Law and order in the fallen world:

[Wehrwolfen]

LAW AND ORDER IN THE FALLEN WORLD:​

By: Benjamin Domenech

It is a natural tendency on the part of most human beings, when confronted with great evil, to want to do something about it. We want to stop the horror of death and violence and disease. It speaks to what is good within us that we desire this—it speaks to a recognition on our part, innate and abiding, that there is something terribly broken in this world—a great mistake which has been made along the way, a gear missed in the works, a gaping hole where something should be. The feeling is all the stronger when we face the destruction of innocent life—the life of a child. The Mishnah tells us that the act of murder destroys a whole world—the world as it would’ve been with that person in it. When the worlds wiped out are so young, the shock of it all echoes and rebounds throughout the lives of others for generations. And the only part that can be played by those left behind is one of charity.

This is a frustrating limitation, and so those who are more naturally given to see problems of law or culture as the reason for evil look at the horror of Newtown as something that can be prevented, if only we do this or that thing, pass this or that law. Something must be done, they say. But their somethings all have this in common: none of their proposals, on guns or mental health or any other factor, would have prevented this awful crime. In the real world, there is no law that can make the murderously insane sane, or remove all weapons from their grasp. The tweaks that have been attempted in the past in our nation and others have proven insufficient time and again. And no step which disarms the law-abiding will help.

We are in the midst of an historic and statistically impossible decline in violence in America. The economic downturn, which would be a reasonable reason for a rebound in violent crime, has produced nothing of the sort on a nationwide scale. The experts are flabbergasted as to why, and the assumptions of criminologists are being tested to a great degree. Why Crime Keeps Falling - WSJ.com High imprisonment, high tech tools, more disciplined police forces, and cultural factors are all potential reasons. But it is clear that even as guns are available as ever, this has done nothing to drive up crime rates nationwide. And beyond: Steven Pinker has argued, convincingly, that we are at the most peaceful point in human history. Steven Pinker: The surprising decline in violence | Video on TED.com In the midst of such declines, spikes of mass violence and murder are all the more jarring.

Yet the sad fact is that in Connecticut, where the gun laws are some of the most restrictive in the country, it appears the Brady campaign accomplished as much as it could’ve. http://vlt.tc/mbp Newtown had one homicide in the past ten years. Connecticut has tighter gun laws than most states The guns used by the madman were purchased legally by his mother and kept safely in her home – as with most guns used in criminal acts, they were stolen. His own attempt to purchase a weapon ran into the legally required waiting period. Investigation is 'very complex' - Video on TODAY.com There are just only so many steps you can take to prevent evil of this nature and still have a free society. After all, what really happens when you pass gun bans is that effectively, they work as permanent authorizations for police to stop and frisk urban minorities. Stop and Frisk: racist–and ineffective Consider the case of Chicago, where Rahm Emanuel is talking about more restrictions in the wake of Newtown. Rahm Wants New Gun Laws in Wake of Newtown School Shooting | NBC Chicago What does he have in mind? There were 192 shootings in Chicago last month. Shootings in November rise sharply over a year earlier - chicagotribune.com On Friday alone there were 10 people shot in his city. 10 shot, including 4 teens, Friday afternoon and night - chicagotribune.com Whatever Emanuel’s new law is, it would not prevent these crimes. In Mexico, there is one legal gun store to serve the entire nation. It is, according to the Washington Post, “not very busy.” In Mexico, only one gun store but no dearth of violence In America, there are roughly 300 million privately owned firearms – and while some may dream of putting these firearms in a pile and melting them down, most Americans understand that the result of giving the government a monopoly on force would be awful for the very innocents such policies are intended to protect.

[Excerpt]

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[waltky]

Barack Obama referred to the four mass killings that have happened under his presidency...

Obama delivers powerful pledge
17 December 2012 - President Obama has promised to use the power of his office to do all he can to prevent another massacre of the innocent.

He didn't directly mention gun control, but speaking in front of an audience of the bereaved and their friends in Newtown, it is the strongest pledge a president has ever made to wrestle with the powerful gun lobby. He spoke not from the Oval Office, or some grand convention centre, but at a prayer vigil that could have been in any small town. It all seemed so familiar.

At the beginning the blue curtains were pulled back either side of the stage, people of all ages sat in the rows of chairs, the piano played familiar tunes, a baby interrupted with a cry. It could have been a village hall anywhere in this country or our own, about to celebrate a nativity or watch a pantomime. But it wasn't just any where, it was Newtown. This simple, homespun service brought home the sense that an ordinary place and ordinary people have been struck by a blow so grotesquely out of the ordinary that it makes a country beg for meaning.

Struggling for a response

Yet it isn't out of the ordinary at all. As the president pointed out, there have been four such mass murders during his presidency, punctuated by other killings, almost weekly tragedies. As a late arrival here, I really get the feeling of a country struggling to find an appropriate response to this home-grown horror. I have heard questions about video games, violence, young men and mental health. TV stations have aired discussion about God's will, and with near desperation seek stories of heroism to redeem an American narrative. But it keeps coming back to that assault rifle that was used to murder so many. It is hard for many in Britain to understand the meaning of guns in America, the association with rights and freedoms.

To some the constitutional guarantee of the right to bear arms is a bulwark against tyranny, as well as a means of practical self-protection. But the president spoke of the desperate need of parents to do all they can to protect their children and asked: "Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? "Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?" As yet supporters of liberal gun laws remain silent, doubtless hoping the wave of emotion will pass from the headlines and nothing will change.

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Newtown shooting: First Connecticut funerals begin
17 December 2012 - The first funerals are being held for victims of Friday's shootings at a school in the US state of Connecticut.

Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto, both aged six, were the first of those killed at Sandy Hook school to be buried. Twenty children and six women died in the assault by a lone gunman - named as Adam Lanza - who then took his own life. He had earlier killed his mother. On Sunday President Barack Obama told residents at a vigil in Newtown the US must do more to protect its children.

He said he would use the powers of his office to prevent a repeat of the tragedy, adding that the nation shared the townspeople's grief. "We can't tolerate this any more," Mr Obama said. "These tragedies must end and to end them we must change." He made no specific mention of new gun control measures, but BBC North America editor Mark Mardell says this is the strongest pledge a president has ever made to wrestle with the powerful gun lobby.

Meanwhile, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who supports gun ownership and has been given an "A" rating by the National Rifle Association, told US network MSNBC that it was time to "move beyond rhetoric" on gun control. Mr Manchin, a gun owner and frequent hunter, said: "I've never had more than three shells in a clip. Sometimes you don't get more than one shot anyway. "It's common sense. It's time to move beyond rhetoric. We need to sit down and have a common sense discussion and move in a reasonable way." Mr Manchin is the first NRA-backed US senator to speak out since Friday's killings.

Idol's jersey

In Connecticut, Jack Pinto will be buried in the Newtown Village Cemetery, and Noah Pozner will be buried at the B'Nai Israel Cemetery in the nearby town of Monroe, according to local media reports. The family of James Mattioli, six, is also holding a wake on Monday. Other victims' funerals will be held throughout the week, and the town has already begun removing Christmas decorations. Makeshift memorials for the victims were scattered around town.

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[catzmeow]

Actually, what I hope Obama will address is the lack of residential care facilities for the seriously mentally ill. That's the one connector between most of these incidents.