Gunman kills three Pittsburgh police officers
It never ceases to amaze me that there is so much violence in America that is seemingly completely random. In an apparent ambush today, Stephen Mayhle, Paul Sciullo, and Eric Kelly were gunned down by Richard Poplawski, who was wearing body armor and armed with an assault rifle and two handguns. The first two were shot in the head when Poplawski met them at the door and the third officer was killed when he responded to the call and tried to help the fallen men. It has to be a sad day in Pittsburgh and my heart goes out to the families and acquaintenances of the officers.
We have had quite the spirted discussion about the 2nd Amendment on this blog and it’s no secret that I am a firm believer in the right to keep and bear arms. That belief is tempered somewhat by events such as this. No motive for the shooting has surfaced, but Richard Poplawski was apparently concerned that President Obama was going to ban firearms and take away some of our rights. From The Associated Press:
Poplawski feared “the Obama gun ban that’s on the way” and “didn’t like our rights being infringed upon,” said Edward Perkovic, his best friend.
While I may agree that President Obama will ban or severly restrict firearms if given the chance, that does not give Poplawski or anyone else the right to shoot three police officers in cold blood, just because he was concerned about Obama’s gun control policies. This attack has accomplished three things. First and foremost, it has caused three families the ultimate grief as they try to understand why this had to happen. Second, a city is in mourning as it griefs for three of it’s officers. Third, it has given credance to the idea that stricter gun control is needed to prevent such events from taking place. It certainly does the cause of the 2nd Amendment no good and possibly does it great harm when a lunatic such as Richard Poplawski goes on the rampage in it’s name.
Yeah … going on a shooting rampage to try to stop a gun ban is pretty much a losing strategy.
He reinforced the notion that guns are dangerous, and that the people who want guns are dangerous.
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I really do not want to take away from the real tragedy here. It is a terrible thing that these three officers have been killed. However, I can not help but shake my head in disgust at the idiocy of the culprit. It certainly puts our advocacy of the 2nd Amendment in a bad light.
Unfortunately, violence is becoming the way more people are choosing to deal with their problems and/or their stress.
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it’s not some administration these people should fear — maybe it’s time for parents and other relatives to step up to the plate. the guy lived with his grandmother and mother — they HAD to know this cache of unnecessary weapons were in this guy’s house. he was kicked out of school, kicked out of the military, had a POA from 2005 against him from a former girlfriend. how many “clues” do people need.
and now his mama calls police? why? obviously she was afraid of him and hid in the basemen – all the while ALLOWING police to be ambushed. when are we going to ask parents to quit coddling GROWN men?
forget politics.
if parents would just do their job — we would have a lot less in the way of these sorts of problems.
and this is NOT oversimplification. it’s just doing your job as a parent.
they LET him live in the house.
they LET him have all sorts of ridiculous weapons and ammo AND a bullet-proof vest — for what?
the deer that might try to shoot back in the woods?
puulleease!
my prayers go out to the officer’s famiies
My thoughts and prayers are with the officers and thier families.
Jen, your frustration is clear. But this man is 23 years old. Nothing in the reports I’ve read suggests that he obtained his guns illegally and given that he is of-age to obtain all this weaponry, the parents had no real choice. While I would certainly never allow anyone armed to that extent to live in my home, we really don’t know the climate in this house. I appears that the shooter’s family did have cause for concern about his mental state, but even if they had kicked him out this tragedy could have occured anywhere he was holed up. They had no real recourse to take his weapons.
I’m struck by how the police were stymied for so long about how to get to the fallen officers and how to get into the house. I’m left wondering if things might have been tipped a bit to law enforcement’s advantage had the shooter not had assault weapons. Tactically, the cops were at a huge disadvantage against a nut with firepower completely inappropriate to any citizen’s needs.
I’m also struck by the damage inflammatory rhetoric can do when filtered through ignorant, ailing minds. Again, his mental state isn’t our reponsibility but in certain circles, the fear of Obama is unreasonably seeping into rhetoric that helps stoke fires like the one in this man’s head. Why feed the monster?
Great post Larry! The recent spate of senseless killings including Pittsburgh, Binghamton, and Carthage NC should be a wake up call to gun rights supporters that some measured response is necessary before more damaging gun control legislation gains grass roots support. It’s highly unlikely that any seriously damaging gun control measures would pass Congress so the enormous demand for arms and ammunition since the election is illogical if based on an Obama fear factor. But you’re absolutely right Larry to highlight the Pittsburgh incident because of the rationale given for the attack. Gun control activists will find this an easy and inviting target to ratchet up the rhetoric and there will be an enormous outpouring of support. Second Amendment activists led by the NRA should take the high road here and find a “concession” that they can live with. The answer cannot be the same old tired “there are enough laws on the books already” and “no law would have stopped this senseless massacre.” Inaction isn’t the answer in these circumstances.
Larry,
Once last question. Does anybody have stats regarding gun crime (expecially of the nature that we’ve seen over the past few weeks) and economic conditions? Truly wondering if there is correlative evidence that shows a spike in mahem like this in a down economy.
Mike,
I would really be interested to know where he acquired the weapons and if they were legally purchased.
Laurie,
I have seen no official stats, but it does seem there is a rise in violence in the past year, especially since economic conditions have worsened. I have nothing to base that on except my own perception of the news that is being reported.
Given how easy it is to buy weapons I feel pretty confident in saying they were legal purchases; but I’m not sure it really matters, does it? I’ll be very surprised if there isn’t some groundswell for new gun control legislation after these incidents. The paranoia over Obama promoting new restrictive gun measures may be self-fulfilling prophecy and I honestly don’t think there was an issue before it was created by misplaced, misguided fearmongering. Even if Obama had truly wanted that to happen Congress would not pass such laws — at least not before these incidents. Now, I don’t know.
I’m afraid you are right. There very well may be a knee jerk reaction to these incidents and especially this one in Pittsburgh.
Larry,
I can’t find any real correlative figures regarding gun crimes/bad economy. Lot’s of speculative stuff, though.
Off topic a bit, but here’s some real consequences-certainly unintended- that seem to be directly related to economic worries of the average American. The rise in jobless rates has been a factor in increased abortions in at least two recessions, including this one. And this time, vasectomies are up, too.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/03/25/abortions-vasectomies.html?ref=rss
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/03/25/abortions-vasectomies.html?ref=rss