In the wake of the murderous shooting rampage in Tucson, Rep. Peter King, the Republican chair of the House Homeland Security Committee intends to submit "legislation which would make it a federal crime to carry a weapon within 1,000 feet of any event which is attended by the President, the Vice President, members of the Senate, members of the House of Representatives, Cabinet officials, including the CIA director as well as federal judges."
As the Church Lady would say, "how convenient." The legislation might protect you if you're a federal official or meeting with one, but how about the rest of us that might end up the targets of one of these nuts at a Luby's, a McDonalds, an immigration center, a financial office, a beer distributor, or a university.
King insists that his legislation is not so much about protecting officials but more about protecting people who attend events with the officials. However, aren't these other public places equally or possibly even more dangerous?
The mass-murder in Tucson was tragic, but not just because a congressperson and federal judge were victims.
If Rep. King is serious, he might consider legislation to require renewable licenses to carry weapons, to strengthen background checks required to purchase firearms in the first place, and to re-impose the ban on extended ammunition clips that Congress let lapse.
