a human being stand idly by while weapons whose only purpose is to kill are sold to virtually anyone and everyone? The answer, of course, is that Wayne LaPierre possesses nothing even faintly resembling humanity.
Thanks to LaPierre, it’s easier to obtain a gun that it is to get mental health treatment…and that’s wrong by any objective standard.
For reasons known only to himself, Wayne LaPierre hold the rights of gun owners above the lives of Americans. In his world, the 2nd Amendment is absolute and trumps even human life. That the man can look himself in the mirror without being repulsed is an astonishing example of his inhumanity. He’s a heartless and repulsive as anyone with a pulse could possibly be.
And you wonder why I consider Wayne LaPierre to be Satan Incarnate??
