It was another day same news different people massacre

Commentary by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. - In the Albuquerque KOB-TV newsroom where I worked years ago was a sign, “Another Day, Same News, Different People.” Every day there were stories of auto accidents, shootings and investigations. They just happened to different people. Last Friday there was another massacre. The details do not matter. The reason for this latest murderer killing a bunch of innocents does not matter. The only thing that matters is the ease by which this was done. It was the latest of many “fish-in-a-barrel” shootings where victims have no way to fight back. The perpetrator started shooting knowing he was the only person armed because he was in a gun-free zone. The attraction for the shooter was that these victims were defenseless. The predictable political response after each of these “fish-in-the-barrel” massacres is that guns should be outlawed. Calls to disarm our population ignore that in Mexico guns have been outlawed yet Mexico is overrun with gun violence. Like our massacres, the citizens of Mexico are exterminated without recourse by criminals who smuggle in drugs and guns from all over the world. The Mexican government cannot stop them. Picture this: in the Old West a group of citizens are in a theatre when a gunman bursts in and starts shooting. What happens? The perpetrator is turned into a human sieve by the return fire from the audience. People in the Old West were armed. Do we have any Old West examples of someone attacking a group of people similar to our current massacres? We do not. Read column

It was another day same news different people massacre