Today's MOZEN: A Plea for Sanity.

F LoBuono

Damn it. Damn it. God damn it!! How many times does it have to happen? How many grieving families must suffer? How many funerals will be planned before we actually get it - no matter whose hands they may be in, guns kill. It is what they were created to do. Period. And, now, they do so indiscriminately and with maximum efficiency.

Just the latest in a seemingly never ending trail of gun violence occurred this past week in New Orleans. Former all-star football player, Will Smith, was gunned down and his wife severely injured in an apparent road rage incident. Although all of the details are yet to be revealed, it is known that Mr. Smith was shot a total of 8 times (7 entering his back) by an alleged enraged driver, Cardell Hayes. It seems that Mr. Hayes claimed that Mr. Smith rear-ended his vehicle and left the scene. Mr. Hayes pursued Mr. Smith, eventually crashing into his car to get Smith to stop. The two exited their cars and exchanged angry words in the street. Eventually, Mr. Smith left to return to his car at which time Mr. Hayes opened fire, killing Smith and wounding Smith's wife with two bullets to her leg.

Through his lawyer, John Fuller, Mr. Hayes did not deny shooting Mr. Smith but claimed that he only did so in self defense. One eyewitness claims to have heard Mr. Hayes threaten Mr. Smith with his weapon and Smith respond that he also had a weapon that he would use, too, and turned to walk back to his car. Hayes did not give him the chance to get there. In essence, he is saying that he never gave Smith the chance to get the gun to use. It should be noted that Smith did, indeed, have a loaded handgun in the glove compartment of his car. Under Louisiana law, Hayes actually has a case. Similar to the defense (Stand Your Ground) used by George Zimmerman in the Travon Martin case in Florida, Hayes can say that he "stood his ground" when he felt that his life was being threatened.

So, Hayes shot him 8 times, 7 in the back, to make sure that Mr. Smith could cause him no harm.

Really.

Mr. Fuller went on to claim that Mr. Hayes is being unfairly portrayed as the "bad guy" in this - that he is actually a good father and church goer. He was just protecting himself.

Really.

Now, let me make this perfectly clear: I DON'T GIVE A SHIT IF HE WAS BLESSED BY GOD HIMSELF. He is a boldfaced, merciless killer!! THERE IS NO ADEQUATE DEFENSE to settle an argument at the point of a gun!! NONE!! It simply cannot be defended. He took another human being's LIFE because he may have gotten a bump on his Hummer!!!!!!!!!!

And, because Louisiana is so crazy about guns and peoples' rights to use them under almost ANY CIRCUMSTANCE,  a killer can actually mount a legitimate defense where there should be little if any!!

THERE IS SIMPLY NO EXCUSE.

Now, why a 6'5" 290 lb. mountain of a man also needed a gun for his protection, I will never know. It certainly did not save Mr. Smith. And, I don't really care. It's all part of the same problem - our obsession with guns. I just want it to stop.

I'm not going to waste my breath debating the right of Americans to "bear arms". That genie is long out of the bottle. What I am going to rail on about is our lust for the power they bring. It's obscene and perverse. And, it must stop - NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!