Blaming the Victims

When a mass shooting occurs, most Americans react with horror, mourn for those killed, and express sympathy for the wounded and those who have lost loved ones. But pro-gun activists aren't most people.

In the wake of the grotesque mass shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in which a high-profile neo-Nazi with a history of alcohol abuse killed six people and wounded four others, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) posted an image on our Facebook page that decried Page's hate crime and emphasized our commonality as human beings.

Christopher M. Hay, a pro-gun activist from Lena, Illinois, took a different message from the image, however, telling us:

Its not about their religion. I don't care who they pray to. But when they commit international crimes against humanity I'll not hesitate to shoot them.

The fact that the Sikh religion stresses nonviolence and is one of the most peaceful on the planet apparently matters to him not at all.

Then were was "Oath Keeper" Lieben van Engel of Springfield, Missouri. He had the following thoughts to share with us about the gruesome mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, in which deranged and heavily armed gunman James Holmes shot 71 people in the space of two minutes, killing 12:

Heh call me sick but this theater thing is just shit, yeah so some lives were taken , get over it people die, what they should do is take away all weapons, then make people file into a psychological profile test and a brain image test to compare a persons brain to that of any form of killers brain, Guns are okay (Even tho i think they are for cowards) in the hands of people who will protect and use correctly. not for being intimidating(which is the #1 reason for mugger deaths) not to use them to look cool, or for shooting off blindly or for anything except putting a solid round straight into the eye of a enemy threat if required and if theres no way to negotiate or calm the situation down or if theres no option to use your hands.

Andy Fortney, a pro-gun activist from Ashland, Ohio, took a "Blame the Victim" approach, calling those who ran from the gunfire in Aurora to save themselves and their families cowards:

these blind ass people who think taking guns out of Americans hands will stop violence is living in a fantasy world. they want some fairy dust in the morning on there cheerios...wow wake up the world will never be perfect but next time some asshole is shooting up a movie theater or highjacking a air plane with a fucking box cutter stand up and prepared to give your life to save others instead of being a cowered and dieing anyways.

Finally, there was Tom Luehrs of Ionia, Michigan, who informed us that allowing alcoholic neo-Nazis and the severely mentally ill to legally buy guns is quintessentially American:

Even as a homicidal maniac we retain most of our constitutional rights.Living in a free country does have some downsides.

Condolences? Sympathy? A reasoned call for cooler minds, more subdued rhetoric, and a de-escalation of the violence?

If you're looking to the pro-gun movement, you'd better look elsewhere.