Slightly Off the Mark

I know Indiana often gets snow in April ... but we've had more snow in April than we had in December. Gimmie a frakkin' break, before I break something ...

From the front door, April 14 (the day after Friday the 13th). Why didn't I go any further outside? Because I didn't want to. Yes, that is a freaking state snow plow!
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A view from the back door. After all these years, I usually don't notice all the power lines except in pictures; there's a utility easement right behind my house, which cuts way down on power outages.
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Yes, it's supposed to reach the 50's today ... but I'll believe it when I see it.

I have no stomach for knee-jerk reactions and arguments about gun control right now.

Common sense laws like assault weapons bans, waiting periods, and zero tolerance for gun crimes are being shot down by legislators who refuse to recognize that there are limits even to Second Amendment rights. On the other side, those agitating for a total ban of all weapons are naively thinking we'll somehow be able to get weapons away from the people who will laugh in the face of such a ban: The criminals.

From what little we know so far, I don't think the man who killed almost three dozen people today would have been stopped by any waiting period or the threat of punishment. Once he got a gun -- however he did -- nothing would have stopped him except a law abiding and educated bystander with a weapon. But that well meaning armed civilian may have become another victim, or accidentally shot someone else while trying to get the bad guy. There are so many aspects to this question other than yea or nay, and the irony is most people engaging in the debate want the same thing: what's best for this country.

I have no stomach for arguing it out. In the end, a crazy person who wants to take lives is going to find a way to do so, and so finding out what made him crazy is most important. We need to look at ourselves again, from the bottom up. That's what we need to be thinking about, that and mourning, comforting the survivors, and coming to grips with what happened.

I'm so sorry.