This was supposed to be a light commentary about our day at the Wisconsin State Fair on Sunday.
But after our visit to the fair, we stopped at my parents' house in West Allis to drop off some cream puffs. They had the TV on, and that's how we learned about the latest horrific mass gun murders, this time at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek, just twenty minutes or so south of my parents' home.
This time it's six dead, including the shooter. At least four are wounded, including a brave police officer who tried to stop him. The early reports indicate that the killer was carrying two semi-automatic handguns. These guns, in a sane society, would not exist.
Two weeks ago, twelve were killed and almost sixty wounded at a movie theater near Denver by a gunman with semi-automatic rifles capable of firing 100 rounds without reloading among many other guns. He had purchased 6,000 rounds of ammunition.
The targets in Oak Creek were Sikhs attending Sunday services. At this point we have no idea what the murderer had in mind.
We know this. The homeland of the Sikhs is located partially in India, with a population four times higher than the U.S. but about two-thirds fewer gun murders. India is sometimes described as a Third World or a developing nation.
But when it comes to senseless gun violence, the nation that needs to catch up with the rest of the world is ours.
