It wasn’t someone yelling “FIRE!” in a crowded theater in Aurora, CO this week, but someone actually firing into the crowd. The NRA will tell anyone who cares to listen that it wasn’t guns that killed twelve and wounded fifty-eight more, (ironically, statistics would indicate that it’s likely that some of the victims would be NRA members), but a crazed individual who just happened to legally stockpile an arsenal of weaponry and ammunition. There is not one legitimate argument against strict and enforced National regulations for the ownership and use of firearms…NOT ONE! The 2nd Amendment, (which, by the way, does not insure your right to blow away your neighbors), is not in any way compromised by such regulation. Of course, I don’t think that this latest incident will move the whacko gun lobby strangle hold on Congress even one tick closer to responsible action, and even a weepy speech by a suddenly enlightened NRA guy whose son or daughter may have been taken out by James Holmes before Batman had fully risen would quickly evaporate into the fog of horrors past.

We are a nation with a greater propensity for despair than in any other time since the 1930’s. People’s hopes have been dashed by the inability of any strong and healing voice of reason to lead us in a positive direction and dashed hopes lead to despondent, erratic behavior where the well-publicized “blaze of glory” option can be both enticing and unregulatedly doable. If you think it’s an inconvenience to walk shoeless and beltless through the body scan machines at the airport, wait until you see what’s in store before you can get through the multiplex concession area with a tub of popcorn and a box of Milk Duds.