That’s murders in the United States by people connected to white supremacist groups, according to Chip Berlet on June 18th’s Fresh Air. Apparently, we can’t have anti-hate-crime legislation in America because it violates the 1st Amendment; we can’t control handgun ownership because that violates the 2nd Amendment.
What we can have is hysterical commentary on U.S. talk radio shows about things like Obama wanting to take people’s guns from them–the fear that apparently propelled Richard Poplawski into ambushing and killing 3 Pittsburgh police officers. We can let a man who tried to kidnap the Federal Reserve carry weapons. We can let a man convicted of carrying explosives in his car carry weapons.
And if we mutter something about gun control, or background checks, a well-orchestrated outcry will silence us. Meanwhile, the credit card reform bill passed by Congress included a provision allowing people to carry handguns in national parks and wildlife refuges.
Some days it’s all I can do to get out of bed.