Costas Said What Needs to be Said

There are few things that Americans are as passionate about as guns. Americans fetishize guns to the point it becomes creepy, as if the NRA should be reclassified as a religious organization. So, what Bob Costas did is remind us of what most rational people already know: there are almost as many guns as there are people in this country -- think about that for a moment -- so random killings sprees are the price we pay for having such easy access to firearms. There is no two ways about it. If you love guns, and don't want any gun control laws, then you need to understand that there's a chance you'll be shot dead next time you go to the mall or any other public space.

And what was Costas's heresy? That we "need to have a discussion." For that, he is being castigated as the second-coming of Che Guevara and Benedict Arnold. I'm not surprised by this characterization, as the gun nuts are among the most wound-up paranoids this country has ever produced. Any encroachment on their right to keep an bear arms = Hitler. I'm guessing that Costas, though, is a bit surprised by the vilification and the vitriol. Welcome to my world, Bob.