Four guns, two shootings, no armed heroes

Gabrielle Giffords is well known, Joy Logan was not. Giffords was shot on January 8 in an assassination attempt. Logan was shot by mistake on January 10 and died that night.

Gifford’s’ shooting was international news. What we know about Joy Logan’s death, we know from a short story in our local newspaper. It did not make the front page.

Giffords is a Congressional Representative from Tucson, Arizona. Logan was a student at Faulkner State Community College. She lived in Bay Minette, Alabama.

As we know, the Gifford shooting that resulted in six deaths and thirteen wounded happened when a lone gunman emptied one magazine, 30 shots, from a pistol. He was stopped while trying to reload. We don’t know anything about the gun that killed Joy Logan.

Giffords was shot while meeting with constituents. Joy Logan was shot while entering her Aunt’s house. Her 18-year-old cousin killed her.

The Giffords shooting was a targeted assassination attempt. Joy Logan's cousin thought she was a burglar breaking into the house.

After the Giffords shooting, Arizona Congressman, Rep. Trent Franks said “I wish there had been one more gun in Tucson.” The implication is that if there had only been an armed hero there with a gun, the shooting could have been stopped. What the Congressman was apparently ignorant of is that there was another gun there. In fact, there were at least two others. Jared Lee Loughner planned his attack well. His approach to the Congresswoman was not threatening. When he got close, he raised the hand with the gun in it and started firing. No one had time to react. The second gun, that of a bystander, came out after the shootings stopped. By then unarmed members of the crowd had grabbed Loughner. Joseph Zamudio had the third gun, a 9mm semiautomatic. When he heard the shooting, he ran to the scene. He saw the gun in the hand of the armed bystander and assumed that he was the shooter. Before he could pull his gun, members of the crowd identified the shooter to him. He admits that without that intervention he could have shot the wrong person.

Unfortunately, Daniel Johnson did just that. After the BCS Championship Logan decided that, rather than drive all the way home, she would stay at her aunt’s house. Daniel Johnson didn’t know she was coming. The gun was in the house for protection and Johnson used it against the intruder. Obviously, he didn’t identify his target before firing.

Jared Lee Loughner will be charged with multiple murders. Daniel Johnson will not be charged but he will have to live with what he did.

The United States is well armed. Gun advocates tell us that an armed population is a safe population. It didn’t work for Gabrielle Giffords or Joy Logan. Joseph Zamudio was armed, but he could not stop an ambush. No one could. Daniel Johnson was armed and he shot his cousin. Yes, he should have identified his target. But if you heard someone coming into your house, when your adrenaline starts flowing and you start believing that you are in a life and death situation, how would you react?

We have a gun problem. It is not that there are too many guns in the US, although that may be the case. It is not that too many guns are in the wrong hands, although that is definitely the case. It is the faith we put in guns.

We live in a gun fantasy. Many of us believe that our guns will make us safe. When trouble shows up, we will invoke our inner Charles Bronson and watch the bad guys fall. Except that too often, it is not the bad guys who fall.

How often do you listen to the local news and hear about a hero who defends life and property by using a gun? It is an unusual event. Much more common is the gun used in anger, the gun used in ambush or the gun used in error. I enjoy shooting. But I don’t fantasize about being a hero, using my guns to deal out justice in a lawless world.

The leadership of the NRA is obsessed with guns. To them any regulation of guns or ammunition is an affront to the Constitution. But if we step back and think, do we really need pistols with 30 shot magazines? Do we need to be able to buy unlimited numbers of rifles, including assault weapons?
To hear gun advocates, the streets are filled with violent crime. Perhaps their streets are, but mine are reasonably safe. In my world, I’m more likely to be shot accidentally than by an attacker. Your world is probably like that too, even if you don’t believe it.

What does our gun obsession say about us as a people? Why do we choose a gun fantasy over the reality of gun violence?

Where do you put your faith? Some put theirs in money. Some put their faith in possessions. Some people put their faith in God. If you are an average citizen and you put your faith in guns, I pity you.