Virtually ALL crime is motivated by hate. Yes, there are those who steal to feed their family, and many of those only resort to stealing as a last resort, but those are in the vast minority of criminals. Sadly, we live in a world where certain people, if they are attacked, are seen as more of a victim than others. Just recently, Dylann Storm Roof shot and killed nine people in the basement of a Church, which is horrific on it’s own, but because Roof is white and the victims are black, this is a “hate crime” and carries heavier penalties than had the victims been white and the shooter black.
We saw in Ferguson and in so many other cases, countless excuses made from poor economic situations, to discrimination meaning they can’t find a good job, or just feeling that the world hated them because of their skin, when crimes are committed. We have also seen Police officials all but tarred and feathered when they respond against these suspects, including an officer who had one (Michael Brown) attempt to take his weapon from him, forced to leave the state after death threats were made, due only to his acting to defend his life. What would have happened had he not acted? What if Brown had gotten the pistol and shot the officer, then killed someone else? Would the family have sat idle while Brown was tried and convicted? No, they likely would have been screaming that the Officer should have done more to stop their baby before he hurt someone, and it’s the Officer’s fault that their poor relative has to live with what he’s done.
Well, I’m sorry, but this has to stop. Roof killed, that’s it, and the act of taking a human life when not in self defense or defense of others, should be enough to warrant the harshest punishment possible. I live in Texas and fully support that if you are convicted of murder, you can face being put to death! I don’t care if you’re white and kill someone who isn’t, if you’re black and kill someone who isn’t, or if you’re pink with orange stripes and kill someone who is the same! If you murder another human, that is, for me, enough for you to be put to death! Only when we begin demanding our leaders tell us why some lives are worth more than others, based only on their race, will we start the path back to a strong society. I fully agree that what Roof did has no place in civilized society, and that means people murdering others, I don’t care what race any of them are! We need to hold our elected leaders responsible for fomenting a society where one entire segment has been told their lives matter more, so anything they feel is done to wrong them becomes a hate crime or racism.
Finally, to answer the President’s comment that the ready availability of guns is a problem, that’s not what we need to address here. I can guarantee that making guns illegal will only make things worse! When you disarm those who do not break the law, you put them in danger. While I will agree that there are some who obtain their weapons legally, then use them illegally, these are the minority. Gangbangers and thugs buy theirs from the back of a car, the slug that shot up Sandy Hook stole his from a relative. I’d be willing to bet the weapon used by Roof wasn’t his, or at least wasn’t purchased by him. So, unless there’s a magic switch that will first make every single firearm on the planet vanish, and also remove all knowledge of how to build them and how to make ammunition, then making it harder for law abiding citizens to purchase them only disarms those who, honestly, need to be able to defend themselves more today than ever.