EDITORIAL - We don’t usually report on these kind of events however, too many people have asked us what happened. Here it is in our words. The event of January 8th 2011 was a tragic isolated incident. A white male (Jared Lee Loughner) that was previously diagnosed mentally unstable, brought a Glock 19 with 31 round magazines (not a self defense configuration) into a crowd of people during a rally held by Gabrielle Giffords (US Congress Representative for AZ). Giffords was holding this rally for her constituents. Loughner opened fire and 19 people were hit. Giffords was shot in the head and is alive and currently in good medical care. Sadly, 6 people died including a 9 year old girl who attended the school district where my wife works. The long and short of this is it was a tragic isolated incident. There is no need to rally for unnecessary changes in gun policy or any other Tucson is a decent city where most people find a way to get along. The only way this could have been prevented is if Loughner had the care he needed prior to the event. That just wasn’t the case. Personally, the senseless death of a 9 year old is by far the most tragic event of this day.
Hawke Taylore, Editor AVC News
