While many liberal media outlets are obsessing over conservative political rhetoric they insist leads to incidents like the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona), the Washington Post today has opted instead to exploit the tragic shooting to push for gun control.
"The early evidence raises questions about mental illness and indiscriminate access to guns," the Post complained in the subheadline to its top January 10 editorial, "Carnage in Arizona.":
The temptation will be, as Arizona and the nation mourn the dead and hope for the recovery of the wounded, to infuse the terrible attack with broader political meaning - to blame the actions of the alleged 22-year-old gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, on a vitriolic political culture laced with violent metaphors and ugly attacks on opponents. Maybe. But metaphors don't kill people - guns kill people.
Of course the Post editorial board went on to see a broader political meaning in the tragedy, namely, the "need" for more gun control:
Saturday's rampage does illustrate the need for tighter control of semiautomatic weapons and ammunition. The gunman arrived at the supermarket with a Glock semiautomatic equipped with an extended magazine of about 30 bullets and additional ammunition. The long-lapsed federal ban on assault weapons, which prohibited such high-capacity magazines, should be reinstated: There is no justification, outside of law enforcement or military use, for such ammunition. A magazine with a smaller capacity might not have stopped the gunman, but it might have at least reduced the carnage.
