Editor's note, Dec. 14: This story on the prevalence of previously identified mental health problems among mass shooters has new relevance in light of the Newtown tragedy.
- Mass murderer Jared Loughner was sentenced on November 8 to multiple life terms in prison. It's difficult to read an account of the court proceedings in Tucson without getting a lump in your throat. The man who shot 19 people at a shopping center in January 2011—gravely wounding former US congresswoman Gabby Giffords, and killing six including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl—faced potent testimony from some of his victims.
"You may have put a bullet through her head, but you haven’t put a dent in her spirit and her commitment to make the world a better place," said Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, as his still-recovering wife gazed directly at Loughner from her seat across the courtroom.
at times like this we tend to set about looking for explanations to what we also call them unexplainable. when we force resolution on the unresolvable we end up in a loop of could have beens and we just sit there complacently spinning around, and eventually it becomes a non issue till the next time. we should look at the one in the mirror first if we want to make a difference.
to quote Rev. Al, "lots of things were exceptable, until we stopped excepting them"
