Arizona is a state in which someone with absolutely no
training can go out and buy a gun, carry it as a concealed weapon without a
permit, and even take it into a bar.
That is the kind of rhetoric that has made the Grand Canyon State the
laughing stock of the country. The GOP-controlled
legislature prides itself in passing the most asinine and loose gun control
laws in the U.S. and then flaunts it to those hysterical over this obsession
with guns. And then you must add to that
a foggy headed Governor, Jan Brewer, with shifting desert sand for a brain.
What more could the media ask for, particularly progressive
bloggers like myself. What is most
disheartening about living in a state like Arizona is these fruitcakes are
serious. Their worship of guns
transcends any reasonable approach to gun control and approaches the level of
placing their weapons on a pedestal to be considered a divine entity. I did a blog back in January, “Religious leaders say the worship of guns is a form of idolatry,“ that examines just how gun fanatics feel about their
firearms. The findings are pathetic.
But the religious community is reacting in force. Rev. Gary Hall, dean of the Washington Nat’l
Cathedral, said, “Everyone in this city {Washington} seems to be in terror of
the gun lobby. But I believe the gun lobby is no match for the cross lobby.” Rabbi Saperstein, dir. of the Religious
Action Center of Reform Judaism, said: “Is the need for sensible gun control a
religious issue? Indeed, it is, for our
worship of guns is a form of idolatry, the random distribution of guns is
offense against God, and the only appropriate response is sustained moral
outrage.”
Spoof on Arizona gun laws:
So where do these Arizona gun nuts come off pushing all
these ridiculous gun laws to put even more guns on the street in the hands of
completely unqualified owners when the state ranks eighth nationally in firearm
deaths, with 15.1 deaths per 100,000?
They don’t care because they choose their celestial guns over human
life. Another source shows that in Arizona
65% of all murders are committed using firearms. And yet another survey reports that there are
232 Arizona gun murders a year, or about 4.5 per week.
Even considering all of the above, which really only
scratches the surface, an Arizona legislature of Republican lunatics continues
to propose and pass more bizarre gun legislation. And it is all but guaranteed that the
discombobulated Governor will sign the trash.
As an example, the gun bubbas got all up tight when a Tucson city
Councilman did a gun “buyback” offering $50 gift cards for unwanted guns. But the obsessed firearms crowd would have
none of it and proposed a law to bar any destruction of guns in Arizona. There’s lots more.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio |
Another bill would allow people to carry guns into public
buildings, unless secure gun lockers are provided which are expensive to
construct. Not a law, but another
pitiable fact; Arizona ranked third in the nation for guns confiscated at the Phoenix
airport checkpoints in 2012. And
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is arming his 3,000 member “volunteer” posse
with 400 military-style assault rifles.
That’s right, at least 400 scantily trained part-time upholders of
Arpaio’s style of Arizona law on the streets with lethal weapons. Hard to believe but true.
And now House Bill 2326 forbids state and local government agencies
and federally licensed gun dealers from maintaining a database of people who
own or sell guns. State Attorney General
Tom Horne, who himself has lawsuits filed against him for acting illegally as a
candidate for office and leaving the site of a hit and run accident, wants to
arm the teachers in Arizona schools. And
finally, a local pediatric cardiologist by the name of Dr. Scott Schnee responded
to Denver reporter Adrian Dater re. something he wrote about the Phoenix
Coyotes:
The Twitter user BabyDocScott tweeted "Go catch a movie in
Aurora" and said Dater could "join Jessica for all I care."
Dater was friends with Jessica Ghawi, who was killed in the Aurora movie
theater shootings July 20. Beyond pathetic.
So that’s the latest on a gun culture out of
control from the Wild West state of Arizona, which for many of us is a
beautiful and pleasant place to live.
But for those of us who want sane gun laws in our state, and throughout
the country, the day is definitely on the horizon to get this accomplished, and
the gun huggers will just have to go to the movies to get their violence.