By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The suspect in a mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona is in custody and suffering from serious wounds, and in the aftermath Democrat and Republican politicians are once again debating gun control versus gun rights, with nine wounded people caught in the middle.
KOLD News has identified the wounded suspect as David Leroy French, 21, who now faces multiple counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with serious physical injury and one count of “discharging a firearm at a structure.” More charges are reportedly pending.
According to KOLD, French has a prior conviction of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
But instead of focusing on holding the alleged perpetrator accountable, Fox News is reporting that Democrats are blaming lax gun laws while Republicans are defending the right of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves.
Fox quoted Democratic Tucson Mayor Regina Romero declaring, “Easy access to guns and Arizona’s weak gun safety laws have continued to put all of us at risk. From requiring universal background checks to extreme risk laws to funding violence prevention there is more lawmakers can and should do. We all deserve to be safe in all public spaces, in our schools, in our homes, in our shopping malls, and in our places of worship.”
And former Congresswoman-turned-gun control advocate Gabby Giffords, who survived a shooting, issued a statement noting, “As we await more information, what I know is this: Arizonans should be able to go get pizza on a Saturday night without fearing the next random act of gun violence. Arizona continues to have laws that make it easy for dangerous people to access guns — the time to act is now.”
On the other side, Fox also quoted Republican state Senate President Warren Petersen’s statement: “As this tragedy reminds us, evil exists, which is why we remain steadfast in supporting law enforcement and the constitutional rights of law-abiding Arizonans to protect themselves and others.”
But a local business, Empire Pizza, put the situation in an interesting perspective when it posted a statement criticizing the city’s apparent lack of resources downtown, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
“The difference between University Boulevard and Congress Street is about half a mile. The gun laws are the same. The difference is the vagrancy, lack of police presence, panhandling, public urination, defecation, open air drug use, graffiti, etc. As mayor, there’s not much you can do about federal and state gun law, but you can make a world of difference with the rest,” the message said.
