Another week, another public shooting. One can only conclude that either there is a new federal gun control law in the works or the Supreme Court has already decided to announce that there is no individual right to bear arms, all emanations, penumbras and Constitutional text notwithstanding:
A man opened fire with a rifle at a busy department store Wednesday, killing eight people in an attack that made holiday shoppers run screaming through a mall and barricade themselves in dressing rooms. The young shooter, who left a note predicting, “Now I’ll be famous,” wounded five others, two critically, then took his own life…. The shooter, identified by police as 20-year-old Robert A. Hawkins, was found dead on the third floor with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
So, what are the odds that the late and unlamented Mr. Hawkins was:
a) an evangelical Christian
b) a practicing Jew
c) a Muslim
d) an agnostic or non-practicing individual raised religious
e) a militant atheist
All of these options are of course possible, but they are not equally likely. We shall wait and see….