It’s unfortunate that evil people are able to strike anywhere in the world. This is the reason gun-free zones don’t work, because there are no zones you can guarantee to be free of guns unless the location is guaranteed free of people. When discussing gun-free zones many advocates of gun control demand that places of worship be including on the list of places where a gun can’t be carried legally, unfortunately bad people do enter places of worship:
At least seven people, including a gunman, have died in a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in the US.
The attacker “ambushed” a policeman at the scene, shooting him multiple times, before a second officer returned fire, killing the gunman, said authorities.
The shot officer was among three men critically injured in the attack in Oak Creek, suburban Milwaukee.
My condolences go out to the families of the victims. At this time information is scarce since the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) are declaring it an act of domestic terrorism:
At a press conference, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said they were treating the attack as a “domestic terrorist-type incident”, and that the FBI would take over the criminal investigation.
He said he could not release any information about the shooter, who local media reports said was a white male.
I wonder if this was merely another random act of violence or if the shooter had a grude against practitioners of the Sikh faith.
I doubt there was a specific grudge against people of the Sikh faith considering most people in the country even knew there were Sikhs in the country. But considering the fact that Sikhs carry a blade for religious purposes and over represent themselves in the Indian military nearly 10 fold I would not be shocked to find that they begin having an armed presence in other Temples throughout the country.
Also I have to say thank god the Police were quick to respond and decided to actually do their job of protecting the people instead of waiting for backup to arrive.
I have to admit that I know almost nothing about the Sikh religion but I have been doing a little research and the idea behind the knife they wear around their necks, the kirpan, is fascinating. From what I’ve read the idea of the weapon is to prevent violence and really follows the idea that an armed society is a polite society. I wouldn’t be surprised, and actually hope, more members of the Sikh faith begin carrying firearms. Their reason for carrying a kirpan is correct in that having many armed individuals in a society can actually prevent a lot of violence.
Yeah I like the Sikh religion’s message of non-aggression but not pacifism, they realize there is a time and a place to use force.