We are deeply saddened at yesterday’s horrific events in Tucson, Arizona.
The victims were John M. Roll, 63, the chief judge for the United States District Court for Arizona; Gabriel Zimmerman, 30, the director of community outreach for Congresswoman Giffords; Christina Green, 9; Dorothy Morris, 76; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; and Phyllis Schneck, 79.
Judge Roll was the judge who swore me in to the bar for the District of Arizona. We lower the Legal Satyricon flag to half mast for all of the victims.
May Congresswoman Giffords recover quickly, and may the gunman, Jared Lee Laughner, suffer deeply for what he has done.
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The Legal Satyricon 
Sad day indeed…I have relatives in Tucson…
Though, I have to ask, is that your “real” Legal Satyricon flag? I dare not to ask whether the pole is mounted to the ground…or a pirate ship :-p
Jokes aside, back to sadness
Such sad news.
Horrible day.
“may the gunman, Jared Lee Laughner, suffer deeply for what he has done.”
Does severe mental illness call for retribution? Even though he planned for his assault, was it truly volitional? Did the availability of a semi-automatic weapon play any part in this tragedy?
I’m look forward to some discussion here about the First Amendment implications of the “crosshairs map.” See, Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life, 244 F. 3d 1007 (9th Cir. 2001). What does Randazza and the Satyriconistas think?
Bringing this tragedy back to the First Amendment, no less a liberal than Jon Stewart pointed out last night that you can’t place the blame on Sarah Palin’s use of a common blood-sports metaphor: “you can’t out-smart crazy”. Mr did not appreciate Ms. Palin’s metaphor but rather took her at her word. He probably thought she was speaking directly to him, and that Rep. was actually one of the Aliens who were trying to control his thoughts.
Of course this is a second amendment issue: in most of the US, not just Arizona, a person with a known personality disorder and likely psychotic illness is able to obtain legally obtain firearms.
I’m not a gun control nut by any means. I own a bird gun and enjoy using it.
While gun control advocates correctly point out that the second amendment provided for the defense of a widely dispersed frontier nation, and that at present not only are we no longer a frontier nation but rather have a standing army of greater than two million, they fail to recall that as recently as the 1940s the heavily armed French, Dutch, and Flemish rural populations formed an invaluable fifth column (Franc-Tireus) in the struggle against the Third Reich. Every farmer owned a gun for rabbits and foxes, and most put them to good use.
Not an easy question.