Bizarre That We Keep Missing the Point

Bizarre is one of the most misused words in the news media, and CNN really hit the ball out of the park with this one:

"A firearms dealer in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Friday confirmed a bizarre link between the graduate student accused of killing five people at Northern Illinois University and the gunman in last year's deadly shootings at Virginia Tech.

"A Web site used to buy gun accessories by Steven Kazmierczak is owned by the same company that operates a site patronized by Seung-Hui Cho, the company said."

A coincidence perhaps, but there is nothing remotely bizarre about the link. It often times is easier to purchase firearms and firearm accessories in the U.S. than alcohol, cigarettes or birth control products.

What is bizarre is that so many people refuse to acknowledge that there is a link between the daily gun mayhem in the U.S. and the ready availability of the means to that end.

And while we’re at it, isn't it bizarre that in our society the solution of the first resort for almost anything that ails you is to pop pills instead of trying to work through the problem, and yet an unfortunate number of people do extremely awful things like Mr. Kazmierczak when they stop popping them?

Photograph by The Associated Press