BREAKING NEWS!

BREAKING NEWS!

Murderer Kazmierczak bought a holster from the same online supplier that the VT killer purchased a firearm from. We are still waiting to here where Kazmierczak purchased his guitar case.

There's no end to the stupid stories that get published after such a horrible act. As our culture turns further and further away from traditional notions of personal responsibility we will focus on the killers lack of meds or even where he got his holster.

I expect this might be the beginning of an effort to restrict online firearm sales. However, as someone who has in fact purchased TWO firearms online I can bring a bit of knowledge to the discussion that will no doubt be lacking once the politicians start debating. When you buy online you must provide the seller with the name and address of a holder of a Federal Firearms License - aka a legal firearm dealer. The weapon is shipped to the dealer who then is responsible for insuring that the end-user is in compliance with all federal and state regulations...just as if you went and bought it from that gun shop to begin with - except that it is a more complex and labor intensive process for the buyer who normally would chose to do so because of better selection or price. I'm not sure a suicidal mass-murderer cares about either - I rather expect we are just a society that shops more and more online out of habit.

In any event...I do worry about why we are seeing so much of this senseless violence. Everyone has a pet theory, I suppose. I just wonder if we just aren't seeing the beginning of our festering boil opening up completely. The maddening lack of meaning and purpose driving us further into despair as we find our affluence feeds not our souls. And without moral compass and our minds filled with all manner of conflicting thoughts and violent imagery...well...some of us just collapse. If any blame is to be directed somewhere besides the shooter, it should not be toward guns or online retailers...it should be directed toward the collective heart, mind, and dogmas of our society...which grows ever more soul-less. Should we expect less than the brutality of animals if we are continually told we are nothing more than such?

There is a Chimpanzee preserve here where they sell T-Shirts that read simply "98.7% Chimp." (I cannot recall the exact percentage) This is of course based on DNA homology and while cute, it does speak very well to the pervasive belief that you are your genes (A contention I wholly reject - on scientific and religious principals) What of human behavior then should surprise us if this is what we preach from the pulpit of popular science?

Prayers for the deceased and their families. And prayers for us who are left to try and understand.