The shooters have been male, and unfortunately, we don't know the rationale for their attacks. The common thread is using a high-powered weapon and shooting at innocent, unarmed people. The only good news from the shootings is that most of the gunmen are dead. Unfortunately, one of the themes of news reports and commentary is that the mere possession of a gun is, by its very nature, "bad." While that makes good headlines and grabs at our emotions after a shooting tragedy, the idea that simply having a gun is bad is simply not true. There are times when it is "good" to have a gun handy. There were at least three news stories this week that illustrate that. Unfortunately, those stories did not make the headlines, no doubt because there were no innocent victims. There was a birthday-graduation party in Charleston, West Virginia. The festivities for dozens of people were outside of an apartment complex, and in the midst of the celebration, 37-year-old Dennis Butler showed up. He pulled out his AR-15 style rifle and fired into the crowd. A woman attending the party had a pistol, drew it and fired at Butler, killing him before he fatally injured anyone. In fact, no one at the party was injured.
