This column is about murder. More specifically, it is about nut cases.
I know a lot about both.
Do you know any disgruntled people? Unhappy people? People into conspiracy theories? My life is full of all of them.
I am a lawyer, so I have a steady stream of people coming to see me to see if they can sue this person or that person, or this organization or that organization.
I am also a townie. That means I know a lot of people who have lived in Scarborough 50-plus years, do not like the changes, do not like what Scarborough has become, do not like how their lives have changed, etc. etc.
Some of them are happy-go-lucky otherwise.
Some are angry.
Some do nothing about their unhappiness.
Some own guns.
Did you follow the shootings at San Bernadino, Calif.?
I at first assume it was a nut case. Somebody for whom life was not good who decided to kill a bunch of people, either because they didn’t like the people, or resented the people, or thought the people resembled, or represented, some people they didn’t like and/or were involved in disputes with.
I think the mass murders are here to stay.
I think, for a lot of people, the idea of going to a crowded place and shooting a gun and killing a bunch of people can be a very good, positive, cost effective, efficient way to deal with their unhappiness.
I think, for some of them, they react this way – “Let me get this straight, I can kill a bunch of people I hate, or who work at a place I hate, or who remind me of people I hate and who have contributed to my low station in life, and all you are doing to do to me is either put me in prison, where I will get three squares a day, and a place to sleep; or a place in a mental hospital either for the rest of my life or for a long while until I get better? I will take that deal. That is attractive to me.”
We have now seen a bunch of these mass murders, right? Anywhere from six or eight dead in a movie theater, to five to 10 dead in a K-5 school, to the latest tragedy in California. The Congress will do little or nothing. Fine. This column is not to call for changes in laws, or gun ownership, or background checks, etc.
They will not stop.
Our society tolerates them, and plans to continue to tolerate them.
The purpose of this column is to give you a heads up.
Nothing will change. In a strange way, some in our country kind of like these mass killings. Reminds us we own guns, dammit. We can own guns, dammit.
You are not going to threaten our freedoms because a bunch of nutcases have killed people with guns.
Good for them.
Inspiring country we live in. Stay tuned. Brace yourself.
Dan Warren is a trial lawyer in Scarborough. He can be reached by private Facebook message at Jones & Warren Attorneys at Law, or by email at jonesandwarren@gmail.com.
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