What was this scum doing in possession of an assault rifle. No one should own such a weapon. This is another example of what is wrong in our society. There are too many unstable people walking around guns. More guns don't make us safer:
A man with a semiautomatic rifle opened fire at a church festival Saturday, wounding his ex-wife and two bystanders before several festival-goers grabbed him, wrestled his gun away and held him for police, witnesses and authorities said.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene, with people screaming and running for the exit after gunfire rang out on a grassy field where the festival was being set up at the St. John Baptist de la Salle Roman Catholic parish shortly before 11 a.m.
[...]The woman and the man with the leg wound were hospitalized in stable condition. The man with the chest wound was listed in critical condition. None of their names were released.
Meanwhile the politicians pander to the powerful gun lobby, which is responsible for this state of affairs:
Republican presidential candidate John McCain warned gun owners on Friday that his Democratic opponents Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would threaten their right to bear arms, as he sought to rally conservatives' support in the November election.
The right to bear arms in the Constitution's second amendment is considered sacred by many U.S. gun owners. Both Obama and Clinton tout their support for it, although they also say ways must be found to keep guns from falling into the hands of criminals or those who are mentally ill.
But the Arizona senator accused the two Democrats of giving only "theoretical" support to the second amendment.
"They claim to support hunters and gun owners. But just because they don't talk about gun control doesn't mean they won't support gun control," McCain told a convention of the National Rifle Association.
"If either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama is elected president, the rights of law-abiding gun owners will be at risk. They have both voted as senators to ban guns or ban ammunition or to allow gun makers to be sued out of existence," he said.
Obama, an Illinois senator and the front-runner in the battle for the Democratic nomination to run against McCain in November, countered by accusing him of trying to whip up fear about his positions and using the "same playbook" from other elections.
"I think people have the right to lawfully bear arms. I do believe that there is nothing inconsistent with also saying that we can institute some common-sense gun laws so that we don't have kids being shot on the streets of cities like Chicago," Obama said while campaigning in South Dakota.
Reasonable gun laws would include strong background checks of those who sought to buy weapons and tracing guns back to "unscrupulous" gun dealers who sold them to people who shouldn't be able to get them, Obama said.
What hypocrisy:
A small but startling sign welcomed the gun lovers who arrived at the National Rifle Association's annual gathering Friday.
"Firearms WILL NOT be allowed in Hall A during the Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum."
Beyond this sign at the Kentucky Exposition Center was a row of 10 metal detectors. They were manned by uniformed Secret Service officers deployed because the scheduled speakers included presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
The people's platform would seek to create a government that isn't beholden to the powerful NRA. Government should protect us not sell out to those who don't care about America's safety. - http://Peoplat.com
