>>>>>>>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-congresswoman-shot,0,842180.story
>>>>>>
>>>>>>We know Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, so yesterday was a very tough day (especially with the early wrong reports of her death).
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I would be appalled by this incident no matter who the victims were but this is personal for me. I blame, first of course, the shooter. But I also blame those who allowed an obviously unstable young man to have a gun and who generally oppose efforts to restrict access to weapons by the mentally ill. I also blame all those who have, by their demagoguery, set a tone in this country that implies that guns are the way to solve political problems.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Tamar
>>>>>
>>>>>Was he ever diagnosed as mentally ill?
>>>>>
>>>>>I'm wondering how the privacy laws would work with that - how do we somehow restrict guns from the mentally ill without disclosing their illness and breaking privacy laws? If he owned weapons before being diagnosed, how do the authorities get notified to go retrieve them? Do we have a master database with names of people who cannot legally own guns (just like felons)? How do we stop mentally ill people (especially the mentally ill with dangerous tendencies or dangerous skills) from having any access to weapons?
>>>>>
>>>>>On another note, it would be nice if the extreme political rhetoric would stop, but not likely :o(
>>>>
>>>>Not likely at all considering how well it works.
>>>There is always room for discussion, heated or otherwise.
>>
>>That's the thing that gets me. It all seems heated now. Naive me really believed Obama could bring us together. I thought he was going to be the great conciliator of our time. On this site I am viewed as a liberal but actually I am not, not much. I would just like them to get something done instead of endlessly fighting wars with each other.
>
>Sometimes it is all heated verbage, but not to worry. I just think of it as entertainment and carry on. And sometimes I throw an extra log on the fire for fun. Generally speaking, sounding off in a chat room or blog affects no one and it means nothing but relief for the writer. :)

I agree with that up to a point. But IMO in a country with real problems that need to be addressed, it isn't just verbiage and is hardly entertaining. We need our politicians to get something done.