The defender who stood his ground

This undated photo provided by the FBI shows Wade Michael Page, a suspect in the Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012 Sikh temple shootings in Oak Creek, Wis. (AP)

Could anyone have stopped our latest random shooter,
Wade Michael Page, who shot up that Sikh Temple outside
Milwaukee?

His step mom can’t figure it out.

“He was gentle and kind and loving,” she said.

But I predict that many red flags will emerge. I also
expect all of them will fall short of providing enough
evidence to pre-arrest someone.

Which means what we are left with is the NRA’s
preferred method for dealing with crazed gunmen.

Because the one detail that pops up is that the
President of the temple, Satwant Kaleka, age 65, managed
to find a butter knife and attempted to stab the gunman
before being shot twice and killed.

If this detail is accurate, it means that this Mr.
Kaleka recognized what was happening, had time to get a
weapon and was courageous enough to stand his ground.

In hindsight, he should have had a gun. In fact,
Wisconsin last year passed the Personal Protection Act
which lets most anyone get a gun and a concealed carry
license.

Except, I can just imagine what it would look like if
Sikhs began arming themselves. Or if Muslims, who may
have been Page’s intended target, began arming themselves.

But that’s apparently the path we have chosen in
America. No one, Republican or Democrat has any interest
in controlling either the power or quantity of personal
firearms, so it appears that slowly we will become a
nation where everybody is armed or wants you to think
they’re armed.

And then finally, we can all feel completely safe.

By Ross and Burbank host Dave Ross