The world we live in

Massacre.  Mayhem. Confusing motives. Gun control.  Role-Playing.

Colorado's reputation as being the Mass-Shooting state is now carved in stone with this latest, tragic event in Aurora.  And this one hits closer to home; the son of dear friends in our church lost his best friend in the rampage.  It was his birthday, and he'd been married for only one year.

The mystery behind what might have motivated James Holmes continues to deepen.  A Ph.D student in neuroscience, no prior arrests, described as shy and retiring.  Raised in an upper middle-class home in California (why is it that mass-murderers are always young, white men from privileged backgrounds?).  Quiet.  Unassuming.  And yet his mother's first words when she heard of the massacre and the arrest of a suspect said to ABC news: "You have the right person," she said, apparently speaking on gut instinct. "I need to call the police... I need to fly out to Colorado."  Clad in sophisticated body armor (literally) from head to toe, wearing a gas mask, his hair dyed bright red, and identifying himself to police as the "Joker".   This story is far from over, and the more we learn as investigators search through the evidence, the more bizarre the details are likely to become.  Was he involved in mind-altering research?  Was he put up to this by other, currently unknown, parties? Opponents of current gun laws are already using this incident as one more "proof" of the need for stricter legislation in the purchase and use of firearms, particularly assault weapons such as the rifle that was used in the theater rampage.

I have legal permit to carry a concealed weapon.  I've taken several gun safety and marksmanship courses, but I am far from being an expert.  I am also an avid big-game hunter with a bear-skin rug to prove it, but shooting an animal is a universe away from pointing a weapon at a human being and pulling the trigger.  If I had been in the movie theater last Friday night, would I have had the intestinal fortitude to use my gun to at least attempt to halt the carnage?  I wouldn't be surprised if at least one person in the theater that night was packing, but there have been no reports of anyone returning fire.  None of us really know what we would be capable of until we find ourselves in the same situation.

 I will always remember what the instructor told us in one of the handgun courses I attended: "If you ever pull your weapon, it had better be for something you're willing to go to jail for, or to die for."