Today's Kook with a gun

So, here we are … AGAIN.  Two innocent people die, another is injured.  And another kook with a gun ruins lives, families, and friends of the victims forever, before he cowardly kills himself.  This is what America has become in 2015. But this time, at least to me, it seems more personal. 

I didn’t know Alison Parker or Adam Ward but I had been in their same spot thousands of times over the years.  On the air live, totally focused on the job at hand, oblivious to what was going on behind you, no protection around you.  It is every TV journalist’s fear that someone will do something to interrupt you while you’re live.  I’ve had it happen to me.  Some interruptions were more serious than others, but never life threatening.  Only recently, in 2015, has the talk in the industry turned to the real dangers that now accompany any news crew whenever they go out into the public, particularly during live shots when they are often alone and extremely vulnerable.  Today, that talk turned into reality.

Today’s unprovoked assassination was also made more personal, not just to TV journalists, but to the country at large. Because this time, the murders happened on live TV.  Thousands watched two lives being snuffed out by the shooter as it happened (and millions more saw it later).  Even the local Franklin County sheriff in charge of the investigation, Bill Overton, said he was watching the WDBJ-7 news as he was preparing for work when he heard the gunshots and watched his friends fall (he had worked with the two victims on previous news stories).  Subsequently, the gunman posted his own point of view video recorded on his cell phone as he unloaded his deadly barrage of gunfire.  Yes, that’s what it has become.  Another gunman proud of his deadly accomplishments.  As presidential press secretary Josh Earnest said today, it is all too common now across America.

I talked with TV friends today who are still working at stations in both Sacramento and San Francisco.  In the Bay Area, armed guards now accompany news crews on stories that take place in dangerous areas.  But that has not stopped the violence.  Last month, two news crews from NBC11 and Fox2 in the Bay Area, were robbed at gunpoint as they prepared for a live shot.  A photographer was pistol whipped.  A suspect was eventually arrested.  Some of my former co-workers now say they are more fearful than ever about just doing their job.  

But then that is the case for many people, regardless of where you work or play.  Military recruiting centers, theaters, elementary schools, restaurants, college campuses, office buildings … all have become targets of crazed gunmen.  What place is safe anymore?

There is a seemingly common denominator in each of these tragedies.  First, the killer is usually delusional in some way.  Second, he has a gun.  So, what needs to change?   First, there must be better screening for gun sales.  There needs to be better mental health care.  And, there needs to be a change of attitude in America with regards to the acceptance of a gun-toting killing society.

 I will admit, I was concerned about writing this today and posting it.  Back on June 18^th when I commented on Facebook about the Charleston massacre at a black church at the hands of a white supremacist, and asked when is this going to stop, I was challenged by a card carrying member of the NRA.  It was intimidating.  But earlier today I was chatting with another former reporter from northern California and she reminded me that if we don’t speak out against this deadly gun violence, there is little chance than anything will change.  And there does need to be a change.  There is no question about it. 

The reality is, even if guns were banned outright tomorrow, little would change in our lifetime.  But eventually, it would change for future generations.  In 100 years, the AK47s that so many private citizens seem to have a penchant for these days would be considered antiques 100 years from now.  The handguns, such as the one used today, would slowly (very slowly) fade into oblivion.  A total ban on guns is probably not the answer (there are legitimate recreational and hunting uses for guns).  What is the answer?  I don’t know.  But I do know it is not as NRA chief Wayne LaPierre suggests … that all citizens should be armed to protect themselves.  If you listen to that type of reasoning, Alison Parker would have done her live shot today with a microphone in one hand and an Uzi in the other.  And she still would have been killed.  Because she was ambushed from behind … by a kook with a gun.