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Monday, February 17, 2014

no rich white person who shoots a minority person will go to prison in the gun-loving states.

I don't know the details of the Walmart shooting in Arizona yet, but it leads me on in my obsession about open carry laws. The video currently tied to the story on Huffington Post says the police are trying to figure out what led to the shooting. At least there will be video, one would suspect, from Walmart security cameras. What if there is no clear evidence that the victim in any way could have physically threatened the perpetrator? What if the perpetrator only says, "I thought s/he had a gun so I used mine." Will this stand up in an Arizona court as similar shootings have stood up in Florida?
And in Wendy Davis' dream of open carry in Texas, what could go wrong? One thing I'd predict is that there will be instances of unarmed people standing up to people who are armed. I mean expressing a political or religious point of view that offends a gun-toter. Gun-toter says something along the lines of 'take it back.' Unarmed says 'hell no, it's my right.' Blam.
If the perpetrator is white, especially if they're rich and the victim is Hispanic or black, especially if they are poor - well who the hell is going to jail? The police might not be able to "figure it out." The prosecutor, not able to interview the dead victim, says 'it's too cloudy - no charges.' Is this the world a Democrat will bring to Texas? Is this the world that Republicans will be emboldened to bring, especially now that a Democrat raises the issue? Wendy Davis is a nightmare. I'm sorry she won the spotlight.

I just emailed Lloyd Doggett, a progressive Democrat running for U.S. Congress:

I was saddened to go to your website and not see a stand against open carry laws as Wendy Davis supports. I think it is a tragedy waiting to happen and an issue that most Democrats do not want. You can ignore my disgust since I am not currently a Texas resident, but I think all support of expanding gun rights will hurt the party in the long run and a Davis governorship will inspire other Democrats in other states to use this wedge issue. In my lifetime, at least before the 1980s, I associated Democrats with large, overarching, brave stances on social issues. For Democrats to support the NRA mentality is a tragedy.

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