As I write this, CNN in the form of Wolf Blitzer is breathlessly reporting on an active shooter situation in Philadelphia. Apparently someone is holed up in an apartment of some kind after having shot a number of cops (numbers are vague… apparently six cops have been taken to the hospital, but one of them seems to have been assaulted in the street by someone else. Nice neighborhood, it seems).
I turned on the TV with no knowledge that this event was unfolding. It took *much* less than a minute before one of the talking heads started yammering on about the importance of using this incident to further embolden the civilian enfeeblement movement, to make the ownership of modern sporting rifles or standard capacity rifles crimes punishable by summary execution. Hyperbole on my part? Not really. If you make the ownership of something a real crime, then you are empowering agents of the government to use force, including deadly force, to administer these laws. And when it comes to gun laws, history has shown (Ruby Ridge, Waco, even the Dornan case) that law enforcement agents who actually support the disarmament of civilians are quite willing to shoot first.
So far CNN has provided no description of the shooter, though they have from time to time suggested there’s more than one. So… it’s never too early or unwise to speculate wildly. Is it another Trump supporting white supremacist right winger who supports socialism, universal basic income, racial set asides and Elizabeth Warren?