I had to read the letter written by Mary H. White (Utah, allow guns in church) a couple of times before I was able to determine that she was actually serious in her point of view. She seems to believe that the gunman who shot several people in the Fort Worth, Texas, church made a conscious and rational decision to do the shootings in a church because it would be safer for him.
She apparently believes and wants us to accept that the gunman went through some kind of a rational, reasoned process, something like "I think I'll kill a few people today. Gee, where can I do it where there won't be any armed people to defend themselves? I know. I'll do it in a church because Texas law prohibits individuals from carrying guns there."What's wrong with this picture . . . other than everything?
First, "deranged" (her term -- but accurate, I believe) individuals don't go though a reasoned, rational process in determining where to do their killing. They go where the people or institutionwhom they are irrationally angry at are located. This person obviously had a serious problem with this church, religion in general, God or someone who attended that church. And in making his decision, it didn't matter whether the parishioners were unarmed pacifists or part of the 101st Airborne Division. That is why they callsuch a person and act "deranged."
Second, someone who is intent on dying in the incident (and his suicide clearly indicated that this was the case) doesn't care if people are armed or not. Whether he dies at his own hand or by someone else's makes little difference to him.
So whether or not people had been armed in the church would have made no difference in this person's selection of location and targets.
Al Smith
Pleasant Grove