Our governor and other officeholders are considering packing heat as a result of the tragic event in Alexandria, Virginia. Perhaps Republicans might more usefully reflect on at least two apparently yet-unmentioned dimensions of the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise and others last week.

One is that extreme anti-government and anti-politician rhetoric has been the GOP’s stock in trade for many years, and most of all during the fall 2016 campaign. Fomenting random anger over matters political and bloviating about draining the complicated swamp in Washington can have decided downsides unless consequences, unintended or not, don’t matter.

The second aspect worthy of reflection springs from the fact that on the same day the would-be assassin made his attack, another individual armed with an assault pistol killed three people and himself in San Francisco; it is a safe bet that there were other gun deaths on that sorry day as well.

That such events might have something to do with politicians’, and notably Republican politicians’, slavish adherence to the wishes of the NRA is no doubt a less-than-palatable proposition. It may nonetheless be worth thinking about.

Pistol-packin’ Paul LePage might be quick enough to get the drop on an assailant. There may however be other, more productive, ways to approach the situation.

Ed McCarthy

Vienna

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