Our culture and laws enabled the Colorado shooter, whatever his motive

The Planned Parenthood shooter had easy access to guns and a movement dedicated to demonizing reproductive choice. Is his motive really a question?

...............

.... it takes five minutes, and sometimes zero background checks, to buy the kinds of weapons apparently used in Colorado Springs (and those used in Aurora, and Newtown, and Columbine). And we know that, even when there are checks in place that should prevent certain people from getting guns, they sometimes fail with deadly consequences, as was the case with this year’s Charleston church shooting.

We know that there is one party dedicated to defunding Planned Parenthood, that there is one party that lists the elimination of the right to an abortion in its platform every four years, and that one party supported employers’ rights to limit their employees’ access to birth control.

That same party is unfailingly committed to keeping guns easy to purchase, even as the tragedies pile up. That same party views refugees as the sole pressing domestic terror threat, that believes those refugees are to be feared and ostracized and barred entry.

Maybe if that party worried a bit more about guns and a bit less about visas and women’s healthcare, we’d see that the enemy is ourselves.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/28/planned-parenthood-colorado-springs-shooter-culture-gun-laws-motive